Escapism or a Return to Form

My day job is AI. Most of my day is spent talking to one, and the feed around it never stops. New model, new agent framework, new benchmark, new reason to feel behind.

Lately I've been pulling that lever less. I've been watching car videos, thinking about importing a twenty-something-year-old Honda, and giving myself room to go deep on things that don't trend. Some people would call that escapism. I reckon it's a return to form.

You Don't Have to Ride Every Wave

Tinkering with tech has always been my thing. The work I do now came straight out of a hobby, which is exactly why the two need splitting up to a certain degree.

But keeping up was never a daily or hourly job, even when the feed makes it feel like one. Tech will move on to the next big thing whether you're watching or not. It'll still be there when you come back, and you'll catch up faster than the FOMO says you will.

One of the luxuries of getting older is watching other people go through multiple levels of maturity with a piece of tech. I get to see it in both environments - professionally, in roles where I teach people how to use AI, and personally, watching the people around me climb the same curve. You start to see the shape of it.

When you're nearing a vertical climb - the stretch where you're learning everything about the AI or framework of the day - you can split that time. Part of it goes to the climb. Part of it goes to things as mundane as housekeeping, detailing the car, or finally getting into modding it.

People out there will call that a waste. "How can you do this outside of work when you do this for work?" Because wrenching on a car pulls on a different muscle to the day job. And because the people I look up to balance family, work and life while still doing it.

Honestly, what they reckon may not matter in the end. Perhaps they're just trying to spark a conversation in the mix of whatever they're experiencing in their own bubble. It's okay to feel that way.

The Slot Machine

The latest Syntax video, The True Cost of AI Coding, breathed fresh air into all of this for me. Scott digs into the mental health effects of AI coding - the crash and burnout, why prompting is so hard to put down, and what separates energising use from unhealthy use.¹

The framing landed because it's my day to day. I'm in the mix of giving myself airtime to go deep, and the more I look at how we actually use these tools, the more obvious it gets. AI will free up time, and that time needs to be spent elsewhere now.

Some embraced it, many are sceptical, and the sceptics have skin in the game. Years sunk into meta work expertise, and the pushback sounds principled: "focus on what's right".

Sometimes it is. Often it's just defending the turf, cutting others down when it suits.

You can still take pride in the mundane work. You'll just need to be more firm on where that is. And you're much more alone in this work than before - a prompt doesn't share the win with you - so sharing with actual people matters more than it used to.

The people I rate carry everything in life and still set boundaries where it matters. Or they pick up new hobbies, like going for longer walks, to take the mind off the next boring thing to come out of the slot machine.

You Are Who You Surround Yourself With

One rule from a certain list of rules for life says it straight: make friends with people who want the best for you.²

If everyone around you is doom-scrolling the AI feed at midnight, that becomes your normal. Watching people juggle family, work and life gives you hope, because it shows the anxiety might just be the bubble or environment you've set yourself in.

You are who you surround yourself with. And in 2026, "surround" includes whatever you put on in the background while you do the dishes.

Background TV, and the Internet Growing Up

Which brings me to Mighty Car Mods. I've spent the last couple of weeks binge-watching a heap of their stuff.

I used to watch Marty and Moog over a decade ago. The video that lodged itself in my brain was them restoring cloudy headlights with toothpaste and avocado, with a running joke about using pee.³

That was 2010, back when the internet was much more edgy and my feed was Filthy Frank and friends. Everyone's matured and gotten older since. So have they. So have I.

These days I put MCM on in the background the same way I used to curate a sleep playlist of Vsauce videos. It soothes without switching my brain off - the same job the lo-fi study streams do for everyone else. MCM videos and their music hit a similar vibe.

Then two videos hit different.

The first is Moog's film The Hardest Thing I've Ever Done, a film about life, loss and exercise. While caring for his dad through brain cancer and working through his own mental health struggles, Moog signed up for a CrossFit competition - something to latch onto to keep going.

What makes the film is the people around him. His coach had spent time helping his dad train before he passed away. His training partner became one of his best mates. And when he wanted to fail quietly on comp day rather than in front of people he knew, his friends found out what time he was on and showed up to cheer him through it.

He tells himself no one is coming to save him, one step at a time - and then the film shows everyone showing up anyway.

Support networks are key to a lot of this. Knowing the people around you will help you break through different levels, whether that's grief, addiction, resentment, or just a bad month.

The second is Marty's chat on the Meijor League podcast about turning YouTube into a career. The bit that stuck with me is the host asking what his other hobbies are, given his hobby is his work. Marty's answer is that the hobbies rotate - music swapped for video making, some DIY and renovation on the side - and that he grew up around all of it.

A dad in radio and early video editing, a mum who's a proper car person, mates made in car world. The environment shaped the hobbies, and the hobbies quietly became the job.

These guys genuinely enjoy the things they're doing and share it online with everyone else. That's a rhythm I like being in - sharing honest work, having people recognise it, and enjoying people's company while you're at it. Apply that back to your surrounding environment, whether that's work, family, or everything in between.

The Weekend Car

After seeing relatives recently, one mentioned they'd imported cars from Japan for a couple of grand. That's given me a nudge to get my own JDM car.

It harkens back to owning a black DC5 Integra way back when I wanted to drive a manual on my P's. It was the luxury model, so it didn't push much power, but it was a nice car for what it was.

Years later, a Golf R MK6 manual was a step up and properly joyful to drive.

The manual years - the black DC5 and the Golf R MK6.

These days the daily is a Tesla Model 3 AWD. Instant torque, properly quick for something so pedestrian, and somewhat used-to-be trendy. After three years of owning it, boredom seeps in. Instant torque every day turns out to be like eating dessert for every meal.

The daily.

The Tesla stays. But a nice weekend ride before growing older? That's the hobby coming back around right when I need it.

Summary

• Keeping up was never an hourly job. Tech moves on to the next big thing with or without you, and it'll still be there when you come back. No FOMO required.
• Split the vertical climb. When you're deep in the tech of the day, part of that time can go to housekeeping, detailing, or modding. The mundane is where the recovery lives.
• Your bubble is a choice. If juggling family, work and life looks impossible, look at who's around you. Surround yourself with people who want the best for you - they're the ones who show up when it counts.
• Take pride in the mundane, but be firm on where it is. AI frees up time. Spend it elsewhere, and share what you find - working alone with a model all day makes sharing matter more than ever.
• Old hobbies come back around. A decade-old car channel, a JDM itch, a manual gearbox. What looks like escapism is usually a return to form.

What's Next

Give it a go this week. Swap one pull of the slot machine for one mundane task you can take pride in. Detail the daily. Cook the meal properly. Take the long walk with no podcast. My version is a shortlist of JDM imports sitting in a note, and a very dirty car that won't know what hit it this weekend.