Today I Learned · by Mateo Cruz · 2026-10-08

I tried doing history the boring way and it worked without making it complicated

Part of me wanted the fancy version with all the tools. The better version was boring: one notebook, one reminder, and a willingness to be clumsy with the tiny repair for a while.

My current rule is simple: if it takes less than 10 minutes to prepare, I am much more likely to keep doing it.

18 sparks · 7 comments

Comments

Silver Fern · 5 likes

What would you change if you started over? That is where the boring checklist helps.

Nour Ali · 1 likes

I wish more posts had this much context. I used to overcomplicate this constantly.

Chinedu Adeyemi · 3 likes

Good clarification — I read it differently at first.

Mateo Cruz · 0 likes

Thanks for making it less intimidating.

Urban Atlas · 0 likes

I wish more posts had this much context. A little friction removed goes a long way.

Mateo Cruz · 1 likes

I would pin this if I could.

Sophie Gagnon · 1 likes

Anecdote beats theory here.