The Art of Digital Minimalism: Why I'm Shutting Down My Apps (And Why That's Actually Exciting)
Sometimes the bravest thing a creator can do is hit delete
You know that feeling when your digital life starts feeling like a cluttered closet? That's exactly where I am right now. I've got apps running that I built months ago, and like that gym membership you keep "just in case," I'm having trouble letting go. But here's the thing - sometimes holding on is actually holding us back.
Remember my Public Chat app? I built it while learning Ruby on Rails, and it was a blast. But now? It's sitting there like that musical instrument you swore you'd learn to play D:
Here's the uncomfortable truth about being a creator in the digital age: Not everything we build needs to live forever. And that's actually... okay?
Why This Matters (And Why You Should Care) Let's get real for a second:
Every active project demands attention (and server costs... those sneaky little expenses)
Maintaining old projects means less time for new experiments
Sometimes our "I'll get to it someday" list is just a fancy way of procrastinating
The Hidden Cost of Not Letting Go
While I was maintaining my Suggestions App and Public Chat, I noticed something interesting: my brain was constantly running background processes about potential updates and features. It's like having too many browser tabs open - eventually, your mental CPU starts lagging.
The Plot Twist: Automation Revelation
Here's where things get interesting. Remember my post about Dynamic Claude Chat? The response was overwhelming(for me). But what most people don't know is that I've been playing with these automation concepts since early 2023.
I started with the simplest tools imaginable:
Zapier connecting dots
Google Sheets as a database (yes, really!)
Basic scripts that somehow worked
And you know what? Those "primitive" solutions worked better than some fancy enterprise tools I've seen.
The New Direction
This got me thinking - maybe there's something here. While I'm letting go of some projects, I'm discovering a new path: sharing practical automation solutions that don't require a computer science degree.
What's Next?
Public Chat is going down (gracefully!) in a few days
I'm creating objective criteria for future project lifecycles
Most importantly - I'm diving deep into automation tutorials and guides
Here's my question for you: Would you be interested in learning how to automate your work and life, without getting lost in technical jargon? I'm talking about practical, no-code solutions that actually work.
The Future of Digital Thoughts
Don't worry - this blog isn't changing its core mission of digital experiments and building cool stuff. Think of automation as another tool in our digital playground. After all, isn't that what this blog is about? Trying new things, learning, and sharing the journey?
Let me know in the comments - what's the hardest part about letting go of your projects? And what kind of automation challenges are you facing?
Thumbs up!! A lot of produced and often results in noise. I think it's brave to come to terms and phase out projects, discard or archive ideas instead of leaving them for "some day". I wish more would do like you.
Principle for a t-shirt and meme: Deleting one's lingering creation is a brave action
I'd like to try no-code solutions related to automations of personal or family accounting, tax declaration, personal budgeting and retirements forecasting,...
The challenge in all these aren't the calculations but in navigating the options, possibilities and legal regulations. That's where AI could play a role and it's also the challenge in building such 'customised' solutions. In other words: defining the problem is more than half-way to the solution.
Thank you very much for sharing what you do. Lately, this is the only regular newsletter I read.