Technology Was Supposed to Save Us Time. Why Are We Still So Busy?
October 13, 2026 · 28:51
Technology keeps making work faster, but it doesn't seem to be giving us more time. We compare two very different relationships with screens one built around screen-heavy work and constant questions, the other more naturally pulled toward books, paper, walks and small offline moments and ask what balance looks like when being online is part of the job.
Show notes
Technology was supposed to save us time. Instead, it often seems to have raised the amount of work we expect ourselves to do.
For one of us, screens are where the work happens: software, management, research, writing, filmmaking, post-production, and increasingly AI. The problem isn't six hours of social-media scrolling. It is having work, information and answers available almost continuously and finding it difficult to decide when enough is enough.
The other has gradually moved some ordinary things back offline: a paper calendar, books, walks, cards, tea, and moments that don't require a device. That takes us into a conversation about why some of our best everyday memories happen away from screens, whether we ever really learned how to be bored, how living in America versus Europe changes the possibility of simply stepping outside, and whether greater efficiency actually gives us more free time.
AI enters the conversation too, not as the subject of the episode, but as another technology capable of making work dramatically faster while also increasing how much one person can realistically take on.
We don't arrive at a digital-detox formula. The more personal discovery is simpler: sometimes, when you can't create the stopping point for yourself, the person beside you can.
For one of us, screens are where the work happens: software, management, research, writing, filmmaking, post-production, and increasingly AI. The problem isn't six hours of social-media scrolling. It is having work, information and answers available almost continuously and finding it difficult to decide when enough is enough.
The other has gradually moved some ordinary things back offline: a paper calendar, books, walks, cards, tea, and moments that don't require a device. That takes us into a conversation about why some of our best everyday memories happen away from screens, whether we ever really learned how to be bored, how living in America versus Europe changes the possibility of simply stepping outside, and whether greater efficiency actually gives us more free time.
AI enters the conversation too, not as the subject of the episode, but as another technology capable of making work dramatically faster while also increasing how much one person can realistically take on.
We don't arrive at a digital-detox formula. The more personal discovery is simpler: sometimes, when you can't create the stopping point for yourself, the person beside you can.
Chapters
- 00:00 — Technology Was Supposed to Save Us Time
- 00:24 — When Screen Time Is the Job
- 02:50 — Why We Still Choose Paper Sometimes
- 07:01 — More Productivity, Less Free Time
- 11:05 — Why Our Best Memories Happen Offline
- 14:37 — Did We Forget How to Be Bored?
- 17:26 — Getting Offline in America vs. Europe
- 19:30 — Why “Digital Detox” Doesn’t Really Fit
- 21:20 — AI, Voice, and Keeping Some Distance
- 23:05 — When Someone Else Helps You Stop
- 25:44 — Why Efficiency Just Creates More Work
- 27:46 — Sometimes You Need Someone to Pull You Away