The Insight Journal https://aryantechie.com/blog The Insight Journal by Aryan Techie - Thoughtful writing about technology, personal growth, philosophy, and the intersection of code and clarity. Discover insights on building digital products, life as a CS student, and finding meaning in the modern world. en-us Wed, 15 Apr 2026 18:31:59 GMT Wed, 15 Apr 2026 18:31:59 GMT 60 AROICE RSS Generator © 2026 Aryan Techie. All rights reserved. Technology/Web Development/Personal Blog https://aryantechie.com/images/avatar-cropped.png The Insight Journal https://aryantechie.com/blog 144 144 Profile image for Aryan Techie aryan@aroice.in (Aryan Techie) aryan@aroice.in (Aryan Techie) <![CDATA[The Work That Compounds]]> https://aryantechie.com/blog/the-work-that-compounds https://aryantechie.com/blog/the-work-that-compounds Tue, 03 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Summary: Austin Kleon's book didn't teach me anything new. It just gave me permission to trust what I was already doing. Here's what changed when I stopped chasing perfect products and started documenting the messy process.

Permission to Trust My Instincts I just finished reading "Show Your Work!" by Austin Kleon, and it did something strange: it didn't change my mind about anything. Instead, it gave me language for instincts I'd been following blindly. I was already writing blogs. Building things like Ashes, Monkeybar, and Argon and putting them out there. Sharing half-formed thoughts because it felt like the right way to think and work. The book just gave structure to that instinct`. It reassured me that putting ...

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]]> Creativity blog aryan@aroice.in (Aryan Techie) The Insight Journal <![CDATA[The Butterfly Effect]]> https://aryantechie.com/blog/the-butterfly-effect https://aryantechie.com/blog/the-butterfly-effect Wed, 07 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Summary: Your present attitude and small choices right now are invisibly shaping who you'll become, so the key is to consciously choose actions today that align with the future you want.

"A butterfly flapping its wings in one place can eventually cause a tornado far away." That's the classic metaphor. Sounds poetic, almost mystical. But strip away the poetry and what you're left with is something far more unsettling: Tiny actions lead to massive results. And you can't always see it happening. What It Actually Means The butterfly effect isn't just a cool chaos theory concept. It's the idea that small actions can have big, unpredictable consequences. Edward Lorenz, the meteorologi...

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]]> Chaos Theory blog aryan@aroice.in (Aryan Techie) The Insight Journal <![CDATA[The Art of Selective Caring]]> https://aryantechie.com/blog/the-art-of-selective-caring https://aryantechie.com/blog/the-art-of-selective-caring Tue, 30 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Summary: How Mark Manson's Law of Avoidance taught me to stop caring about approval and start caring about what actually matters. The one concept that changed everything.

I was tired all the time without moving forward. Not physically exhausted — mentally drained. The kind of tired that comes from spending energy on opinions, explanations, and approval while the things that actually mattered got whatever scraps were left over. I'd explain my choices to people who didn't ask. Defend my timeline to people who wouldn't remember. Over-justify my decisions to people whose opinions changed nothing. And at the end of each day, I'd wonder why I had no energy left for the...

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]]> Philosophy blog aryan@aroice.in (Aryan Techie) The Insight Journal <![CDATA[Procrastination Isn't Laziness]]> https://aryantechie.com/blog/procrastination-is-not-laziness https://aryantechie.com/blog/procrastination-is-not-laziness Sat, 20 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Summary: Why we'd rather live in the possibility of greatness than risk proving we're ordinary. Every night I know what works, yet I still delay. It's not about not knowing—it's about not wanting to face what happens when I actually try.

Every Night, Same Ritual Every night before a serious work session, I perform the same ritual. I take my phone, turn on airplane mode, enable Do Not Disturb, and literally throw it onto my bed. Then I sit at my desk with nothing but my work. After a few minutes of discomfort, something magical happens: I hit flow state. Pure, focused, deep work. The kind where hours pass like minutes and you forget to eat. But here's the thing - I know this works. I've done it hundreds of times. Yet most nights,...

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]]> Psychology blog aryan@aroice.in (Aryan Techie) The Insight Journal <![CDATA[The Weight of Open Loops]]> https://aryantechie.com/blog/the-weight-of-open-loops https://aryantechie.com/blog/the-weight-of-open-loops Mon, 08 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Summary: I had 23 open loops draining my energy and didn't even know it. Every unfinished task, avoided conversation, and postponed decision was quietly stealing energy I could have used for anything else.

I had 23 open loops draining my energy and didn't even know it. The bill I kept putting off. The message I "forgot" to send. The decision I was avoiding. The room that's been messy for three weeks. The conversation I needed to have but kept postponing. The email to the college that's been sitting in my drafts for two months. Each one felt small. Manageable. "I'll do it later." But here's what I didn't realize: every single one was quietly stealing energy I could have been using for literally any...

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]]> Clarity blog aryan@aroice.in (Aryan Techie) The Insight Journal <![CDATA[The Jailer You Appointed Yourself]]> https://aryantechie.com/blog/the-jailer-you-appointed-yourself https://aryantechie.com/blog/the-jailer-you-appointed-yourself Sun, 23 Nov 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Summary: Three finished videos sit in my drafts folder, not because they're bad, but because they're not perfect. Here's how I stopped being my own jailer and why perfectionism is just addiction disguised as ambition.

I have three finished videos sitting in my drafts folder right now. Not "almost finished." Not "needs a few tweaks." Finished. Edited. Designed. Scripts polished. Ready to upload. One's about Memento Mori - the reminder that you're going to die and why that matters. Another breaks down a concept from "Same As Ever" that changed how I see patterns. The third... I don't even remember what it's about anymore, and that's exactly the problem. They've been sitting there for months. Not because they're...

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]]> Clarity blog aryan@aroice.in (Aryan Techie) The Insight Journal <![CDATA[MonkeyBar: When Breaking a Streak Breaks You Into Building]]> https://aryantechie.com/work/monkeybar https://aryantechie.com/work/monkeybar Fri, 14 Nov 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Summary: I lost my Monkeytype streak on November 8th. By November 10th, I had a GNOME extension that makes sure it never happens again. Because the best revenge against forgotten habits is making them impossible to ignore.

The Streak That Got Away November 8th, 2025. I woke up, went through my usual routine, worked all day, and went to bed. A perfectly normal day. Except I forgot one thing: my Monkeytype test. The next morning, I opened Monkeytype and saw it. That brutal reset. Current streak: 1 day. The number that used to be there? Gone. Just like that. It wasn't even a particularly long streak. But it stung. Not because I lost some arbitrary number, but because I knew I had been consistent. I had been typing ev...

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]]> work aryan@aroice.in (Aryan Techie) The Insight Journal <![CDATA[The Drug We Don't Call a Drug]]> https://aryantechie.com/blog/the-drug-we-dont-call-a-drug https://aryantechie.com/blog/the-drug-we-dont-call-a-drug Thu, 16 Oct 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Summary: When I could smell coffee in my urine, I knew it wasn't a habit anymore - it was an addiction. Here's what 182 days without caffeine taught me about dependency, control, and the invisible addictions we normalize.

I could smell coffee when I peed. Not faintly. Not a subtle hint. I mean I could distinctly smell coffee in my urine, like my body was literally saturated with it. That's when I knew: I wasn't someone who drinks coffee. I was someone addicted to it. My hands would shake without my consent. My fingers would tremble during work sessions. The jitters were constant. But the worst part? I'd normalized all of it. "I just love coffee," I'd tell people. "It helps me focus." Bullshit. I needed it to func...

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]]> Clairty blog aryan@aroice.in (Aryan Techie) The Insight Journal <![CDATA[Everything is a Remix]]> https://aryantechie.com/blog/everything-is-a-remix https://aryantechie.com/blog/everything-is-a-remix Wed, 01 Oct 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Summary: Why originality isn't about being first, it's about being true. How my 'original' video taught me that creativity is just honest remixing.

