Careers · by Ananya Rao · 2026-09-09

The quiet joy of doing the tiny repair badly at first without making it complicated

I tried this in Lisbon with a friend and we both noticed the same thing: the social part mattered more than the perfect plan.

I know this is a tiny sample size, but after 3 attempts the pattern is pretty clear. When I keep the setup simple, I actually follow through.

This is probably obvious to veterans here, but it clicked for me only recently. resume got easier when I stopped treating every attempt like a final exam.

13 sparks · 8 comments

Comments

Chinedu Adeyemi · 3 likes

Good reminder that boring can be good. My friend tried it in Manila and had the opposite result.

Oussama Alaoui · 1 likes

You explained the tradeoff really clearly. The the library detail changes the whole answer.

Haruto Sato · 6 likes

That sounds great until you add children/pets/deadlines.

Ananya Rao · 1 likes

Anecdote beats theory here.

Lena Müller · 1 likes

What would you change if you started over? The messy constraint is probably the real story.

Ayesha Khan · 1 likes

This sounds sensible, though I would need to test it myself. I would write it down before changing anything else. The hidden expense is usually time.

Luciana Vargas · 0 likes

This is adorable and oddly motivating. The awkward part is easy to underestimate.

Salma Idrissi · 0 likes

I wish more posts had this much context. I would love to see a follow-up after 7 weeks. Good managers make this conversation so much less weird.