A story I recently heard has stuck with me. A woman was overwhelmed with all of life (working, raising children, caring for parents, etc.) and the burden of it all led to depression. She sought help and was advised to farm out some of her menial responsibilities, things like grocery shopping. Desperate, she complied. But to everyone's surprise her depression deepened. Further exploration uncovered the truth that, while giving up grocery shopping might result in greater efficiency, it didn't result in a higher quality of life. Although she was busy, she actually enjoyed selecting the food her family would eat. Despite her many responsibilities, it was little things like this that gave her joy. Editing that out resulted in a lower quality of life.
In a world dominated by AI, Instacart, Doordash, and Amazon, it's easy to be tempted away from "menial" things. But these are the things that often give our lives meaning. Gretchen Rubin writes in Life in Five Senses, "Doing the same thing over and over makes me feel grounded in my life and makes my actions feel more meaningful." They tap our senses: taste, touch, sound, sight, smell. And they often clear a mental space to work out the hard stuff of life.
In short, we are humans not robots. Efficiency is nice, but there is too little flavor in it, too little color. I always know when I'm spending too much time online and too little time doing the things that enrich my soul. And when that's the case, I reach for resources like these to set my heart on the right track again:
