I didn't want to lose the tokens. Didn't want to lose the thread. I'd stay up too late, chasing one more output, one more iteration, thisclose to the thing.
The wonder and the possibility are real, and I'm not knocking either one.
I should have seen it coming. Back in 2024, pair programming with Nate (I wrote about it then), I'd complain about headaches and feeling out of sorts earlier in the day than I used to, and he'd just say, "Ash, time is no longer linear." What used to take hours took minutes. Understanding what we'd built didn't.
But routines are better.
So I started building the systems around myself too. Got us on Clean Cookin': meals prepped, ready to grab, no decision fatigue at 7pm. My son works at BeetThyme, formerly SnackLab, so we've got fresh juice three times a day. We're healthier than we've ever been.
The same instinct that builds platforms builds lives. Set the system up once. Let it run while you rest.
Go to bed. Even when it feels like you're thisclose. Especially then. The models will still be there tomorrow. I need to be, too.
Because now I wake up at 5am sometimes, and the birds are already going, chirping through the fog like they've been doing it forever. A whole existence I never woke up to realize was there.
Turns out the wonder was on the other side of the discipline.
Ashley