Optimisation sinkholes; Before smartphones; Ambition
Issue #355
💡Think
Hello, I’m back after a looooong break 👋
The past few months have been the busiest I think I might’ve ever been. You’re probably aware, because of the social media flooding, of a work conference I was involved in which kind of dominated every minute for a long time. An understatement would be that it was draining.
Aside from that, I moved to a new place at the same time, which seems to be a theme (it happened last year too), so unfortunately the newsletter took a back seat.
What I have learned recently though is just how important it is to let things go or trim down the polishing list when you’re under pressure, working in a way that – to borrow a metaphor from my house moving – turns the screws in just enough to secure your wardrobe projects, and then tighten them all at the end; once you have a strong foundation.
That likely makes little sense outside of my head, but hey let’s run with it.
Have a great week!
📷 Look
📖 Read
❶ The optimisation sinkhole
This article is effectively one big metaphor about choosing the wrong coffee machine, but is a fantastic explanation of society’s current obsession with constant optimisation. Be more productive! Be more organised! Do more stuff, quicker! Social media’s bitesize “this is the best way” chunks of advice are a net negative to our general life satisfaction, and creates environments where we’re just never comfortable.
❷ What did we do before smartphones?
Seriously though, what did we do? Have you considered the last time you spent more than an hour without reaching for your candy-bar addiction rectangle? This article really is someone walking through pre palm life and what it was like, which is apparently a lot of intentional boredom.
❸ Who am I without my ambition?
This one is a little close to home, as it’s an article about someone who became so intertwined with their work that they needed to break out of that mould in order to feel satisfied again. There’s one tip in here that I think makes it worth the read is that “unrelenting ambition is unsustainable”. I think this is a golden thing to remember whenever performance season swings around.
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Bonus round
We Are Childfree is a project highlighting women who have chosen to not have children, a taboo and something that deserves a spotlight
My podcast Design and Whine is back, we launched the second series with an episode about networking
🎧 Listen
Super apps, there can only be one
This is a great podcast episode about the difference in app culture between China and the Western world, where super apps (or WeChat in particular) dominates your smartphone experience. It contrasts Apple’s “there’s an app for that” philosophy with the question of maybe we just need one to work really well.
Have a great week,
@disco_lu