I made a video about music addiction that felt completely original. The video was about how music amplifies your emotional state, how we use it to escape silence, how it creates dependency. I talked about my own struggle with being unable to walk, work out, or exist without constant audio stimulation. How I was scared of being alone with my thoughts. How stopping music transformed my focus and forced me to face myself. <Media alt="weeky-commits-logo-design" aspectRatio="16/9" radius="s" ...

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]]> Creativity blog aryan@aroice.in (Aryan Techie) The Insight Journal <![CDATA[Weekly Commits: Making GitHub Activity Beautiful on Your Desktop]]> https://aryantechie.com/work/weekly-commits https://aryantechie.com/work/weekly-commits Sun, 28 Sep 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Summary: Sometimes the best projects aren't the ones you start from scratch, but the ones that speak to you so deeply that you can't help but make them better.

When Code Calls to You There are projects you build, and then there are projects that find you. Weekly Commits was the latter. I discovered this GNOME Shell extension while browsing through GitHub one evening, looking for ways to make my Linux desktop more productive. The concept was beautiful in its simplicity: transform your GitHub contribution activity into a colorful widget that lives right in your desktop's top bar. Seven little boxes, each representing a day of the week, glowing with diffe...

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]]> work aryan@aroice.in (Aryan Techie) The Insight Journal <![CDATA[Life is a Double Pendulum]]> https://aryantechie.com/blog/life-is-a-double-pendulum https://aryantechie.com/blog/life-is-a-double-pendulum Tue, 16 Sep 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Summary: Why uncertainty isn't a problem to solve, it's a state to surf. How embracing chaos instead of fighting it changes everything about how you experience life.

Day before yesterday, creator of Once-UI from Europe sent me a $50 gift out of nowhere. I'd been contributing to their project recently and have a pretty good connection with them. Then completely out of left field - a $50 gift shows up in my inbox. I was buzzing! Something about unexpected generosity just hits different. But then reality hit: I might have to pay customs fees that could end up costing me. So now I'm hanging in this weird limbo. Will I pay fees? Will I not? The gift could end up ...

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]]> Philosophy blog aryan@aroice.in (Aryan Techie) The Insight Journal <![CDATA[The Last Generation That Will Remember Boredom]]> https://aryantechie.com/blog/the-last-generation-that-will-remember-boredom https://aryantechie.com/blog/the-last-generation-that-will-remember-boredom Sat, 13 Sep 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Summary: That panic when your phone is in another room? That's your brain screaming for constant stimulation. We've eliminated every empty moment, and we have no idea what we're losing. Here's why boredom might be the most important thing you're not doing.

What we actually lost when we eliminated empty moments, and why it matters for creativity I haven't been truly bored in the last few years. Not the kind where you stare at the ceiling and your mind starts wandering into strange territories. Not the kind where you suddenly get hit with a random idea that changes everything. Not the kind where you actually sit with yourself and discover what you're really thinking about. Last week, I tried an experiment. I put my phone in another room and sat on m...

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]]> Clarity blog aryan@aroice.in (Aryan Techie) The Insight Journal <![CDATA[Men are Happiest When They Build Something]]> https://aryantechie.com/blog/men-are-happiest-when-they-build-something https://aryantechie.com/blog/men-are-happiest-when-they-build-something Fri, 29 Aug 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Summary: True happiness doesn't come from consuming, it comes from building. We evolved to create, solve, and construct—yet modern life keeps us passive. Here's why picking up tools (physical or digital) and making something with your hands might be the antidote to everything that feels wrong.

There's something almost primal about the satisfaction that hits when you finish building something with your own hands, your own mind, your own effort. I felt it when I published my first YouTube video, every small milestone during editing gave me a rush that scrolling social media never could. I felt it while debugging my first Chrome extension, watching each function finally work as intended. I felt it mixing audio for a song I recorded, hearing something I created come alive through speakers...

