Priorities

I read a LinkedIn post yesterday (which was probably where I went wrong) where this guy was responding to someone who asked how anyone has time to learn AI.

In the post, he said (I'm paraphrasing) that what you don't often see is the cost of what happens when someone chooses to prioritize learning AI. His cost has been going out and socializing less, no longer reading, reducing his tv time to practically nothing (although he mentioned this might increase as some sports season starts), and reducing the amount of time he works out and sleeps. Essentially, the majority of his free time had become AI.

And in the comments, everyone basically celebrated because 1. it was so nice to hear someone admit the cost of being ambitious and 2. they were equally ambitious and also doing similar tradeoffs in their own life.

Which kind of broke my brain because... what the f*@k??? And yes, in my opinion, this really does deserve a strong expletive because the way I interpreted what I was reading was that all of these people had bought into believing that the only way to win the ambition game was to throw away most or all of the things that brought them joy.

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All I wanted to comment (but couldn't figure out how to say without sounding like a troll) was, ARE YOU OKAY?? DO YOU HAVE ANYTHING PROVIDING YOU JOY IN YOUR LIFE?? IS AI NOW YOUR IDENTITY?? BLINK TWICE IF YOU NEED HELP.

That's kind of a joke, but it's kind of not. Because the life that these people described – where people are spending hours of their free time learning how to work more optimally with a machine, where people are removing all the things they previously chose to do because it was fun, and where people believe the only thing that matters in their life is what's going to get them ahead in the game of late-stage capitalism – sounds f*@king miserable.

Now, I'm the first to admit that I'm being pretty judgmental. Maybe this is something that does fulfill these people. Maybe these sacrifices are only supposed to be short term until they feel confident in AI (although, AI is changing every day, so that day might never come). Maybe I'm not representing what's happening in a fair way.

But if I'm judgmental, it's only because this was me fifteen years ago. I stayed late at work, took my laptop home so I could work nights and weekends, didn't have many friends where I lived, and spent any free time I allowed myself watching tv, going to doctor's appointments, and obsessing over what more I could do to prove myself at work. And friends, IT SUCKED.

Sure, I did well at work. I got promotions and raises without even asking for them. When the boss went away on vacation, I stepped in to take her place even though I had only graduated college a few years earlier. Eventually, when the boss left and started her own company, she desperately wanted me to join her team and I did.

But I was totally lonely, I was constantly in pain from sitting in front of a laptop all day, I was stressed 24/7, my health was in shambles, I lived in a state of constant burn out, and I really didn't like myself (and quite honestly, most people at work didn't like me either).

And what it took me way too many years to figure out was that it wasn't worth it.

Now, maybe you are someone who loves what they do and does it all day, every day by choice. Maybe you think AI is the coolest thing ever and all you want to do when you go home at the end of the day is pair with Claude Code on a neat app you thought up on your evening commute.

If that is you, more power to you.

However, if you are someone who is doing these things, I think it is worth taking a pause and asking: would you do them if no one was telling you that your future depends on you being good at AI?

Or to put it a bit more drastically, are you going to be on your deathbed wishing you had spent more time working with AI or doing something else?

Because all of us have a limited amount of time on this planet and you have a choice. A choice to prioritize the things that you feel are important, or to prioritize what other people tell you are important.

This is true of anything, of course. It's not just work or AI. There are plenty of ways to waste your time.

But when other people tell you what's important to prioritize, just know that they almost always have an agenda. When work and the tech geniuses of the world are telling you it's AI or bust, it's because it benefits them. They're the ones who get the majority of the profits (assuming AI ever makes any money). They're the ones who get more of your time. They're the ones who get all the data you're inputting into their system to build a profile on you. And if they can convince you that AI is the only thing worth spending your free time on, they can probably convince you of other things as well when it benefits them.

But Amy, you might say, only the people who are AI experts will survive the job market 5 years from now.

To which I say: well, maybe.

Here's another possibility: the AI bubble bursts, the people who spent so much time automating everything with AI don't remember how to do their jobs without AI doing the heavy lifting, and nobody wants to hire these people.

