10x productivity, 10x anxiety
Part of AI Era Collection
AI isn't magic—it's a tool. What matters is how you use it.
I’ve been coding with AI for a year now.
Features that used to take two weeks now get done in a day. Images that required a designer can now be generated in half an hour. Frameworks that needed three days of documentation reading can now be figured out by just asking ChatGPT.
Undeniably, my efficiency has increased at least 10x.
But my anxiety has also increased at least 10x.
When watching a movie, I think: these two hours could let AI write an entire new feature.
When sleeping, I think: competitors are working overnight with Cursor.
When resting, I think: other people’s AI doesn’t need rest, so why should I?
AI is so powerful, if I’m not adding more useful features to my app, aren’t I letting down my users?
The vacuum cleaner paradox
“Four Thousand Weeks” mentions an interesting phenomenon:
After vacuum cleaners were invented, housewives didn’t get more relaxed. Because society’s standards for “clean” increased. Before, cleaning once a week was fine, now you have to vacuum every day.
AI is the same.
When one person can do the work of ten people, the boss won’t let you work just one hour. They’ll want you to do the work of twenty people.
When all indie hackers can build an MVP in a day, the market doesn’t get easier. It only gets harder to stand out.
Tools have improved, but expectations have improved faster.
The real problem
I found myself trapped:
Since AI lets me do more → I should do more → if I can’t finish it’s my problem → more anxiety → use more AI → infinite loop
This isn’t an efficiency problem. It’s FOMO.
Fear of being surpassed, fear of missing opportunities, fear of wasting AI’s potential.
The solution: set a ceiling
Eventually I realized something:
AI is a lever, not an accelerator.
A lever lets you move heavier things with less effort. But it doesn’t mean you have to keep levering until you’re exhausted.
My approach now:
- Maximum 5 hours of deep work per day (with or without AI)
- No prompts allowed outside work hours
- Time saved by AI goes to walks, reading, spacing out
- Focus on doing one thing
Let competitors hustle if they want.
I want to use AI to live better, not harder.