Things I Learned This Year

Carl’s excellent post inspired me to write my own.

1. Reduction is hard. Refinement is harder.
2. Listen to those you love more than you do anything else for them.
3. Rather than thinking about writing, write about the thoughts that have nothing to do with writing.
4. Simplifying workflows nets more and better results than trying to solve for edge cases with complexity.
5. Reading books is more fulfilling than any form of social media.
6. Designing the life you feel good about living is more important than any other design decision you make in life.
7. Slow feeds of self-curated information to consume make algorithms feel even more gross.
8. Personal communication by email is a lost art that needs more widespread revival.
9. AI does not need to be a new feature added to every app or service. AI should reduce our need for apps and services as a feature.
10. Being bored is a restorative time for the brain just as sleep is a restorative time for the body.
11. Anything that has been engineered to be short/quick/bite-sized so I can consume more of it, is probably not good for me.
12. If every time I wanted to tell my parents something I would have needed to wait until they finish “doing something” on their phone, I’d be a shell of the person I am today.
13. Feeling like there’s not enough time for something important in your own life is a great reason to slow down responses and limit immediate access to your attention.
14. Tangible always beats virtual.
15. Invest in the people that inspire you to be the best you and pay them dividends with your actions and words.

⭥ Site Index   |   ↻ Random Post