The Internet Is Melting Your Brain! Read This Now!… And Then Quit

I’ve been ingesting a lot more social media and “news” coverage as of late, and here are my two big takeaways: It’s almost all garbage, and we’d all be a lot better off if we consumed far, far less of it.

Probably not the best take for me to lock in on the Resch Strategies company blog, but I’m guessing that the man who turned all of us on to the wisdoms of Allgorithmis will probably be okay with me taking this stance.

Already know what actually makes you happy? Great—do more of that. Don’t know what your things are? Spend some time trying to figure that out, because it’s not posting, scrolling or hate-watching anything. Don’t know where to start? Maybe I can help. Here’s a list of nine things I really like doing. Nine simple things that enrich my daily life a lot more than social media ever could.

1. My morning coffee. Honestly, it might be my favorite part of the day, and I think the infusion of caffeine is probably the least important part of it. I think what I really like is the peaceful, almost meditative routine that comes along with it. I measure my water and get it up to temperate in my stupidly heavy, takes-far-too-long-to-bring-to-a-boil-but-is-very-nice cast iron kettle. I measure out and grind my beans—by hand. I prewarm my French press.

   All told, I’m about 20 minutes in before I’ve even had my first sip of plain, black coffee, and I like it that way. And then once it’s ready, I take it out on my back porch and have two very leisurely cups. It’s lovely. It’s pure me time, and I wouldn’t change a thing about it.

2. My podcasts. To be very clear, I’m definitely not anti-all-content. No one needs to go full-blown Amish, unless of course that’s what you want to do, in which case I say go for it. I just think we all need to be a lot more intentional and selective about what we choose to consume. Toss the Google/Apple news and social media scrolling and find a different kind of brain candy, that’s all.

   For me, it’s a stable of half a dozen or so podcasts that I keep up with on a weekly basis. They’re almost exclusively sports-focused or inane—and mostly benign—comedy podcasts. They’re fun. And they’re harmless.

3. Weekly Pickleball. I love playing sports. And if I had cooler, better friends, I’d be running around doing something competitive way more than once a week. Unfortunately, they all have other stupid commitments—like their children—so  weekly pickleball is about the best we can do these days.

   But still, that’s way better than nothing. It gets me outside. It’s active. And I get to see my friends, who—believe it or not—I actually do like it.

4. Working out. I almost never want to start. And I’m not sure I even enjoy the “during” phase of it, but I’m always glad I did it afterward. I do my best to do something that qualifies as a “workout” most days, and I know I’m better off for it.

5. Making dinner for my fiancée. I’m an acts-of-service guy, and if I had to posit a guess as to which regularly provided kindness my future spouse appreciates most, I’d say putting dinner on the coffee table—we take our meals in front of the TV like a couple of heathens—most nights of the week would be the safest bet.

   Thankfully, I really enjoy doing it. It’s another hour every day that I get to spend listening to music, catching up on my podcasts, or just honing a life skill everyone should have. And at the end of it, I get to put a meal in front of someone I love—something I know she deeply appreciates, and something that makes me feel just a little more confident in the notion that she might continue to endure sharing her life with me. Everyone wins.

6. Watching our shows. It’s officially Bake Off season, which almost got its own full blog post from me this week. If you don’t watch it, you should. It’s everything the internet isn’t.

   It’s a show that’s bursting with warmth. Everyone is immensely talented. Everyone is wonderful. You root for everyone—and they root for each other. I would watch it every single day if they were willing to pump out episodes at a Love Island-like clip.  Suffice to say, it’s often the crown jewel of our week during these autumn months.

7. Going for walks. I love a good old-man walk. Occasionally, Carly will join me. More rarely still, we’ll leave the house with wine or a cocktail in hand, which is always fun. Sometimes we’ll pop in on my seemingly always-happy toddling niece who has a place on the other side of the neighborhood—always a delight.

   But more often than not, it’s just me peacefully strolling the neighborhood by myself, and I like it that way too. I see all kinds of things I wouldn’t notice or appreciate otherwise. I live in a really lovely little neighborhood, and it’s nice to truly take stock of it and appreciate where I live and everything I have.

8. Playing with our cat. Speaking of the neighborhood, we have a ton of neighborhood cats. So far, only one of them has managed to make her way into our home. And at some point, I’m sure another will pull off the same feat—as I am ultimately, a huge pushover.
   But for now, we’re quite happy with just the one, as she really is the most playful, loving, well-behaved cat I’ve ever come across. It makes me happy to know we gave her nice home. And while I should point out that Carly provides the bulk of our collective emotional support, nightly wrestling sessions are solely my responsibility.  

9.  Spending quality time with my future wife. Honestly, it doesn’t really matter what we’re doing, because she’s going to make me laugh one way or another.
   Our newest shared activity is honing our skills in our new virtual kitchen. We recently acquired a Nintendo Switch (thanks, Chris!),  and so far, the only game we’ve played together is Overcooked. It’s an incredibly simple, easy-to-learn game, and I legitimately think someone should build a TV show around couples playing it.

   It’s a teamwork game where you and your partner manage the kitchen of a short-order restaurant, working together to prepare and serve dishes as quickly as possible. It sounds easy. It sounds dumb. It sounds boring. It’s none of those things. It’s frantic, hilarious chaos. But then you find your groove and start crushing orders. Carly has naturally taken on the role of head chef/kitchen maestro, while I am often best deployed as her diligent busboy/dishwasher.

   It’s early days still, but so far, we make a mean burger and bowl of soup.    

So, there you have it—nine things that make my days better. And not a doom scroll in sight. Make your own list (and feel free to steal from mine, since it is pretty good). But then actually commit to spending more time doing those things—that’s the key part.