DEV Community: koshirok096

When Stress Disguises Itself as Rational Planning (Bite-size Article)

koshirok096 — Fri, 22 May 2026 21:09:03 +0000

Introduction

Hello. Today, I want to write a short article about something I recently noticed while working. This is partly a note to myself, and partly a reminder.
Over the past few weeks, I had been feeling a little overwhelmed by everything I needed to do.
Every day, I had the feeling that things were not moving forward the way I wanted. When I looked back on the weekend, I found that many of the things I had expected to finish were still unfinished. But I could not clearly tell what the actual problem was.
I vaguely felt that I needed to change something, so I tried adjusting my task management, changing my schedule, and tweaking different parts of my workflow. But nothing really changed.

Looking Back, I Noticed the Real Problem

So the other day, I decided to take some time and look back at several days that had not gone well.
As I reviewed them, I noticed a common pattern. On those days, I had almost always added something unexpected to my schedule during the day. And the trigger was usually the moment when I felt that I was already slightly behind.
In other words, every time I felt behind, I was unconsciously trying to catch up.

When I think about it now, this was a reaction to stress. But in that moment, I did not feel like I was stressed at all.
“If I make some progress on this today, I can recover a little bit of the delay.”

When I thought that way and acted on it, it felt like a calm and realistic decision.

I did not think stress was driving my judgment. I thought I was simply looking at the situation and adjusting my plan rationally.

Looking back, it seems obvious. But in the moment, I did not notice it at all.

The Loop I Found

As I continued reflecting on it, I started to see a pattern.

I fall a little behind
↓
I think, “I should be able to catch up a little”
  ※ At this point, it feels like a rational decision
↓
The plan becomes unrealistic, so I either cannot finish it or the quality drops
↓
I fall further behind
↓
I feel stressed again

The problem was not just falling behind itself. The real issue was that the stress created after falling behind disguised itself as “rational judgment,” and I kept pushing myself without realizing it.

Why Putting It Into Words Helps

At first, I thought the way to break this loop was to become the kind of person who does not feel stressed when plans fall behind. But that is difficult to do in a short period of time.

What felt more realistic was to pause when I noticed the stress.

More specifically, to put it into words.

“Maybe I am feeling stressed because I am behind.”
“Is this really something I need to do today, or am I just trying to catch up?”

When you feel overwhelmed by too many tasks, “putting it into words” may not seem directly related to the problem. It does not reduce the number of tasks. It does not erase the delay.
But in this case, the problem was happening at the cognitive level. Stress was mixing into my judgment unconsciously. If that is the case, the intervention also needs to happen at the cognitive level.

Putting the feeling into words is a way to make the stress visible. Once it becomes visible, it becomes easier to notice when I am being pulled into it.

Conclusion

When things are not going well, I quickly start thinking, “I need to change my method.” But this time, I realized that the issue was one step before that.

I thought I was making decisions, but I was actually being moved by stress. Noticing that “I thought I was being rational” may be the turning point.
The next time I feel the same way, I want to first put into words what I am reacting to. That alone may help me act a little differently.

As a side note, the thing that helped me notice this stress was a conversation with Claude. I think the same thing could probably happen by talking to another person.
When I tried to explain the situation I was stuck in, I finally started to see what I had been reacting to. I wrote in this article that putting stress into words makes it visible, but in fact, the reason I started writing this article was that I had already experienced that process.
Depending on the AI tool and how you use it, talking to AI can be a relatively easy option when it feels hard to talk to someone else, or when your thoughts are too messy to organize on your own. If you ever feel similarly overwhelmed, you might try explaining the situation to an AI and checking whether stress has quietly mixed into your judgment or actions.

Thank you for reading.

Learning the Term “Tool Sprawl” Helped Me Rethink My Distance from Tools (Bite-size Article)

koshirok096 — Fri, 15 May 2026 20:35:42 +0000

Introduction

Whenever I discover a new tool that might be useful for work or personal use, I like to try it. If something catches my attention, I often touch it at least once. At the same time, I am quite careful about whether I actually bring it into my main working environment.

When I try a new tool, there is often a moment when I think, “This might make my work easier.” But at the same time, I also start thinking about how to manage it, how to organize its usage, and whether it can really fit into my existing workflow. Because of that, I often use a tool briefly and then end up leaving it alone.

In the past, I sometimes felt that this meant I was not using tools well enough, or that I was being too conservative.

I tried something, but did not continue using it.
I created an account, used it a little, and then stopped.

Those small unfinished feelings sometimes stayed with me.

Learning the Term “Tool Sprawl”

Recently, I learned the term tool sprawl.

Simply put, it refers to a state where tools increase in an uncontrolled or disorganized way. Each tool may look useful on its own, but before you know it, you may have several tools with similar purposes, and it becomes unclear which one should be used for what.

For example, you may have multiple places to write notes. You may have several task management tools. Even with AI tools, there are now many options such as ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Perplexity.

Of course, having more options is not bad in itself. By trying new tools, you may find something that fits you well. In fact, I also enjoy trying new tools.

However, I think the real issue is not simply the number of tools. The issue is that you have to keep thinking about how to use them properly.

Which tool did I write this in?
Which tool should I use for this task?
Among similar tools, which one should I continue using?
What should I do with the tools I am not using?

Each of these decisions may look small. But when they pile up, they take up more mental space than expected.

This is where the idea of _cognitive load_ becomes relevant.

Cognitive load, simply put, is the idea that there is a limit to how much information the brain can process at one time. It is a concept often used in educational psychology, and it is related to Cognitive Load Theory, which became widely known through John Sweller’s 1988 paper and related work.

Human working memory cannot process that many things at the same time. When information such as tool usage, storage locations, notifications, and workflow rules keeps increasing, the attention available for the actual work gradually decreases.

