Hey, Reader!

Let me start by being honest with you about something...

AI is making me feel behind in a way I've never felt before. Not behind on one thing, but behind on everything. Every week there's a new tool, a new workflow, a new way I'm apparently supposed to be working. Every time I think I've caught up, the goalpost moves. And, it's not just me. There's a whole clutch of designers, creatives and business owners on the bleeding edge of technology who are also feeling behind.

And I share this to say: if you're feeling behind, you're in good company!

My digital career started in San Francisco, during the dotcom boom. I love technology and have always embraced it to support and inspire me in my work. And AI is no different. I love exploring how it can help me (mostly for systems, productivity and research). But, I've also been noticing my own levels of anxiety and overwhelm rising around AI. It's like I just can't keep up fast enough.

Here's what I've been doing about it...

3 things my experiment is teaching me

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1. Your hands know how to slow your brain down.

Every day this month I’ve been spending fifteen minutes cutting a tiny stamp from a found image and sticking it in my sketchbook. No phone. No screen. Just scissors, paper, and a glue stick. By the time I’m done, something has settled. It’s an amazing little reset button.

2. Noticing is a skill... and we’re all losing it.

When you’re looking for images to turn into stamps, you start seeing differently. The catalogue you’d normally bin. The birthday card you can’t throw away. You slow down enough to notice what’s actually beautiful and cut it out. I think that noticing muscle is what AI is quietly eroding in us and it’s definitely worth protecting.

3. Small and consistent beats big and impressive, all day long.

31 stamps. One a day. I’m on day 11 and I have a growing sketchbook of tiny beautiful things that I've made. Not for anyone else. Just for me. That feels quietly satisfying to me right now.

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Follow along on my Substack, The Joy Experiments, and try your own tiny experiment.

2 things to read

✦ "I feel behind" If you want to be in the good company of others who feel behind, then read this LinkedIn post so you don't feel quite so overwhelmed or lost. (It's a short read, but the comments are rich.) Maybe it's great to realise that we're all figuring it out together.

✦ Do/Fly If you want a nice short read, filled with advice, encouragement, and a reminder that life's too short to not pursue your passion, read this book by Gavin Strange.

1 bold action to take this week

If any of this resonates, I've been running the May Stamp Experiment over on my Substack, Joy Experiments. It's a 31-day creative challenge and there's still time to join in. Fifteen minutes a day, found images, a glue stick. That's the whole thing.

👉 joyexperiments.substack.com​

With love & curiosity,
xo, Louise 🫶

P.S. Hit reply and tell me how you're feeling about AI: Love it? Hate it? Totally overwhelmed by it? I really want to know how you feel.

Spread the Love. Share with a Friend.

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