Posts tagged boredom
EP. 43 - Friction: What Are We Losing by Making Life Easier?

What happens when we start removing friction from almost everything?

A teenager on an e-bike can travel further with less physical effort.

Dinner can arrive at the front door without us walking to the restaurant.

A map means we rarely have to get lost.

A screen means we rarely have to be bored.

And AI increasingly means we don't always have to struggle through the thinking, writing, researching or creating ourselves.

None of these things are necessarily bad.

In fact, many of them are extraordinary improvements to everyday life.

But perhaps we've started asking the wrong question.

Instead of simply asking:

How can we make this easier?

What if we sometimes asked:

Is this difficulty doing something for me?

The value of friction

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EP. 36 - The Season You’re In: On boredom, restlessness, and knowing what deserves your attention

Evan explores:

  • Why we often confuse activity with engagement.

  • Whether boredom is sometimes a form of restlessness.

  • What a nine-month experiment in removing external distractions taught him about stillness.

  • Why travelling, achieving and constantly doing more don't necessarily make us feel more alive.

  • The difference between wanting something and needing it right now.

  • How to recognise the emotions underneath our decisions — curiosity, joy, fear, comparison, ego or restlessness.

  • Why every stage of life has its own season and demands a different kind of attention.

  • What fatherhood and building SwiftReporter are teaching Evan about staying present.

  • Why good leadership involves knowing not only what to do, but what not to do.

  • Why growth requires patience and why some of the most important work is invisible for a while.

  • The danger of treating the symptoms of restlessness rather than understanding its source.

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