Seth

When my devices show signs of planned obsolescence (year 5, stretched to 8 in my experience) I had to switch to more lightweight work, mostly word-based. Scattered everywhere across many platforms, 300+ design reviews and occasional life or career advice. Not sure what this will entail, but I want to archive them here. I had them in files and figured I'd also structure them online to see where this will take me. At best it'll be just another random text that you'll scroll through, at worst it'll clutter your timeline, as if it hasn't already 🤣

Seth

@sthrvs

about 2 months ago

I wanna try sumthin 🤔 let's see…

Seth

@sthrvs

about 1 month ago

@fwnz peace sun 🤣

Who to follow

building @pablocomputer

Edwin Contat

@EdwinContat

Lead Design & Founder @beaucoup_studio Jury members @awwwards

Seth

@sthrvs

about 2 months ago

@fwnz most likely 🫠

Seth

@sthrvs

about 2 months ago

I wanna try sumthin 🤔 let's see…

Seth

@sthrvs

2 months ago

⚠ We couldn’t connect to Claude. Please check your network connection and try again. Can't Claude just keep clauding?

Seth

@sthrvs

3 months ago

Is this truly the end of @peachdotcool ? It won't load anymore 😰

Seth

@sthrvs

3 months ago

@fwnz yeah, lol

Seth

@sthrvs

3 months ago

I guess for those who can't afford it will just continue designing and developing by hand like we used to?

Seth

@sthrvs

4 months ago

My personal site is text-heavy. Other than generous white spaces, how can I make it less of a strain on the eyes? I'm experimenting with adding these micro-animations in each section, hoping these tiny nuggets will bring joy to readers 🥰

Seth

@sthrvs

5 months ago

GPT-5.3-Codex took 1% per prompt 😳 better revert to previous model

Seth

@sthrvs

9 months ago

[W.I.P] Published my design review in Playbook, turning small feedback notes into something shareable. Still figuring out the workflow; updates will follow once I’ve settled the rhythm 🧑‍🎨 https://t.co/S18511epjW

Seth

@sthrvs

10 months ago

A playbook of experiments In my journey of self-rediscovery I used to hold on to the word effort as if it was the only way through hardship or toward building something. Countless efforts, tiny or no results was something I often said, while hiding behind my native phrase “usaha tidak mengkhianati hasil” to excuse my failed attempts. For me, the word effort felt so heavy, almost like it promised success guaranteed. As long as you put in enough effort, you’ll achieve your goals. In reality, not quite. My efforts often ended in disappointment. That changed when I started using the word experiment instead. You can see in my face the weight lifted the day I made that switch. Experiment didn’t carry the same burden as effort. It became a lighter, more flexible frame. I began applying it seasonally, monthly, sometimes even daily for tiny attempts. I regret not letting the word experiment into my playbook sooner. Maybe it would have saved me from unnecessary suffering. I don’t know why experiment always felt limited to science or academia in my mind, but once I adopted it into my own practice, it changed everything. The word felt chill compared to effort, more forgiving, less tied to a guaranteed outcome. At some point in my life there must have been events that shaped that perception, but what matters now is that experiment has become a permanent entry in my playbook. Speaking of experiment and playbook, I’m reminded of 2023 when I was doing an experiment in content creation. I don’t want to call myself a content creator… but technically I was indeed creating content for my personal social media, out of curiosity, based on my experience and for the sake of fun. Motion graphics, creative writing, audiovisual projects, it was all experimentation. There’s this thing called @playbook_hq that put me at ease, because I just wanted a place to drop every content-related thing into my playbook boards. I relied on the search function whenever I needed to find something, and I used the versioning feature to create stacked drafts for Instagram stories and TikTok. It complemented beautifully with my creative process, that I could just dump everything without having to filter it first. I know this probably doesn’t make any sense, but trust me, you have to try it yourself to understand what I’ve been experiencing. It was like a GitHub for creatives, y'know? I first discovered Playbook in 2022, after years of using Google Drive, OneDrive, Box, or Dropbox. Those tools always felt too corporate, a little formal, maybe even stiff at times. Playbook had structure too, but it didn’t interrupt my process. I could keep moving and sort later if I needed to. It could be because Playbook has a distinct character I hadn’t encountered before in online storage, or maybe it’s the fact that it just looks nicer visually. That might play a huge part. It was also an experiment for me. I was so used to forcibly separating a max of 10GB across Google accounts, or sometimes enjoying 2TB on a company account, and then suddenly here was 4TB free storage for artists and designers. Like, for real? What’s the catch? Adjusting to Playbook still meant a series of small experiments, but in a way that turned out to be beneficial. Over time I realized how much time it saved me, how much lighter my workflow became. I don’t design graphic content as much as I used to anymore, and looking back to 2023–2024 that was the peak of what I produced in the name of experiment. I picked up a few freelance projects during those years, all safely stored in Playbook alongside my experimental assets. Some clients still access them from time to time, and if my laptop hadn’t slowed down I’d probably still be experimenting in that way. I’ve shifted from designing with graphics to designing with words. Even so, four years later I’m still using Playbook daily as my safe space for experiments. It feels less like storage and more like a companion to the process itself. I hope that I still be able to conduct many experiments freely and let each one add a new page to my playbook.

sthrvs's tweet photo. A playbook of experiments

In my journey of self-rediscovery I used to hold on to the word effort as if it was the only way through hardship or toward building something. Countless efforts, tiny or no results was something I often said, while hiding behind my native phrase “usaha tidak mengkhianati hasil” to excuse my failed attempts. For me, the word effort felt so heavy, almost like it promised success guaranteed. As long as you put in enough effort, you’ll achieve your goals. In reality, not quite. My efforts often ended in disappointment.

