Typewriter

Ben.md

455 words · 2 min read by Ben Wilkoff
SwiftScan Feb 23, 2026 3.33 PM.jpeg
Transcript read by a machine from the typewritten page. The typos are mine or the machine’s.

It is unclear to me just how formalized I need to be in order to be productive, in order# to be happy. Are those two separate t hings? Are they impossible to do together? I like feedback, but I donst really want to do expra work as a result ofit. I like setting coals, but I really only like being accountable to myself. I like I'm focused on the right things, butlI don't really want someone having a strong understanding that I'm doing the right work and

else to tell me I'm not.

I do a. lot on my own. I have autonomy over my work. And yet, it does make it harder to receive some of the recognition that my no 11 ten ten ton

own ego tells me that I deserve. And it definitely tells me quite often.

Hey, Ben... you are so good at this. Like, better than anyone else could be. Possibly better than anyone else ever had been. You don't need to write goals. You are doing fine without them. You don't need yet another system to track things. Your brain is totally sufficient.

ut I know it isn't true. At least not in the wars that remish

I do, and I know that times during which I had systems to get things done have been some of the happiest and most productive of my life. I also know that I wrote 4000 words last Fåiday in 5 hours because. of someone else's system that I opted into.

But, I think that may be it. It has been a long time since I've had a system that someone else set up for me in order to help davisate work or my life. It has been a long time since Iove been inspired by someone else's vision of #cästr work such that I wanted for it to become my own. Perhaps it is now time to start thinking like that.

I am coming to learn that AI works best when has the ability to 'remember' all of its goals, have a set of working agreenents and keep track of all work that is in process and upcoming• I doc, and a Ben MD that shows exactly how I work best? wonder if I work that way too. Do I need a Scratchpad, a.decisions

And if so, what would that look like? If I read my own context, my own beliefs before starting every work session? If I wrote down the work accomplished and the next set of work in my scratchpad? If I was concrete about the decisions I was making so that I could better determine what I was saying yes and no to?

Let's play with that a bit.