For example:

Time spent wondering, “Where did I write this?”
The mental cost of switching context every time you move between apps
Noise from notifications coming from multiple places
A vague anxiety like, “Am I using this tool properly?”

These are not the work itself. But they still consume mental resources.

Tools are supposed to make work easier. But at some point, managing the tools themselves can become part of the work.

That was the part that made the most sense to me when I learned the term tool sprawl.

I Am Not Seriously Struggling with It

To be honest, I do not feel that I am seriously struggling with tool sprawl.

Rather, I think I am the type of person who likes trying new tools, but is careful about making them part of my main workflow. For example, I used ChatGPT for a long time, but even after trying Claude, Perplexity, and Gemini, I did not immediately bring them into the center of my workflow.

Recently, as I wrote in another article, I started using Claude more seriously in addition to my almost ChatGPT-only workflow. But that was not an impulsive switch. It was a decision I made after thinking about it quite carefully.

I used to see this cautious tendency as a somewhat passive attitude. Maybe I should use more tools properly. Maybe I am falling behind new technology. I sometimes felt that way.

But after learning the term tool sprawl, my perspective changed a little.

Trying and Adopting Are Different Things

Trying a new tool and adopting it into your main environment are two different decisions.

Trying itself is not a bad thing. In fact, there are many things you cannot know unless you try them. So I think it is good to stay aware of new tools and try things that seem potentially useful, as long as it does not become too much.

However, if you try to “properly use” every tool you test, the burden starts to increase.

In that sense, briefly trying a tool and then leaving it alone is not necessarily a failure. If there is little harm, it may simply mean that you naturally filtered out something that did not fit you.

Also, even if you do not use a tool as your main tool right away, touching it once still has value. When you actually try it, you develop an impression or feeling about that tool. Even if you do not use it now, you may later face a different problem and remember, “Maybe that tool could help.”

In other words, trying a tool is not only about adopting it immediately. It can also be a way of keeping a future option somewhere in your mind.

I have written several articles on Dev.to about how I use tools in my daily workflow, including tips and hacks around tools such as Logseq, Obsidian, Notion, ChatGPT, and Claude.

But looking back, there was a lot of trial and error before those tools became part of my workflow. In some cases, I compared one tool with another, used it for a while, and gradually integrated only the ones that remained useful.

In other words, I have not continued using every tool I tried. Actually, there are many tools that I touched once but never really adopted.

Maybe the danger is not increasing the number of tools itself. The danger may be trying to integrate every tool you try into your work and life.

Conclusion

The reason I wrote this article was that I learned the concept of tool sprawl.

It felt like a vague feeling I had never fully put into words finally had a name. I like trying new tools, but I become careful when deciding whether to bring them into my main workflow. That caution may not simply be conservatism. It may be a natural response to avoid increasing cognitive load too much.

I think my own way of thinking is probably part of it too. I often wonder, “Is there a better tool?” or “Is my current way of working inefficient?” or “Should I try another tool?”

Of course, looking for better options is not a bad thing. But if I keep questioning my current environment every time, my attention may shift from using tools to constantly choosing tools.

So the next time I try a new tool, I want to first touch it lightly. Then, instead of judging it too quickly, I want to later ask myself, “Is this worth bringing into my main workflow?”

Trying something and adopting it.

Just separating those two decisions may make my relationship with tools a little easier.

Thank you for reading!

From ChatGPT to Claude: You Don’t Really Know a Tool Until You Keep Using It (Bite-size Article)

koshirok096 — Fri, 08 May 2026 18:44:07 +0000

Introduction

Recently, I switched my main AI tool from ChatGPT to Claude (though to be precise, I’m still using both for now).

I had been using Claude here and there as more of a secondary tool for some time, but ChatGPT had always been my main one. Since I had already been paying for ChatGPT, I felt reluctant to switch and had a hard time committing to using Claude seriously. But once I decided to make the move, I noticed quite a few things, so I wanted to share them here as a personal note.

Why I Hesitated, and Why I Finally Switched

I was generally satisfied with ChatGPT, but I sometimes felt it was a bit too agreeable, which made it slightly less satisfying for brainstorming or using as a sounding board for critical thinking. Some of that could be improved with better prompting, but there had long been a sense that the overall feel just didn’t quite match what I wanted.

On top of that, I hadn’t felt much momentum in my work over the past year, so I wanted some kind of change. Around the same time, I also started hearing more and more people talk about moving from ChatGPT to Claude, and that made me think I should seriously give it a try myself.

That said, because all of these tools fall into the same general category of AI chatbots, and because I had already tried Claude, Perplexity, Gemini, and others while still keeping ChatGPT as my main tool, I had thought of them as more or less “similar enough.” That made it surprisingly hard to fully commit to switching. More specifically, I had concerns like these:

I had work-related tools built with GPTs — ChatGPT has GPTs, which users can customize and create. They’re useful because you can make them for your own personal workflows as well. However, creating and editing them requires a paid plan. So if I ended up switching to Claude as my main tool and moving ChatGPT to the free plan, I was concerned that maintaining and updating the GPTs I had made for myself might become difficult.
I wasn’t sure whether the answer quality would meet my expectations — As mentioned earlier, I did feel a certain lack in ChatGPT’s responses, but there were no major or fatal problems with it. I had heard good things about Claude, but switching a tool that I rely on heavily for work is still risky. Even if it might improve over time, it could just as easily get worse.

In the end, when your dissatisfaction isn’t that big to begin with, changing tools feels heavier than you’d expect.

What I Learned After Actually Using It

Once I started using Claude seriously, both of those concerns turned out to be resolved much more easily than I expected. For my own use cases, Projects could mostly replace GPTs, and the response quality was more than good enough for me. In fact, I even had the impression that Projects allowed more detailed customization and felt more flexible than the GPTs I had been using.

What struck me even more, though, was how different the actual experience felt, even though both are AI tools in the same category.