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]]> Clarity blog aryan@aroice.in (Aryan Techie) The Insight Journal <![CDATA[Work Silences The Mind]]> https://aryantechie.com/blog/work-silences-the-mind https://aryantechie.com/blog/work-silences-the-mind Sat, 16 Aug 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Summary: Your overthinking brain isn't broken, it's just unemployed. Here's the counterintuitive science of why the right kind of work is the fastest path to mental peace.

My brain has been running a 24/7 anxiety podcast for the last few years. You know the episodes, greatest hits like "That Thing You Said in 2021 Was Weird," "Tomorrow's Catastrophic Possibilities," and the ever-popular "Analyzing This Text Message for Hidden Meanings for Two Hours Straight." I tried everything to make it stop. Meditation apps that promised instant zen. Breathing exercises that made me dizzy. Journal prompts about gratitude. Books about mindfulness. Basically tried a lot of things...

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]]> Clarity blog aryan@aroice.in (Aryan Techie) The Insight Journal <![CDATA[This Too Shall Pass]]> https://aryantechie.com/blog/this-too-shall-pass https://aryantechie.com/blog/this-too-shall-pass Wed, 06 Aug 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Summary: The pain you're carrying right now? It's not permanent. But neither is the joy you're chasing. Here's what I'm learning about the brutal beauty of impermanence.

I'm writing this with a heavy chest and foggy mind, so forgive me if the words don't come out perfectly. Right now, I'm sitting with feelings that don't have names. The kind that make your body feel both empty and too full at the same time. The kind that make you understand why people say heartbreak is physical, because it fuckin is. But here's what I keep telling myself, even when I don't want to hear it: this feeling, as intense and overwhelming as it is right now, is temporary. The Gravity of...

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]]> Reflection blog aryan@aroice.in (Aryan Techie) The Insight Journal <![CDATA[The Last Chance to Speak]]> https://aryantechie.com/blog/the-last-chance-to-speak https://aryantechie.com/blog/the-last-chance-to-speak Sat, 02 Aug 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Summary: You think you have time, but you don't. Here's what I learned about saying what matters before it's too late.

You think you have time. But you don't. I'm writing this more for me than for you, dear reader. Because I learned this the hard way, and maybe if I put these words out here, they'll stop haunting me at 3 AM. (just maybe.) We carry words in our chests. Important ones. And we think we have forever to say them. The Clock That Never Stops Here's the raw truth: every second you're reading this, time is slipping by. Right now. As your eyes move across these words, you're getting older. The people you ...

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]]> Reflection blog aryan@aroice.in (Aryan Techie) The Insight Journal <![CDATA[Hope is the New Drug]]> https://aryantechie.com/blog/hope-is-the-new-drug https://aryantechie.com/blog/hope-is-the-new-drug Thu, 31 Jul 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Summary: I used to think hope was beautiful until I realized it was keeping me addicted to a future that never comes. Here's why your optimism might be your biggest obstacle.

The Addiction I Didn't See Coming Last week, I was cleaning out my notes app when I noticed something weird. I had three different lists: "Goals for 2023," "Goals for 2024," and my draft "Goals for 2025." In that list many were almost identical. Same dreams, same ambitions, same "this year will be different" energy. But here I was, two years later, still hoping instead of doing. That's when it hit me: I wasn't goal-setting. I was hope-dealing. The Beautiful Lie We Tell Ourselves Hope feels so pu...

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]]> Clarity blog aryan@aroice.in (Aryan Techie) The Insight Journal <![CDATA[The Happiness Equation]]> https://aryantechie.com/blog/the-happiness-equation https://aryantechie.com/blog/the-happiness-equation Mon, 28 Jul 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Summary: A 98-year-old billionaire's secret to happiness isn't what you'd expect. Here's why lowering your expectations might be the key to actually enjoying your life.