That changed when I started using the word experiment instead. You can see in my face the weight lifted the day I made that switch. Experiment didn’t carry the same burden as effort. It became a lighter, more flexible frame. I began applying it seasonally, monthly, sometimes even daily for tiny attempts. I regret not letting the word experiment into my playbook sooner. Maybe it would have saved me from unnecessary suffering.

I don’t know why experiment always felt limited to science or academia in my mind, but once I adopted it into my own practice, it changed everything. The word felt chill compared to effort, more forgiving, less tied to a guaranteed outcome. At some point in my life there must have been events that shaped that perception, but what matters now is that experiment has become a permanent entry in my playbook.

Speaking of experiment and playbook, I’m reminded of 2023 when I was doing an experiment in content creation. I don’t want to call myself a content creator… but technically I was indeed creating content for my personal social media, out of curiosity, based on my experience and for the sake of fun. Motion graphics, creative writing, audiovisual projects, it was all experimentation. There’s this thing called @playbook_hq that put me at ease, because I just wanted a place to drop every content-related thing into my playbook boards. I relied on the search function whenever I needed to find something, and I used the versioning feature to create stacked drafts for Instagram stories and TikTok. It complemented beautifully with my creative process, that I could just dump everything without having to filter it first. I know this probably doesn’t make any sense, but trust me, you have to try it yourself to understand what I’ve been experiencing. It was like a GitHub for creatives, y'know?

I first discovered Playbook in 2022, after years of using Google Drive, OneDrive, Box, or Dropbox. Those tools always felt too corporate, a little formal, maybe even stiff at times. Playbook had structure too, but it didn’t interrupt my process. I could keep moving and sort later if I needed to.

It could be because Playbook has a distinct character I hadn’t encountered before in online storage, or maybe it’s the fact that it just looks nicer visually. That might play a huge part. It was also an experiment for me. I was so used to forcibly separating a max of 10GB across Google accounts, or sometimes enjoying 2TB on a company account, and then suddenly here was 4TB free storage for artists and designers. Like, for real? What’s the catch?

Adjusting to Playbook still meant a series of small experiments, but in a way that turned out to be beneficial. Over time I realized how much time it saved me, how much lighter my workflow became.

I don’t design graphic content as much as I used to anymore, and looking back to 2023–2024 that was the peak of what I produced in the name of experiment. I picked up a few freelance projects during those years, all safely stored in Playbook alongside my experimental assets. Some clients still access them from time to time, and if my laptop hadn’t slowed down I’d probably still be experimenting in that way.

I’ve shifted from designing with graphics to designing with words. Even so, four years later I’m still using Playbook daily as my safe space for experiments. It feels less like storage and more like a companion to the process itself.

I hope that I still be able to conduct many experiments freely and let each one add a new page to my playbook.

