A baseline reset ✍️

18 Jun, 2025

I cleaned my phone yesterday. Removing apps I didn’t need any longer, but also those I kept around for some vague sense of "purpose."

Unhinged is a great example. It’s an amazing app for micro-journaling, tracking thoughts and connections with others, but most of this I already do in Obsidian. So why keep updating both platforms? Doing so drains time and mental bandwidth I could use for more meaningful things.

This action was triggered by a recurring thought I’ve had since my vacation over Easter, and again after a recent weekend away with the family. On both occasions, I was away from home and away from the invisible triggers that normally guide, or even dictate, my behaviour. At home, I might sit down and instantly reach for the remote or my phone without thinking. But when I was away, those habits seemed to vanish.

Despite having more free time in the evenings, I didn’t feel the need to fill it with the things I do at home. I didn’t check all my usual apps. I used only what felt essential. Being away from my usual environment allowed me to reset to a baseline. And that baseline was far more minimal than I expected. It was enough. I didn’t feel pulled in every direction or pressured to fill every moment.

In that same vein, I found myself adjusting more easily to reduced comfort, like rougher sheets, a creaky bed, lukewarm showers. Things I’d usually notice at home didn’t bother me. I accepted them. Somehow, that mindset shift was easier to access while being away. Maybe because everything around me was different and I had no expectations of luxury.

This reflection reminded me of the hedonic treadmill, of how we constantly adapt to improved conditions and raise our standards without even noticing. But when you break away from routine, you get a clearer sense of what you actually need to feel good. And it’s usually less than you think.

I also noticed how much easier it was to stick to good habits while away: sleeping better, not scrolling mindlessly, going outside, exercising, being fully present. It makes me wonder: do we fall into bad habits at home because we feel less good, or do we feel less good because of those bad habits?

Even simple tasks like uploading photos and journaling came easier during moments away. I would take pictures with my camera, sort them in the evening, upload them to Polarsteps, and write a short reflection for family and friends. Back home, I still haven’t touched the photos from a birthday a month ago. The workflow is the same, but the willingness is gone.

In a similar way, I noticed that when I'm pressed for time, on a day with only a small window available, I tend to operate in survival mode: I only do what I feel is necessary. There's less mental space for extra distractions or side projects. This forces me to be more focused and intentional.

So perhaps the real question is: is it the vacation or being away from home that resets my baseline? Or is it simply the interruption of my usual patterns, the change in daily workflow, the shift in triggers, the fresh context? Maybe I don’t need to escape to reset. Maybe I just need to disrupt the automation of my everyday life more often.

Whatever these disruptions may be, I'm now much more aware of them and reflect on them more seriously. I take these, what I call baseline resets, as a clear sign of what I feel is essential to me, and what is just weight slowing me down.

Too often, I see now, I start to do something, thinking I need it or how it would benefit me in the future, while I actually don't have the time or mental bandwidth for it.

Taking a step back from time to time, stopping to always operate in automated mode, is what I need to do more often.

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#2025 #2025-06 #article #blogging