Choosing the hard things

Recently, I've been reading from and listening to people who have chosen to do things the hard way. The way that adds more friction rather than attempting to make things frictionless.

As noted by a guest on the Use More Paper podcast, new technologies used to be additive, making our lives measurably better. At some point, they started to become extractive, taking from you and giving little real value in return. This is especially apparent in the early 2010s with Facebook's social media dominance and the introduction of algorithmic feeds. Slowly degrading your attention span, taking away your time, your money. Taking away little pieces of your humanity. Extractive, not additive.

15+ years of this, and many people are fed up. They are tired of this seemingly soulless existence they've been told is normal and are ready to take back those parts of their lives they ceded away years ago. They're committed to adding friction back into their lives. Committed to doing things that won't be immediately gratifying, knowing the journey towards accomplishment and delayed reward will be so much better.

I've lived this kind of reality for the last eight years, ever since I first experimented with dumbing down my smartphone. That doesn't mean I'm any good at living this way. But the more I read, the more inspired I become by people who take up the banner and choose the hard things. It gives me hope for where we might be headed regardless of what news headlines say. It invigorates me as I continue to look for ways to add true value to my life and commit to doing the hard things.