Justin E. Bériot

we optimized ourselves into productivity machines—then ai showed up, and suddenly being human is the real edge

it's interesting how people get weird when you tell them you're intentionally trying to be less productive. like you're confessing to a crime against capitalism

remember making up your own games as a kid? that pure joy of playing without pressure to share or perform? solo gaming isn't about being alone––it's about rediscovering that natural state of creative play we all knew before we learned to care what others think

spent years chasing startup success until i realized i was optimizing for the wrong game. funny how losing the startup gig finally freed me to write about things that actually matter (the real plot twist: i joined a writing program to write about startups; i ended up finding my voice instead)

as a kid i'd play video games just until they sparked something in my head, then switch off the screen to build my own worlds the real game was always what happened after i stopped playing

i got so good at optimizing my life that i used airpods to make even my sleep 'productive.' somewhere along the way i just... forgot how to do things for pure joy

the real midlife crisis is realizing you've forgotten how to do things just because they're fun

it's wild how many of us are walking around with these imaginary rulebooks about what counts as a "good use of time"

maybe the real "productivity hack" is remembering what it felt like to do things before we learned to measure their value

nobody tells you that "finding yourself" is actually just giving yourself permission to be who you already are. everything else is negotiating with the "contracts" you never signed

thinking about how i used to spend hours creating fictional sports magazines about my video game teams and now i can't write a single tweet without wondering if it's "adding value"

i’ve been thinking about where to start if you’re new to solo board gaming. it’s not an easy question—there’s no one-size-fits-all answer—but i keep coming back to Cascadia for me, it’s the perfect mix of calm and challenge. you’re building an ecosystem, piece by piece, and there’s something meditative about the process. the rules are simple, but the decisions feel meaningful—it’s just a joy to play that said, what works for me might not be your thing. maybe you’d vibe more with: - Under Falling Skies, for a tight, strategic puzzle with a sci-fi twist - For Northwood, a quirky, trick-taking game with a storybook feel - Heat, if you’re after fast, high-energy racing instead of quiet contemplation starting out in solo gaming can feel a little overwhelming—so many choices, so many rules. but maybe the “right” first game is just the one you’re curious enough to try

i’ve been working on reconnecting with what i call the “lost playground”—that inner capacity for play, where the process matters more than the outcome it led me somewhere unexpected: comics. i picked up marvel champions and wanted to learn more about the backstories, so i started reading marvel comics and i’m obsessed i always thought superheroes weren’t my thing—too unrealistic, too chaotic. but now i see it differently. it’s not about powers; it’s about connections, systems, and the joy of exploring a vast, shared universe it’s a kind of play i wasn’t ready for as a kid. back then, i wanted stories that felt serious and grounded. now, i see the magic in just enjoying the process: the curiosity, the patterns, the threads that weave it all together rediscovering play is funny like that—it sneaks up on you in unexpected ways

the best thing about getting lost in offline hobbies isn't the hobbies themselves––it's rediscovering how creative your mind gets when you give it space to wander

it took playing cards with made-up heroes to remember that games were about imagination first

following curiosity over “should's” led me down an unexpected path: discovered solo board gaming ↓ tried Marvel Champions (knowing nothing about Marvel) ↓ dove into comics to understand the characters ↓ wanted to read more fiction in 2025 (over self-help) ↓ already finished 8 books this year––all comics funny how letting go of how we 'should' learn/play/read opens up entirely new worlds

fascinating how we've developed this collective anxiety about unstructured thought we can't just daydream anymore we need guided meditation apps, productivity frameworks, structured creativity, ... we've systematized the spontaneous out of existence

the shift from physical to digital play isn't just about the medium––it's about how we've lost the ability to be alone with our imagination we've replaced internal world-building with constant content consumption

there's an interesting parallel between how kids approach games and how adults approach productivity kids will throw out a rulebook to make the game better adults will create rulebooks for things that shouldn't need them

interesting thing about creativity is we spent a decade optimizing it into corporate frameworks and morning routines, but the most creative moments usually happen at 2AM building something completely useless maybe that's not a contradiction but the whole point