Another possibility: someone spends all their time becoming an AI expert and their job still gets automated. People who are AI experts and AI generalists are a dime a dozen and it's practically impossible to get a job.

Another possibility: someone becomes an AI expert, they have a secured future, and they hate every second of it. Meanwhile, other people have figured out how to earn a living with minimal or no AI knowledge and they continue to feel fulfilled.

Maybe some of these overlap. Maybe (almost definitely) there are hundreds of other possibilities. The point is, nobody knows how the future is going to pan out. And I don't believe that anyone making a profit off your AI usage is ever going to be a source of advice that's in your best interest. Even if they're right and AI takes over most jobs that exist today, it doesn't mean their strategy for how to navigate this world is going to be helpful to anyone but themselves. At a minimum, it's certainly not the only strategy.

What I do believe is that you are your best source of what's the next right move for you. No one knows your strengths like you do. No one is going to fight for you like you will. You are an infinite source of creative possibility and problem solving. But all this requires you to get to know yourself well. It requires you get quiet and listen not just to your mind, but the deeper parts of yourself (like your intuition) and trust that those parts of you want what they want for a reason.

You become a far more empowered person when you spend your precious time on the things that truly excite you and make you feel alive. It's a way to signal to your body that you trust your instincts, it's a natural way to be energized about what you're doing, and you just feel better mentally because you actually look forward to what you spend your time on.

I know I severely underestimated how much actually enjoying what I was doing day in and day out mattered when I first entered the job market. I assumed that as long as it paid a living wage and offered some job security, I had the capability to do whatever was required of me. And I did do what was required of me. Human beings have an incredible ability to adapt and do whatever is necessary to survive.

But I am so much better at what I do when I enjoy it. It makes me want to put in the extra effort to take my work to the next level without relying on the fear of losing a paycheck to drive me forward.

I come to work a much more energized person when I'm experimenting with herbalism, writing, singing, catching up with friends, and reading in my spare time. They make me more creative in all areas of my life and they help me build relationships more easily because the energy I feel when I talk about these activities is contagious.

And, of course, I have so much more energy, so much less anxiety, and so much less pain when I'm working out regularly, sleeping 8-9 hours a night, and taking time to be with myself. These things allows me to focus better and be more present with my work when I'm doing it.

Now more than ever, many employers are vying for every inch of time they can possibly absorb. But it's a poor assumption that the more time you put into work, the more you will get done. We are not robots. We're human beings, and human beings need:

• Rest to function well and think clearly. Rest allows us to connect dots subconsciously, improve our memory, decompress from the stresses of the day, and take time to understand what we need to feel our best.
• A community of people around us to help us feel a sense of belonging, challenge us to be better people, and give us purpose (because what we build and do is often for other people).
• Movement to move our lymph (which strengthens the effectiveness of our immune system), build strength (so we don't injure ourselves or wake up in pain), reduce depression, and increase energy.
• A change of pace and activity to help spark new ideas, build new neural pathways, and get exposed to points of view that are completely different from our own.
• Sunshine to help us wake up fully, absorb vitamin D (which most of us are deficient in), and feel happier.
• Nutritious food and plenty of water.

These "extras" are often the things we deprioritize because they don't generate money or aren't productive, but once you have them in your life it becomes clear they aren't a waste of time. They are the things that make you a badass at work and at life. Even the magic of AI can't fill these gaps if you are lacking in any of these.

And getting back to my initial questions, if the only things you spend time on are the tasks that make money or prove your ability to be good at your job, is that a life you're going to look back on and feel was worth it? Or are you going to regret all the things you missed out on because you were too busy chasing ambition and proving your worth?

I let the fear of falling behind control my life for years before I finally wised up, and I desperately wish I could go back and change how I spent those years. They are years that deeply shape my perspective now on how to live, but I will never get that time back.

No matter what things make your life worth living (and that includes building AI expertise if it's a genuine interest that comes from your own curiosity and not outside influence), my hope is that you walk away from this post doubling down on those.

Because time is our most precious commodity in the world. Please spend yours accordingly, and I will try to do the same.

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