My impression was that ChatGPT tended to be more agreeable and often built on whatever direction I was already leaning toward, whereas Claude felt more critical and more willing to make firm judgments. But it didn’t feel like it was making those judgments carelessly — rather, it felt like those answers came after some actual thought. That suited me better.

I had also been somewhat dissatisfied for a while with the way ChatGPT sometimes tried to produce an answer even when my information was vague or incomplete. Claude, by contrast, seems much more likely to hold back from giving a definite answer when it judges the information to be insufficient, and instead asks follow-up questions first to draw out what it needs. Honestly, that was eye-opening for me. Which style is better probably depends on the user and how they use the tool, but for me, Claude feels like the better fit.

Overall, Claude gives me the impression of being more interactive and better at leading the conversation. Even when I can’t clearly explain what I want, it feels like it helps me organize a path toward the thing I’m actually looking for. I find that very comfortable.

That said, I should note that I have not done a careful side-by-side comparison by asking both tools the exact same questions. These are simply my subjective impressions based on having started using Claude more seriously.

That Said, I Still Don’t Know Yet

Even so, it hasn’t been that long since I started using it, and there are still many things I haven’t fully tested.

Just in case, I’m still keeping my paid ChatGPT plan for now and using both at the same time, so I haven’t yet reached a final conclusion about which one is better for me overall. Depending on how things go, I’m even considering keeping paid plans for both, though that admittedly feels a bit wasteful.

Since I decided to make the switch, Claude released Opus 4.7 with benchmark results that drew a lot of attention, while ChatGPT has also continued rolling out upgrades and releases at a very fast pace, including GPT-5.4, ChatGPT Images 2, and GPT-5.5. Both companies seem to be evolving rapidly. It’s extremely difficult to decide which one is truly better, and even if one seems to pull ahead for a while, it feels like the other may quickly catch up and overtake it again.

At least for me, both leave a good impression right now — but I’m not overly optimistic either.

Keeping at It Comes Before Mastering It

What this experience of switching tools reminded me of is that until you actually start using a tool, you can’t even tell whether it suits you or not.

Before worrying about whether you can master a tool, what matters first is starting to use it — and continuing to use it. That requires making the decision to simply take the first step. And once again, I felt that taking that first step was the hardest part.

To be honest, I had been interested in moving to Claude for quite a long time. But for the reasons I mentioned above, I couldn’t quite make the decision. This time, though, I finally went ahead with it, and it reminded me once again that you really don’t know until you try. I still don’t know whether the outcome will ultimately be good or bad, but at the very least, most of the worries I had before starting turned out not to be such a big deal in reality.

Not just with tools, but in general, I wonder if many of the things that make us hesitate come from the fears and assumptions we create before we even begin.

Conclusion

The real nature of a tool rarely reveals itself right away. You usually can’t understand it by just trying it briefly. It’s only by continuing to use it that you gradually begin to see your compatibility with it, as well as the particular habits or quirks the tool itself has. I think that’s just how it is.

What this transition reminded me of is that in order to understand a tool, “continuing to use it” comes before “mastering it.” In my case, I spent a lot of time hesitating because of all the concerns I had before even starting. But rather than trying to judge too quickly whether something is good or bad, it may be more important to spend a certain amount of time with it first. That mindset itself may be an important part of choosing the right tools.

Thank you for reading!

Taking Notes to Forget — The Idea of Cognitive Offloading (Bite-size Article)

koshirok096 — Fri, 01 May 2026 21:00:08 +0000

Introduction

Today I want to write about note-taking.

I've always had this sense that I take notes in order to forget things.

Rather than trying to retain information, I prefer to just move it into a note-taking app and get it out of my head. It makes me feel lighter — and that's been my style for a long time.

It was something I did purely on instinct, but recently I came across a concept called "cognitive offloading," and it made me think — maybe my instinct wasn't so off after all. Writing this one down as a note to myself.

What Is Cognitive Offloading?

Cognitive offloading refers to the act of delegating part of our memory or thinking to external tools, reducing the load on the brain.

A 2011 study by psychologist Betsy Sparrow and her colleagues found that when people know they can look something up on Google later, they tend to remember where to find the information rather than the information itself. This has been called the "Google Effect."

Writing things down in a note-taking tool might work in a similar way — the brain treats it as information that's been handed off to the outside.

"Forgetting" often gets a bad reputation, but the brain has limited resources, and trying to remember everything comes at a high cost. The way I think about it: note-taking apps are the external hard drive; my head is the CPU. It's a division of labor.

My Own Experience

This is just from my own experience, but when I make a habit of moving tasks and things I'm curious about into a note-taking app right away, my head feels clearer. The nagging sense of "wait, what was that again?" fades, and I find it easier to focus on what I'm actually doing.

There are things I genuinely need to remember, but most day-to-day information falls into the category of "fine to forget — as long as I can find it when I need it." That's the role notes play for me.

Things I'm Careful About

That said, offloading too much can quickly lead to a state of "I have no idea where anything is." Here's what I try to keep in mind.

Decide where things go and set some management rules — If finding a note takes more effort than it's worth, the whole system falls apart. It helps to decide in advance where and in what format to save things. In my case, Notion is my home base for pretty much everything, but I use Logseq for daily task lists and Obsidian for quick, unstructured notes. I also consult ChatGPT and Claude fairly often, and since I sometimes want to look back at those conversations, I tag threads with UIDs to make them easier to retrieve. None of this is strictly necessary, but having some kind of management system that fits your lifestyle makes a real difference — at least for me.
Sometimes, deliberately don't take notes — For things I actually want to remember, I try not to write them down immediately. Instead, I let them sit and solidify in my head first. Holding back from reaching for the notepad — that pause — seems to help things stick. (This does run counter to the "move it out right away" approach, so in practice, I find myself making a quick judgment call whenever I encounter something: do I note this down, or do I try to remember it?)
Review your notes regularly — Notes that just pile up and never get looked at aren't really offloading — they're just neglect. There's a reason you took the note in the first place, and forgetting you ever wrote it defeats the purpose. I try to set aside time once a week — usually Sundays — to skim back through things.