Seth

@sthrvs

10 months ago

Experimenting with Daily Forced Productivity I'm in dire need of direct, imminent, impactful change in my life. I've tried everything (everything?) but nothing really worked. I know the issue holding me back is bigger than mere procrastination or giving up too easily (see my October 3rd 2022 tweet), mind you this probably equals to 10x what normal people experience. No fancy tools, not using problem-solving frameworks that others have already figured out because I'm already too tired to tinker with another approach, or whatever else might help, I just thought I'd try once more: force myself to be productive every single day, no matter what. To make it more interesting, I'd give each day a title: August 1, make it count; August 2, keep pushing through; August 3, move steadily; and so on, you get the idea. Fyi, I'd read them not like with proper English grammar “first, second, third” but just “August one, two, three” a mixed language, the way trilingual people usually speak. Some days lived up to their title, others didn't. My most consistent streak was 17 days. On day 17, I hit a wall and thought, “What am I even doing this for?” I had clear goals and objectives, I had the motivations and the discipline, but was it possible I was just burnt out from forcing myself to show up every day? What do I mean by “forced”? Before this experiment, I'd often spend entire days scrolling or watching videos, producing absolutely nothing. So I had to force myself into action. Sure, there's research saying you can't be productive every day, that you need downtime but I figured a little action beats zero output, right? Here's how this month-long experiment played out, including that day 17 breakdown. Week 1 The first week was all about adapting to this new personal system. I was still refining the approach to make it actually function. My most visible achievement was creating a bookmark folder for websites I needed to visit daily, just to make the morning warm-up easier. Really, it was just three sites I needed to stay active on: a UX community platform, a language practice app, and that green owl everyone knows because I'd been on streaks there for a while and couldn't break them. Personally, I was still active on dating apps, still replying to messages in that first week of August. This too I had to treat as an experiment because the results of using dating apps starting this year was not something I quite hoped for. It was started as an honest effort to find, y'know, that significant other, romantic partner, yada yada... but it went sideways. Professionally, I tried posting in the design community to interact with other mentors, but the response was painfully quiet. During this week, I also started exploring my career direction more seriously. Designer? Developer? Some hybrid role? The options felt endless and paralyzing. I was also revisiting something from months back, whether all this daily practice in the language app could actually be monetized somehow. Could these conversations become something more substantial? Week 2 In the second week, I started getting a clearer picture of what I wanted to become. I mapped out a progression path that would build on itself over time, starting with basic design work and gradually adding development skills and mentoring capabilities. I got a lot of useful insights this week from brainstorming sessions with an AI assistant, things like inventorying my unique strengths, identifying gaps in the market I could fill, and defining my authentic voice in the space. The visible artifacts from week two: I updated my professional profile, solidified my gap year and in-between jobs experiences into an entity, then tried to legitimize my small business, later officially published my availability for mentoring in the design community servers. My daily routines stayed consistent. The design platform was mandatory, the language app sometimes was just logging in for the streak, but I was super active in e-commerce developer communities, answering questions and building relationships. Week 3 The usual routine of language practice, design challenges, and daily check-ins continued, but the pace started slowing around this time. Key developments: I set up a paid mentoring page, though I probably won't use it because the payment processor is incredibly complicated for international users. I continued the business registration process for legal legitimacy, but once again I couldn't finish because I don't have a virtual office yet. Using my home address feels risky. I also talked with a community leader about best practices for building authority in the space and got informed that besides mentoring, I could create tutorials and guest content for established platforms. Week 4 The community engagement continued in week four, and I explored alternative ways to offer paid services without dealing with complex payment systems. I tested the booking flow with a friend and found that these platforms really aren't built for small, first-time sellers. At the end of the month I realized maybe all of this was still just experimentation, figuring out what works and what doesn't. My initial hope was to launch paid services by September or October, but that clearly wasn't happening. The last days of week four got scattered because of political unrest in my country. People were demanding accountability from leaders who seemed more interested in personal gain than public service. The daily themes shifted from productivity focus to supporting the broader community response. All of this actually triggered me again: how can I create financial stability when the system itself feels so unstable? The most consistent thing throughout this forced productivity was daily conversation practice and community mentoring, starting with light engagement that gradually built toward platform recognition. Along the way came milestone rewards such as access codes, premium features, and small perks that made the progression feel meaningful. I sometimes wondered, and maybe it actually happened: “What am I doing with all this daily practice? Am I procrastinating? Is this a safe space to hide instead of taking real action?” Still unclear, but I kept doing it. Maybe there's truth to all of that, but I shouldn't let that truth become a burden. So a new perspective emerged: this daily practice is actually unconscious preparation for becoming who I want to be. More fluid in conversation, sharper thinking, more confident execution. All of this supports my larger goals. The Day 17 Reality Check Here's what happened on August 17th. I was going full throttle with mindset, energy, and focus all aligned toward creating meaningful change. Even though I'd brainstormed everything, mapped it clearly, and just needed to execute, in practice I often felt... disconnected, like I was going through the motions. There were tasks, but no immediate satisfaction. Maybe it's because I'm used to dopamine hits from social media algorithms? That day, looking at friends' social media, everyone else's life seemed full of progress and celebration. I need to emphasize that I wasn't comparing out of envy, but I do want forward movement after feeling stuck for so long. So I relapsed, fell back into that frozen state where everything feels too hard. It took about 1-2 days to regain momentum. So What Did I Learn? This month of forced productivity taught me something crucial: I am able to make some progress. I can show up every day and work on creating change. I don’t want to make the 17-day streak my ceiling. Perhaps I can do more than that. I also want to be more bulletproof against outside noise, factors, anything that might stop me from progressing. Still, I know it’s not possible to be productive every single day. The goal is to accept that and bounce back quickly, no more than one day off track. Maybe I can build systems that still work even when there are obstacles. Beyond the mindset shift, the daily naming approach turned out helpful for accountability, though it became heavy when I made it too rigid. What proved more valuable were the consistent small actions that didn’t always feel significant in the moment. The community building, the gradual skill rebuilding, even the practice conversations that felt like procrastination were actually skill development in disguise. That connects to maybe the most important insight: sometimes what looks like wasted time is actually necessary preparation. Those hours of daily practice weren’t just killing time, they were rebuilding my confidence, practicing communication skills, and maintaining connections during a career transition. The 17-day streak became its own kind of proof. It showed me I can show up consistently when I commit to it, while also reminding me that rigidity will snap under pressure. The lesson I carried forward is simple: I can sustain effort, but only if I allow the system to flex with me instead of against me.