Post #1100240

2026-04-12 04:19 UTC

the more we&#39;re all encouraged to optimize our time and deliver more output, the more i want to never hit a single metric again in my life. i want to commit on a project and never launch it. i want to code slower, spend more time choosing colors, re-invent wheels that will never get used - not better, just different - taking as long as possible. i want to spend my time imagining different ways to say a thing, just to enjoy saying it differently. zero output, always only process forever

Replies (7)

@mia@front-end.social 2026-04-12 04:35

I spent the last two weeks at the theater every evening - 'devising' a new show (working title "Clockwork Utopia") with a really lovely ensemble of writers, performers, and musicians. It was an excellent two weeks of play with no clear result. (sadly we will eventually make a show - i'm sorry if it ends up "productive" - but that show will be so much better for our wild lack of efficiency)

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@csilverman@mastodon.social 2026-04-12 04:27

@mia this. All of it. I think about this all the time, especially on weekends. Saturday is the only time when I feel like I have the psychological space to be genuinely creative, because that's the only time when I'm not thinking about deadlines and getting things done. I think the really good work can only come from having that kind of internal space. A fixation on speed and efficiency is so cramping.

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@jenniferplusplus@hachyderm.io 2026-04-12 04:28

@mia big same

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@MichaelMcWilliams@mas.to 2026-04-12 06:17

@mia OMG you just described my retirement.

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@peach@phpc.social 2026-04-12 08:12

@mia I've been told I've got to start utilizing gen ai tools in coding because... productivity. I feel I need to play ball because I have mouths to feed. It's like having something held hostage, I just don't know what. "Do what's best for the company" always. Screw the mental state of the people who oppose gen ai on every one of its levels.

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@stegrainer@mastodon.social 2026-04-12 10:43

@mia Yeah, this “tyranny of the quantifiable” is what led me to write this: https://stegrainer.com/journal/2026/the-immeasurable-value-of-the-unmeasurables

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@remcow@waag.social 2026-04-12 11:11

@mia Welcome to my world. For some time now I like to call myself a front-end craftsman.

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