Conclusion

"I take notes to forget" sounds a little strange when you say it out loud. But in terms of not spending too much mental energy on retention, I think it's actually a pretty reasonable approach.

Learning the term "cognitive offloading" gave me a bit more clarity on something I'd been doing all along without really thinking about it.

Thanks for reading!

Do the Hard Thing First (Bite-size Article)

koshirok096 — Fri, 24 Apr 2026 20:33:28 +0000

Introduction

Lately, I've been noticing something: the tasks I tackle first thing in the morning are the ones where I feel the most focused throughout the day.

Of course, the quality and pace of work vary depending on the task and the situation. I can't say this applies across the board.

But at least from my own experience, what I start in the morning tends to make the most progress over the course of the day.

There's an idea that willpower and concentration deplete the more you use them — sometimes called "decision fatigue." In the morning, that depletion hasn't happened yet. No emails have come in. Nobody has asked anything of you. It's the time of day with the fewest external interruptions — and that window is often just the first few dozen minutes of the morning.

Regardless of how motivated you feel, it's an environment that works in your favor. When I think about it that way, it makes me want to treat those morning hours a little more carefully.

Starting the Morning Smoothly with Lists and Priorities

Personally, if you asked whether I'm a morning person — honestly, not really. Some days I can't get up early, and other days I hit snooze multiple times and end up rushing.

Even so, there's one habit I've kept up. The night before, I prepare a task list for the next day.

The tool I use is Logseq, which lets you assign A, B, or C priority levels to tasks. I use this to sort tasks from highest to lowest priority. Since the list is already ready when I wake up, getting started in the morning is remarkably smooth — I just look at the list and start from the top.

When I manage to get the high-priority tasks done in the morning, the whole day feels more stable. Finishing the most important things during the time when focus is high and interruptions are few — that alone makes the afternoon feel much lighter.

"Start with What Matters Most" — Harder Than It Sounds

As I mentioned, my approach relies on the structure of the tool itself: combining a task list with priority levels to more or less automatically determine the order of work each day. That said, even with a clear priority order, I still find myself reaching for easier tasks or things I'm simply in the mood for.

That's not always a bad thing. Sometimes a low-priority task has to be handled in the morning because of scheduling constraints. And warming up with lighter tasks isn't inherently wrong either. The problem is when it becomes a habit — because then the important tasks get nudged back a little more every day.

From my own experience, there's a clear difference between days when I finish high-priority tasks in the morning and days when I don't. Even if I've checked off a lot of easy tasks, if the important ones are still sitting there untouched, I end the day with a lingering feeling of "I didn't get to what actually mattered." Over time, that turns into chronically unfinished work and projects that barely move forward.

That's exactly where the morning comes in. By bringing high-priority tasks into the window when focus is at its peak and interruptions are minimal, I get a sense throughout the day that "the things that matter are moving forward." Even on days when the routine breaks down, that's the one principle I try not to let go of.

Closing

I wrote this article as a way of reflecting on something I noticed recently.

When I kept telling myself "I'll do it in the afternoon" for tasks I tended to procrastinate on, they just kept getting pushed back further. Once I noticed that pattern, I started moving those same tasks into the morning — and it made a real difference.

Even now that I understand this, I still don't execute it perfectly every day. But simply being more conscious of how I use my morning hours has changed how the day feels.

I wrote this partly as a note to myself — and I hope it's useful to someone else too.

Thanks for reading!

Just Go for a Walk Before You Overthink (Bite-size Article)

koshirok096 — Fri, 17 Apr 2026 20:39:19 +0000

Introduction

In my previous article, I wrote about the benefits of walking. I covered how it helps you refresh through exercise and sunlight exposure, how it's well-suited for working through worries or things on your mind, and how it requires no special preparation, making it easy to get started.

The aspect I personally enjoy most is how stepping outside for a short walk can help clear your head when you're feeling stuck or overwhelmed.

This time, though, I'd like to approach it from a slightly different angle — not "walking to organize your thoughts," but "going for a walk before you overthink things."
Overthinking Leads to Paralysis
When we're about to start something, it's easy to get caught up in thinking too much.

Maybe I'm not prepared enough. Maybe I should gather more information first. Before you know it, you've been thinking for a while and haven't actually started anything.
This happens with task management, personal projects, and everyday small decisions alike.

Walking Is Thinking

The famous philosopher Nietzsche once said:
"All truly great thoughts are conceived while walking."
This might sound a bit dramatic, but I feel like I understand what he meant. When we're walking, we're not trying to concentrate on anything in particular. And perhaps that's exactly why our thoughts start to move.

The experience of going for a 10-minute walk and finding that something you were stuck on at your desk has started to untangle — I think many people can relate to that.

The opposite is also true. When we sit at a desk and try to push through by thinking harder, our thoughts can actually grind to a halt. Strangely enough, we sit down because we want to make progress, yet staying still can cause our thinking to become increasingly narrow.

Nietzsche, I believe, understood this.

The Choice to Walk First

At least in my case, when I find myself overthinking and unable to move forward, going for a walk is one of the easiest ways to get my thoughts unstuck.

So why not try building walking into your schedule intentionally, rather than treating it as something you just happen to do? Of course, this won't work for everyone, so take it as a suggestion — but I've been doing this more consciously lately, and I've noticed it brings a better rhythm to my work.

When you try to wait for the perfect answer before acting, it's hard to act at all. But after a short walk, I often come back feeling like, "Well, let's just give it a go." And more often than not, that's enough.

Conclusion

In my previous article, I talked broadly about the effects of walking — how it can leave you feeling more settled afterward. This time, I wanted to go one step further: rather than treating walking as a casual pastime, what if you made it an intentional habit — something you do before you start overthinking?
Take a walk during a break in a long work session, before your thoughts spiral too far. That alone can be enough to get something moving that felt stuck.

