it’s a bit ridiculous to say “the time you spend scrolling could be spent building a business/writing a novel/reading the classics”. sometimes that’s true but usually scrolling happens as a result of cognitive fatigue, and the idea that you can just “swap in” another intellectually demanding task means you’re treating your body/mind as a machine
a better approach would be “the time you spend scrolling could be spent taking a stroll/napping/staring out the window/having a meandering conversation with a friend”. that’s both more palatable and probably what we’re actually craving when we reach for our phone: a brief break from the demands of life, and a time to let our mind relax
something I’ve observed is that many people have low standards for filmmaking (editing, sound, cinematography, lighting) but high standards of morality for characters and dialogue. this strips the film down to its parts and overall “message”
speed is the single most important trait in business and i will die on this hill. every successful founder i know moves at a pace that makes normal people uncomfortable. they reply to emails in minutes not days. they make decisions with 70% of the information instead of waiting for 100%. they ship products that aren’t perfect because they know a live product beats a perfect idea sitting in your head. most people spend weeks thinking about doing something while the fast movers already did it learned from it and iterated twice. analysis paralysis has killed more businesses than bad ideas ever have. the guy who launches a shitty version today will beat the guy who launches a perfect version in 6 months every single time because he’s already gotten feedback already pivoted already built relationships while the other guy is still tweaking his logo. i’ve seen mediocre ideas win because the founder moved fast and great ideas die because the founder moved slow. speed creates momentum and momentum creates luck and luck creates opportunities you never could have planned for. when in doubt just move faster
you keep looking for meaning in your job when your job is just how you pay for the time to find meaning elsewhere. but you’ve been spending the elsewhere time on nothing, so the job became the everything, and now everything feels meaningless.
life will feel different when you stop running from the parts of you that actually want something. the ideas you keep shelving. the dreams you only visit in your head.
use the time you have to chase them. build something. write something. create something.
anything.