A shortcut is only shorter when it includes the trouble of finding it.

The cost of finding a thing belongs in the total. A route that saves five minutes and takes twenty to work out has lost you fifteen, and it only begins paying once you use it often enough to earn the search back. People compare the new way against the old way and leave the discovery out of the sum entirely.

Before optimising something, ask how many times you will actually do it. If the answer is twice, take the long way and stop thinking about it. If the answer is daily, spend the twenty minutes properly rather than half-solving it in the moment every time.