That said, you don't need a big breakthrough every time. Often, just feeling a small shift is enough to take the next step.

Thanks for reading.

Why Walking Has Become More Enjoyable Since I Moved Back (Bite-size Article)

koshirok096 — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 20:24:35 +0000

Introduction

I recently moved, and I ended up returning to a city I used to live in. Since I’m familiar with the area, there’s a sense of comfort, but at the same time, because it has been a while, even the streets and scenery that used to feel familiar now seem a little fresh again. Walking has already been part of my daily routine, and as I mentioned briefly in a previous article, since moving back, I’ve been enjoying it even more than before.

These days, I work almost entirely remotely, and because of that, I’ve come to feel that walking has various benefits. Today, I’d like to write about the value of walking and some of the things I’ve been noticing again lately.

Getting Sunlight Helps Me Refresh My Mind

As I mentioned a little in a previous article, I feel that getting sunlight is important as a way to refresh myself mentally. Since I work remotely, I could easily stay inside all day if I wanted to. But when I remain indoors for too long, I sometimes start to feel mentally stuck, and both my mind and body can begin to feel heavy. At those times, simply going outside for a walk can make a surprisingly big difference.

I’m not an expert, so I don’t know the details, but I’ve heard that exposure to sunlight can help promote the production of serotonin and vitamin D, which may help people feel a bit more positive.

Recently, I’ve also been meeting friends during my walks or stopping by a café to see someone. These small outings also seem to help add some variety and rhythm to daily life.

Walking Is Just Right for Thinking

One of the nice things about walking is that it makes it easier to think. When I’m at home, I tend to prioritize work and tasks. But while I’m out walking, I obviously can’t really work at the same time. I’m away from the screens of my PC and phone, and there’s not much else to do while walking, so it naturally becomes time for thinking.

In fact, things that I couldn’t organize clearly while sitting at home sometimes start to make more sense when I’m walking. Ideas about problems I had been struggling with may come to mind, and sometimes new ideas appear as well. Of course, I do not make an amazing discovery every single time, but at the very least, I feel that walking gives my mind a chance to start moving a little.

It Does Not Require Any Special Preparation

Another appealing thing about walking is how easy it is to do. It costs almost nothing, and you do not need any special equipment. It is also flexible in terms of time: if you want to walk for a long time, you can, and if you are busy, you can just go for a short walk.

Another good point is that you can do it no matter where you live. Whether it is a new city or a place you used to live in, simply walking around lets you notice things a little differently. In that sense, I think walking is a very sustainable habit.

If I have enough time, I think it is also nice not only to walk around the city but to go farther out for a hike. Recently, I’ve been thinking about trying a trail in a nearby mountain area that I have never visited before.

Conclusion

I feel that walking is not just a form of exercise. It can also be a way to refresh yourself and organize your thoughts. Especially at a time like now, when I have returned to a place I used to live in, walking through places that should feel familiar has felt a little new again, and that has helped me rediscover the enjoyment of walking.

When your life revolves around remote work, it is easy to end up staying at home all the time. That is exactly why walking, which requires no special preparation and can be done even in a short amount of time, may be a more valuable habit than it first seems.

Thank you for reading!

Things I’m Glad I Prepared Before and After Moving (Bite-size Article)

koshirok096 — Fri, 03 Apr 2026 21:01:15 +0000

Introduction

A little suddenly, but I moved not long ago.

I couldn’t really come up with a blog post idea today, so this will be a lighter post, but I thought I’d write a bit about the things I try to keep in mind when preparing for a move.

To be honest, I’m not really sure how much demand there is for this kind of post on Dev.to. Still, if even a few people find it interesting, I’d be happy if you read it casually.

1. Make a list in advance of what you need to do on moving day

I’ve never really liked doing things in a completely ad hoc way, not just when moving. Especially with something like a move—where there are a lot of things to do and unexpected things can easily happen on the day—I’m the type of person who prefers to prepare as much as possible in advance.

On days like this, when there are a lot of things to do, simply writing down what needs to be done on the day itself can make things much easier. Moving day often involves long travel times, and in places like airports, you have to pay close attention to your luggage. On top of that, things like meals and bathroom breaks get mixed in along the way, so it’s easier than you might expect to feel mentally overloaded.

In that kind of situation, if you start figuring out “what to do next” on the spot, it can become surprisingly easy to get confused. That’s why I try to set things up in advance so that, on the day itself, I can focus less on “thinking” and more on “following what I already wrote down.” Just not having to rebuild the plan in real time makes a big difference in reducing the mental load.

The key is not to do this right before the move, like the day before, but ideally to have the list mostly ready about a week in advance. The reason is that if plans change or adjustments become necessary at the last minute, it is much easier to revise things if you prepared early.

This time too, I made the list fairly early, and while I was still settled in my old place, it was very helpful to simulate the general flow of the day in advance.

2. Write down not just the tasks, but also the “steps”

I think it’s important not just to write things like “go to the airport” or “check in,” but also to write down what exactly you need to do at each point.

For example, if you have a check-in, it helps to note the address, the scheduled time, what you need to prepare, and what you need to do after arriving.

What matters here is the level of detail in each action.

For example, an item like “get a SIM card at the airport” may be enough if that is already clear enough for you to act on without problems. But if there are a lot of uncertainties involved, it may be better to break it down into smaller steps.

For example, something like this:

Find the mobile carrier counter at the airport and get a SIM card
If I can’t find one:
- Connect to the airport Wi-Fi
- Use an online eSIM service It also helps to decide in advance which company you will use, the URL, and the plan
- Since eSIM can be relatively expensive and not ideal for long-term use, use it temporarily and then get a local SIM card later after checking in or on another day

This is just one example, but leaving yourself notes at this level of detail can make it much easier to respond when something unexpected happens.