A Strange Realization at 2 AM I was lying in bed scrolling through LinkedIn (bad habit, I know) when I saw a post about someone my age landing their "dream job." Instead of feeling inspired, I felt... disappointed? Not in them, but in myself for not being "there" yet. Just a few minutes earlier, I felt okay. Content, even. But then something shifted. Suddenly, I felt behind in a race I didn’t even know I was running. That’s when it clicked: my happiness had just shifted based purely on compariso...

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]]> Clairty blog aryan@aroice.in (Aryan Techie) The Insight Journal <![CDATA[The Art of Not Reading]]> https://aryantechie.com/blog/the-art-of-not-reading https://aryantechie.com/blog/the-art-of-not-reading Fri, 25 Jul 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Summary: I spent thousands of rupees on books last year and finished 8. Here's what my dusty bookshelf taught me about identity, intention, and the dopamine rush of false learning.

A Small Moment That Changed Everything Last Wednesday, I was reorganizing my bookshelf for a video call when something clicked. As I moved books around to look more "intellectual," I realized most of them had never been opened. Not just unfinished, literally never cracked open. It was one of those quiet moments where you suddenly see yourself clearly. I wasn't a reader who collected books. I was someone who collected the identity of being a reader. The ₹16,000 Wake-Up Call Here's my slightly emb...

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]]> Identity blog aryan@aroice.in (Aryan Techie) The Insight Journal <![CDATA[Designing Argon: Your Shield Against Digital Chaos]]> https://aryantechie.com/work/argon https://aryantechie.com/work/argon Fri, 25 Jul 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Summary: When every website competes for your attention, how do you fight back? Argon transforms your browser into a fortress of focus with intelligent blocking, wellness reminders, and the tools to reclaim your digital life.

The War for Your Attention Your browser has become a battlefield. Every tab you open is an invitation for distraction (except Ashes). Social media feeds designed to be addictive. News sites that trigger anxiety. Shopping platforms that exploit impulse buying. Meanwhile, your actual work sits in another tab, waiting. I watched myself fall into the same patterns daily: opening Instagram "just for a minute," falling into Twitter rabbit holes, or finding myself on YouTube at 2 AM wondering how I g...

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]]> work aryan@aroice.in (Aryan Techie) The Insight Journal <![CDATA[Ashes: When Your Browser Becomes a Mirror]]> https://aryantechie.com/work/ashes https://aryantechie.com/work/ashes Sun, 20 Jul 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Summary: What happens when you replace empty new tabs with the most honest truth of all? Ashes transforms every browser new tab into a gentle reminder that your time here isn't infinite.

The Problem That Haunts Us All Picture this: you open a new browser tab. What do you see? Usually nothing meaningful. Maybe bookmarks you never use, or worse, distracting news feeds that pull you into endless scrolling. Meanwhile, something precious slips away unnoticed: your time. The average person spends over 10 years of their life just browsing the internet. Ten years. That's a decade of moments that could have been spent creating something meaningful, connecting with people who matter, or...

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]]> work aryan@aroice.in (Aryan Techie) The Insight Journal <![CDATA[Smart Scroll: When Hardware Becomes Smarter Than Its Design]]> https://aryantechie.com/work/smartscroll https://aryantechie.com/work/smartscroll Thu, 17 Jul 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Summary: Why settle for single-purpose controls? Smart Scroll transforms your volume knob into an intelligent scroll wheel that knows exactly when you need it most.

The Joy of a Perfect Control There's something deeply satisfying about a well-designed physical control. The smooth rotation of a volume knob. The precise click of a mechanical switch. The tactile feedback that tells you exactly what's happening without looking. I spend hours every day scrolling through code, documents, and web pages. My mouse wheel gets a workout, but it's not always convenient. Sometimes my hands are positioned perfectly on the keyboard, and reaching for the mouse breaks my fl...

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]]> work aryan@aroice.in (Aryan Techie) The Insight Journal