Scholarch's Blog

Sticking with it; or, minimizing decision fatigue

Yesterday I came across Requiem's excellent blog and the posts on tools (on what constitutes the best ones and on worrying about them after one becomes familiar with their particular use case). They're thoughtful reads, and through them I came across Ava's post on sticking with it—it being a decision about one's tooling, or process, or setup, or—to generalize the theme and to add my spin to the discussion—solution to a solved problem.

A solved problem is a predicament that has a solution, and in my experience, a solution defined is better than the pursuit of the ideal solution. Not every predicament requires an elegant solution, but most people have egos that cannot help themselves, and so they reopen solved problems to replay all the considerations to arrive at a solution, this time the FINAL-FINAL-v3.foo version of the solution, until the second-guessing happens and the cycle begins anew.

It's fun in the moment to reopen a problem to see if a better solution is obtainable, but I think that's a young person's luxury. One example I can think of is with Linux. Distro-hopping is an example of reopening the problem; one hops from one distribution to another in search of an operating system that is ideal, and because the ecosystem is healthy enough and choice is a feature of open source software development, it's actually possible to distro-hop in perpetuity. But what I've noticed from those who've stuck with a choice (regardless of what the particular choice is) is an attitude that's incredibly practical: they realize they have work to do and that they need to use their computer to complete that work; distro-hopping gets in the way of doing that work, and so they stop reopening that problem. How refreshing!

This aligns with what Requiem and Ava argue for: a focus on the work that one intends to do. Especially when that work is of the creative sort, reopening solved problems (like what tools or process to use) is a way to delay actual creativity, because while it feels like a valuable use of time and energy, what efficiencies are actually gained? Moreover, there are switching costs that accompany learning new processes/tools—costs that are incurred with each new switch. Oh, sure, the learning curve flattens if, say, you switch from one Debian-based distribution to another, but then one wonders why that switch is necessary in the first place.

All of this to say: I don't feel old, but neither do I feel young. Life is short, and I'm increasingly mindful of where my time goes. To those who are young and have the time to explore, I envy you, but I also challenge you to regard tools/processes/solutions as pragmatically as possible. Your identity and value as a person is not dependent on what tools you use, but what you do and create with them. That's the true scorecard.

As for me, I've been mulling over what I can stick with, and have a brief list of items. I share this list as a commitment to not reopen problems.

The above commitments reflect my desire to live simply. They're easy in the sense that I don't have to do anything. To really challenge myself, as a practice of constraint, I want to include a commitment that is arguably unnecessary. So, since the start of this blog I've written several times about my fondness for music; of the joy in exploring new genres and artists; et cetera. Well, I've realized that my move away from streaming has presented an over-correction. On the one hand, it's been a source of joy to peruse forums of music fans to find recommendations; on the other, I'm not really enjoying music itself—I'm always chasing after the next album to get that dopamine hit. Admittedly, this has affected my energy and sleep schedule.

I hope that I live a long and healthy life with music as a constant companion, and I hope I maintain an open-mindedness so that the music itself changes over time. But at present, my exploration is unsustainable. I think I knew this would be an issue when I wrote about my intended music habits for 2026. Two months into the year, and I've fallen off that track.

Thus, it seems that an appropriate 'stick with it' challenge in this area is to enjoy what I have now and to stop looking for more (its own form of hopping around). Last night, I had the pleasant realization that all the artists on my music player would be unfamiliar to me a year ago. In a sense, it's a clear indication that I've changed some aspect of myself. Now I want to enjoy that change for its own sake.

But now I'm rambling. Here's my commitment in clear terms: for the next year (so, until March 3, 2027), I'm going to stick with 16 artists/bands. No limit on albums or EPs or anything discographic; the limit is constrained to who I've encountered. For the most part, the genres they represent are dream pop and shoegaze (not that there's much distinction between the two). While the latter months of 2025 entailed my exploring the first wave of shoegaze (Slowdive, My Bloody Valentine, and co.), I'm now exploring the latter phases of the genres, during a period (2000s) when shoegaze wasn't that popular but several bands were staunch stalwarts of the genre.

Again, to restrict my listening to 16 artists/bands for a year is unnecessary, but: I want to prove to myself that I can stick with something, and this feels more challenging than avoiding tweaks to my toolchain or avoiding distro-hopping, so it's a challenge that suits me; I've done exploration based on breadth—the idea of going deep with a set of works (like film-makers or authors) has stronger appeal; and I'll be saving the time and energy that goes into exploring.

So, who are my 16 companions? Consider this list my recommendations for who to check out if you enjoy dream pop and shoegaze.

  1. A Sunny Day in Glasgow
  2. bdrmm
  3. The Bilinda Butchers
  4. Black Hearted Brother
  5. deary
  6. The Depreciation Guild
  7. Deserta
  8. DIIV
  9. Ecstasy of Saint Theresa
  10. Japanese Breakfast
  11. Medicine
  12. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
  13. The Radio Dept.
  14. School of Seven Bells
  15. Softcult
  16. Trementina