In my case, this move involved relocating across countries, so I left detailed lists and notes especially for the following:

What I needed to do when traveling from home to the airport, and from the airport to the new place (such as booking an Uber)
Things to prepare at the airport (wrapping suitcases, doing a final luggage check, etc.)
Things I might need for immigration (visa-related documents, passport, ticket, etc.)
Things to do after arrival at the airport (getting a SIM card, withdrawing cash from an ATM, etc.)
Checking in
Things to buy on the day of arrival (daily necessities, food, etc.)

In particular, planning out details like how I would handle the SIM card at the airport and how I would secure cash in advance made a big difference in how reassured I felt.

3. Use a task management tool so you can always check the list easily

In my case, I use TaskChute (Tasuma) to organize the flow of moving day.

One thing I personally like about Tasuma is that it works offline, so I can still access it even during parts of the trip when my SIM is not available yet.

It also lets me assign times in the app, so I can arrange everything in chronological order. That makes it less likely that I’ll lose track of what I’m supposed to do next on the day itself.

Of course, the specific tool does not really matter. A memo app or a checklist is probably more than enough. What matters is not trying to manage everything only in your head.

Tip: Prepare with the assumption that unexpected things will happen

So far, I’ve been writing about the importance of listing things out and preparing in advance, but there is one more point I think is important.

That is: no matter how well you prepare, unexpected things can still happen on the day.

It’s completely normal for things not to go exactly as planned on moving day. This is especially true when international travel is involved, since unexpected checks or procedures can come up. That’s why I think it’s important not to plan with the assumption that nothing will go wrong, but instead to prepare with the expectation that some trouble or confusion may happen.

To me, the point of preparing in advance is not to make everything go perfectly according to plan. It is to create a situation where, even if something unexpected happens, the whole day does not fall apart.

In my case, this may not be the “correct” way to use TaskChute, but I use Tasuma while intentionally leaving some buffer time. For example, on a trip like this, I enter the things I absolutely must do at the airport as tasks in advance, but I deliberately do not fix in place things that I may or may not do, and I also try to leave a certain amount of extra time in each section.

For example, I might get a little hungry at the airport and decide to go into a restaurant, but I do not schedule that in advance. If it actually becomes necessary, I add it on the spot as an interrupting task.

Thinking this way—separating “things I must do” from “things that may happen depending on the situation”—helps me avoid being overly constrained by the plan while still making sure the important things are covered.

The same idea applies to emergency tasks as well. For example, I might realize that I forgot my passport at home, or that some unexpected confirmation is suddenly needed. Even in cases like that, if I have already built in a reasonable amount of time buffer from the beginning, the entire schedule is less likely to completely collapse when something unplanned comes up.

Of course, it’s impossible to predict everything that might happen. But I’ve found that simply preparing with the mindset that “unexpected things will happen” makes a big difference in how reassured I feel on the day itself.

Conclusion

Personally, I’ve moved quite a lot over the past few years, and each time I’ve been experimenting and adjusting things. In the end, the conclusion I’ve reached is that it helps a lot not only to prepare the luggage itself, but also to decide in advance how I’m going to move through the day.

If I take time beforehand to think things through and organize them, the burden on the day itself becomes much lighter. I especially feel that this kind of preparation matters even more when the move involves a lot of travel or international relocation.

This is not limited to moving: whenever I have a day with a lot to do and a high chance of confusion, simply organizing the flow in advance can make things much easier. If this gave you even a little inspiration, I’d be glad.

Thank you for reading.

4 Useful Terminal Commands for Awkward Finder Tasks (Bite-size Article)

koshirok096 — Fri, 27 Mar 2026 18:18:33 +0000

Introduction

Today’s article is a short one, but I’d like to share four useful Terminal commands I recently learned for Finder-related tasks (Mac).

Until not long ago, I used to check these things manually, but doing them in Terminal is much faster, so I’ve been using these commands a lot lately. I decided to write this article partly as a memo for myself, and also to share them with people who may not know them yet. Much of this is fairly basic, so some of you may already know these, but if you’re interested, I hope you’ll give it a quick read.

1. Show Only Recently Updated Files

find . -type f -mtime -7

This command lists files that have been updated recently under the current directory and its subdirectories.

Finder does have a “Recent” section in the sidebar, but in my case—perhaps because of my own PC—it can sometimes take time to load, or miss files I expect to see. So this feels like a more reliable method.

The -7 part represents the number of days in the past, so it’s convenient that you can change it to any value you want.

2. Count Files

First, here is the simplest version as a basic way to count files.

find . -type f | wc -l

This command counts the number of files under the current directory (excluding folders).

If you want to include folders as well, you can use:

find . | wc -l

Note: In this form, the starting point . itself is also counted as one item. If you do not want to include it, use find . -mindepth 1 | wc -l instead.

Next, based on these commands, here is an example of excluding a specific folder.

find . -type f ! -path '*/node_modules/*' | wc -l

This counts files while excluding node_modules. In this case, the added condition is “exclude this folder.”

If you want to count only files that contain a specific string in their filename, you can change it like this:

find . -type f -name '*test*' | wc -l

This counts only files whose names contain test.

Here, the added condition is “filter by name.”

Finder already shows the number of items in a directory at the bottom by default, but by combining commands like these, you can investigate with much more specific conditions, which makes them very useful.

3. Find Empty Folders

find . -type d -empty

This command lists only empty directories.

Sometimes you create a folder during work and forget to put anything in it, or empty folders remain after reorganizing files. It is possible to look for them in Finder, but it becomes quite troublesome once the folder hierarchy gets deep.

In those situations, this command is convenient because it lets you check unnecessary empty folders all at once. It is a small thing, but quite useful when cleaning up a project.

