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Rules

Rules can be broken.

Buy Twice

Generally don't buy things you don't need with money you don't have to impress people that don't care.

Buy things that spark joy and you are willing to actually use and make you happy/life better.

Get rid of those things that don't. Know when to gift friends, sell, through away or store it for later.

Remember that you always pay twice for every purchase:

  • First you pay money have it
  • Then you pay time to use it

Don't pay the first price and never pay the second price. This cycle leads to a feeling of insufficiency and self-defeat, as you accumulate an "unpaid" debt of second prices and end up feeling overwhelmed and time-poor.

Eventually you pay with more money and time to fix it or buy it again. This is the part where quality and repair friendliness maters. As the saying goes: "You get what you pay for", "Buy cheap, buy twice", "It's only cheap on paper"...

File over app

The philosophy of prioritizing files over apps emphasizes the creation of lasting digital artifacts, ones that you can manipulate and are in accessible, easily readable formats. Choose tools that offer this flexibility.

To ensure your writings can withstand the test of time, and be readable on machines from 2060 or 2160, it is imperative they be comprehensible on a 1960's computer. Over time, the enduring value of your creations rests more on the files themselves than on the tools used for their creation. Apps may come and go, but files hold the potential to endure. Think of the Egyptian pyramids, housing ancient hieroglyphs carved in stone. The significance of the ideas these hieroglyphs express surpasses the importance of the chisels used to inscribe them.

While it's uncertain if anyone else will find value in these files, the prospect of being readable to my future self alone validates their creation. This is why this website is based on markdown files.