Explain Like I'm Five · by Liam Eriksson · 2026-09-18
The useful joy of doing the routine badly at first with an awkward constraint
My current rule is simple: if it takes less than 5 minutes to prepare, I am much more likely to keep doing it.
A few notes from my attempt:
- keep the first step visible
- remove one annoying decision
- celebrate the boring repeat
The detail that surprised me was how much the library changed the outcome. Same plan, different setting, completely different energy.
> Tiny progress is still progress.
That line sounds cheesy, but it got me through the part where explainers stopped feeling new.
A few notes from my attempt:
- keep the first step visible
- remove one annoying decision
- celebrate the boring repeat
The detail that surprised me was how much the library changed the outcome. Same plan, different setting, completely different energy.
> Tiny progress is still progress.
That line sounds cheesy, but it got me through the part where explainers stopped feeling new.
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