4. Quickly See Which Folders Are Heavy

du -sh ./* | sort -h

This command displays the sizes of files and folders directly under the current directory in an easy-to-read order.

du -sh ./* shows the size of each item, and sort -h arranges them in order by size. Because of that, it is useful when you want to get a rough idea of which folders are taking up the most space.

In Finder, you can check information for individual items with Command + I, but comparing multiple folders in a list is a bit inconvenient. When you want to identify unused large data and delete it, it can be very productive to go to a suspicious directory first and run this command.

Note: In this example, hidden files and hidden folders whose names begin with a dot are not included.

Conclusion

Today I introduced four Finder-related Terminal commands that I have been using a lot recently.

Personally, many of these tasks could already be checked manually, so for a long time I never really had the idea of looking into whether there was a faster way to do them. However, once I started using them in real work, I found them extremely convenient, and I feel that they noticeably improve the speed of small verification tasks, even if only in subtle ways.

Finder can already do many things quite well, but when you want to check things with more specific conditions, Terminal still feels more useful. If I come across more commands like these, I’d like to keep sharing them here as notes for myself as well.

Thank you very much for reading!

Four Benefits of Keeping a Journal (Bite-size Article)

koshirok096 — Fri, 20 Mar 2026 19:26:13 +0000

Introduction

The other day, I wrote an article about “things I’m glad I started (or increased)” and “habits I’m trying to practice intentionally,” and I mentioned “keeping a journal” as one of them. After thinking about it again, I realized journaling has more benefits than what I covered last time—more than I expected—and I’ve come to feel, once again, that it’s a habit worth continuing.

Because the previous post was short, today I’d like to use “the benefits of journaling” as a standalone theme and organize what I personally find helpful about it, and why I keep doing it.

1. Reducing rumination by “getting it out of your head”

As I mentioned in the previous article, when I take a moment at the end of the day to recall what happened and how my emotions moved—and then write those things down—the process itself helps me organize my thoughts and feel a little lighter. Sometimes, even just seeing what went well and what bothered me can reduce the lingering fog I might otherwise carry into the next day.

This “writing to organize” process can also help with negative rumination—when the same thoughts keep replaying in your mind over and over.

For example, have you ever found yourself stuck in a loop of thoughts about a mistake at work, regret about something you said, or anxiety about the future—without any clear answer?

It’s like having a bunch of tabs left open in your brain. And the frustrating part is that it’s not always something you can solve with a simple action. So it doesn’t go away on its own, and before you know it, the same thoughts start playing again.

Writing in a journal is a bit like taking that open tab out of your head and closing it. Even if the problem isn’t solved on the spot, putting it into words helps organize “what I know right now,” “what I’m feeling,” and “what I can do next,” and it clears some of the mental traffic.

The key isn’t to explain everything in detail, but to break the loop into pieces. Even a few lines—“what happened,” “how I felt,” and “the next smallest step I can take”—can shift you from repeating anxiety to turning it into something you can process and act on. As a result, you spend less time replaying the same thoughts, and your mind can feel a little lighter.

2. Writing down what made you happy—what felt like “well-being”

I touched on this briefly last time, but one thing I strongly try to do when journaling is to write down what made me happy, or moments that felt like “this is nice.” The reason is simple: if I leave things alone, unpleasant events and worries tend to stick in my memory more easily, and my mood can drift in that direction without me noticing.

It can be something small: “The weather was great today,” “The staff at the store were kind,” “I finished one task.” When you put those moments into words and keep them as a log, you may notice—when you look back—that your life has more good moments than you felt at the time. When you’re down, it’s easy to think “nothing good has happened lately,” but having a written record can gently correct that perception.

So rather than forcing yourself to interpret everything positively, this becomes a small habit that helps restore balance to attention and memory, which can naturally lean negative.

3. Making your patterns visible and grasping your emotional flow from a distance

Because a journal remains as a log, you can review it later. I have a habit of reviewing the previous week (seven days) every Sunday, and by the time I review it, my memories and emotions from those days have faded just enough. That distance helps me observe my emotional flow and subtle shifts more objectively.

For example, even if it’s not a strict cause-and-effect relationship, you might notice “what tended to happen before my mood dropped” or “what the good days had in common.” When these patterns become visible, it becomes easier to decide what actions to take next and what mindset to bring into the coming week. I find this a very practical benefit.

Also, if you’re working on something consistently, fragments of your progress and how it felt often remain in the journal. Some days you mention it directly; other days, it shows up in your condition as a result—“things are going well and I feel good,” or “I’m stuck and my rhythm is off.”

When you look back, it becomes easier to see “when things were going well,” “when the slowdown started,” and “what my good/bad days were being pulled by.” That makes it easier to identify what to adjust next and how to get back on track. In that sense as well, journaling has a very practical value.

4. Faster decision-making by breaking down uncertainty

This is somewhat related to #1, but the process of organizing and putting vague thoughts or ideas into words is, in itself, a kind of “prep work” for decision-making. It shifts you from endlessly worrying without clarity to a state where you can handle the issues by separating them into parts.

The point at issue (what exactly am I unsure about?)
Options (what choices do I have?)
What I gain / what I lose (the trade-offs of each option)
The smallest next step I can take today (even a 5-minute step)

With this structure, uncertainty moves from “a state where I can’t decide” into “a task I can organize and work through.” For me, the act of putting something into a journal often becomes a natural filter that passes my worries through this framework. By the time I finish writing, the issue is clearer—and the next day, the uncertainty is sometimes gone, or at least noticeably lighter.

Conclusion

When I think about the benefits of journaling again, I can come up with more, but there’s no end to it—so today I limited it to four. This is just my personal experience, and others may find different effects or develop their own ways of using a journal.

If there’s something that has worked well for you, I’d love to hear it.

Thanks for reading!

