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As I write, my four kids are outside jumping on the trampoline. I can hear their young, happy voices and the sound of laughter and taunting coming through the walls.
Someday in the not so distant future, our home will be quieter. The kids will get older, start spending more time with friends, and eventually fly out of our nest and start their own families.
Yes, there’s a tinge of sadness in my throat as I write this. But mostly, I feel a sense of determination to enjoy each and every moment in this stage of life.
What is it about this modern world that is always making us think about the future rather than the present? Why am I always rushing from one task to the next, too busy to stop, too tired to enjoy?
I think it’s simply the spirit of our age. We’re a productive society, grounded in the (mostly good) values of capitalism and progress.
But our weakness is savoring what we already have. We’re mostly too busy to enjoy the gifts we already possess.
While I love living in this modern world despite its many complications, there are aspects of older days I miss. Things just seemed simpler.
Rather than being bitter about that, or hopelessly nostalgic, I’m going to try to recapture some of those simple, honest ways of living.
Some of these habits are truly old-school, while some are just retro. It doesn’t matter. There was no true golden age.
These are the good ol ‘ days right now and we can make of them what we wish. Here are 7 habits I’m re-committing to and I’d love for others to join me.
Listening to podcasts at 1x speed.
I’m embarrassed to admit that I sometimes listen to podcasts and watch videos at 1.5x speed, or even 2x speed when I’m being impatient.
Somehow, in the year 2025, this even feels normal.
Whatever happened to listening to a human voice at its normal speed. We act like everything’s a race.
If something is enjoyable, whether it’s learning or just entertainment, why rush through the experience?
My advice is to slow down, and just be present in the experience. Imagine yourself listening to an old-fashioned radio broadcast picked up from some distant airwaves.
Writing hand-written notes.
I appreciate a thank you text, but I’m blown away when I receive an actual letter in the mail.
There are few easier or cheaper ways to express your appreciation for someone than sending them an old-school letter through the postal mail.
No matter how busy you are, you’ll never regret the simple act of making someone feel loved.
Keeping one family photo album.
The move to digitize everything has come with enormous benefits. It’s amazing to have a phone book, world map, and mail box built into my phone wherever I go.
But there are some tradeoffs with efficiency, and one of the areas hit hardest is the experience of looking at pictures.
We take more pictures now than ever before, and yet we seem to treasure them less.
As a kid, I remember sitting on the couch thumbing through our photos books for the 50th time, just cementing my identity and lifetime memories.
Thankfully, my wife prints a family photobook every year, and now my kids have the same experience.
Calling friends on the phone, just to chat.
I’m not sure how old-fashioned it is to talk on a phone, but in some ways the art of casual chatting is being lost.
Even as a kid in the 90’s and 00’s I remember calling up friends just to see what they were up to.
Most of that communication now happens over messaging apps, and I think something is lost when the human voice is removed.
The thing about phone calls, and why I think they align with minimalist values, is that they force you to focus on one person at a time.
It’s hard to multitask with anything serious when you’re on the phone, and you can’t get distracted while you wait for the other person to get back.
The phone is a perfect tool for human connection, and I say, we bring it back in all it’s glory.
Stop filling your mind with other people’s thoughts.
This might seem funny coming from a blogger, but I long for the days when people didn’t fill their brains with so many other people’s thoughts.
You might have had a favorite columnist and a few authors you enjoyed, but there was space in your brain for your thinking.
Every spare minute wasn’t spent scrolling a feed, searching for another hit of dopamine in small, pre-packaged bites.
You had to read long-form articles or hear people actually talking in order to learn about the world around you.
I think that little bit of friction, and the whitespace it opened up, was good for us.
It’s not too late to go back.
Even today, you can curate the voices you follow to just the ones you enjoy most.
And spend the rest of your time firmly grounded in your everyday life.
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