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Birchtree
By Matt Birchler
I've been writing here since 2010! Back when personal blogs were all the rage. Kids, ask your parents.

It's Easier to Tinker

What is it about people that makes us always want to do anything besides the thing we should be doing? Why am I so eager to work on side project and minor changes to things that aren't that important, but I struggle to put serious time into the things that I know are most important?

Right now I should be focused on producing great content for this site. I love writing, and I love hearing feedback on my thoughts. I always feel good afterwards that I spent some time writing and produced something new. Producing new content is a wonderfully rewarding feeling, and sharing it widely is a uniquely 21st century luxury. So few people even 20 years ago had the ability to write something and have it read by more than a handful of people. The fact that I have a server hosting my words to so many people is a rare gift that was not available to people for the vast majority of human history.

And yet I still find myself tinkering on these little things that don't contribute to my main goals as a writer and as a developer. I'll tinker with a website theme, or modify one thing on Today Weather that won't make much of a difference to any users. I'll play with more programming languages and website CMS's all day, but committing to something more significant is a challenge.

I win this battle more than I lose it, but I could easily slip into a losing streak at any time. It's something everyone has to figure out for themselves, so there's not a lot anyone can do for anyone else in this regard. The best you can do is do your best to inspire those around you to keep up.

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