Things I’m Glad I Started (or Increased) Recently (Bite-size Article)

koshirok096 — Fri, 13 Mar 2026 18:46:35 +0000

Introduction

The other day I wrote about things I’ve stopped doing or cut back on lately, but today I want to do the opposite: share a few things I’ve started recently (or started doing more), and habits I’m trying to practice intentionally. This is a short post!

Keeping a Journal

I’ve always liked journaling—I’m the type who enjoys keeping records—but last year there was a period when I stopped doing it entirely. There wasn’t a clear reason; habits, for better or worse, tend to stick once they slip into a certain pattern.

Later in the year (my memory is a bit vague), I noticed that I’d fallen out of it and decided to restart and write more intentionally. Since then, I’ve kept it up almost every day.

For me, if I try to write a lot, I won’t last—so I usually keep it to just a few lines. Simple notes like “I was happy that I did X,” or “I learned Y and it made me think about Z.” Journaling has many benefits, but for me, taking a moment at the end of the day to recall what happened and how my feelings shifted helps settle my mind. Even just seeing what went well and what bothered me a little can reduce the lingering fog I might otherwise carry into the next day.

Another thing I try to do is write down moments when I felt happy or genuinely “this is nice.” Life is complicated, and when daily life, work, or relationships don’t go well, it’s easy to feel down without even noticing. That’s why intentionally looking for something positive to write is a small habit that helps me recognize, again and again, that I can still feel happiness in the middle of everything.

Getting Sunlight and Moving My Body

For the past few years I’ve been working as a freelancer, so most of my work happens at home. If I’m not careful, I can easily go an entire day without stepping outside. That’s why I make a point of going out during the day to get some sunlight and take a light walk.

It’s often said that sunlight helps regulate the body clock and can affect sleep at night (including the timing of melatonin release). It’s also well known that when sunlight hits the skin, the body can synthesize vitamin D, and there may be a relationship between daylight and mood changes (including seasonal patterns). For those reasons, I’ve made it a personal rule to take a walk for at least 30 minutes to an hour, even on busy days.

Also, maybe because it improves circulation, walking gives me a sense that my thinking starts to “move.” When debugging is going nowhere or a project feels stuck, stepping outside sometimes makes a solution pop into my head surprisingly quickly. So in a way, when I really want to push work forward, I suspect this kind of time actually increases my productivity.

Finding and Trying Something New in Everyday Life (Try Something New)

When you’re working, it’s easy for each day to start feeling like the same routine repeating. Routine is necessary to keep life running, so I don’t think it’s realistic to change everything.

But the more the same days repeat, the more your thinking and ideas can harden, and you may not notice your perspective narrowing. That’s why I try to intentionally set aside a certain portion of my time for “trying something new.”

It doesn’t have to be a big challenge. I might go into a place I’ve never been, take a different route than usual, try a tool I’ve never touched, or read an article from a genre I normally ignore. Even small changes like these can be stimulating and can lead to unexpected discoveries (serendipity). And sometimes those moments become the trigger for my next step—so the busier I am, the more I try to mix in a little “newness.”

Conclusion

2026 is moving fast—somehow we’re already past March. Personally, I don’t think last year was very satisfying for me, in either work or private life. So this year, I want to avoid slipping into laziness and try to live each day intentionally, aiming for days that feel full and good.

How about you? Is there anything you’ve started recently (or since 2026 began) that you’re glad you did—or anything you’re doing more intentionally? If you’d like, I’d love to hear about it.

Thanks for reading!

Things I’ve Recently Stopped or Cut Back On (Bite-size Article)

koshirok096 — Fri, 06 Mar 2026 18:43:56 +0000

Introduction

I couldn’t think of anything to write today, so I’m going to jot down a few things I’ve recently stopped or cut back on in everyday life—and that I’m glad I did. This will be a short post.

Alcohol

I like drinking, but lately I’ve been cutting back without really making a big decision about it. That said, I still drink when I’m invited out or when I have plenty of time, so it’s not like I’m completely banning alcohol.

The reasons are simple: it tends to affect how I feel the next day (my sleep gets lighter and I feel sleepy during the day), I’ve been finding it less enjoyable than before (this depends on the situation—some gatherings are still genuinely fun), and I’ve started to think, “Do I really need to spend money on this right now?”

Not Setting My “Limit Estimate” Too Low

In work and personal projects, I tend to set goals based on past experience. I think forecasting is important—much better than guessing without any basis.

But sometimes that estimate becomes a hard ceiling. The moment I decide “This is what’s realistic for me,” I stop thinking beyond it.

So recently, I’ve been intentionally creating moments to compare myself with others. In many contexts, comparing yourself to others is seen as a bad thing, but what I mean here isn’t jealousy or self-criticism. It’s more like: “If someone is further ahead, what exactly is the gap—and what would it take to close it?” A comparison as reference data, so I don’t narrow my own possibilities too early.

Not Continuing Things Out of Habit

This is a broad one, but lately I’ve been enjoying questioning the things I keep doing out of habit. For example, canceling subscriptions for tools I haven’t used in a long time, or trimming down my weekly review template to only what I actually need. Small adjustments like that. This year, for various reasons, I’ve been cutting back on a fairly wide range of “defaults” in my life—habits, subscriptions, and fixed costs.

The more automatic something is, the less often we revisit it. Even if it looks like a “good habit,” whether it’s the best choice right now depends on the situation.

For instance, going to the gym every week is generally a good thing. But if there are other priorities and time is tight, sticking to that routine can actually make life harder. That’s why I want to avoid auto-renewing things just because they’re “good,” and instead keep adjusting based on my current circumstances.

Conclusion

I couldn’t think of a proper blog topic today, so this ended up being a simple post.

When we try to improve, we often focus on “adding more”—starting something new, doing more, taking on more. But sometimes, simply reviewing what we’re already doing—and stopping or reducing a few things—can lead to better results.

Have you recently stopped something or cut back on something? If you feel like sharing, I’d love to hear.

Thanks for reading!