Button Mashers and Old Friends

Good morning (or whenever you’re reading this)!!

Buckle up, get ready—a 40-year-old guy is about to rant at you about cell phones.

You know those button-masher games? The ones that make you click nonstop and seem ridiculous, and you'd never play them because they're obviously massive time sucks? Yeah, me too. I’d never engage with something so dumb.

So I’m only addicted to two. 😅

To be perfectly candid, I haven’t done a time analysis. I don’t want to know how much time I’ve put into those two games. Just here and there, you know? Maybe in the elevator? Bathroom? Never in traffic—that’d be reckless. But still, I know it’s a lot.

Lately, it feels like everywhere I turn, the theme of “time” keeps coming up—in conversations, books, online content. Just this week, one of our company leaders gave an excellent TED Talk called Time is Finite.

About three weeks ago, I made a choice: I deleted the mashers.

Instead, I made a list of people I’ve lost touch with—specifically, folks who had reached out and I just... didn’t make time for. Now, any time I feel the urge to reinstall a game, I text one of those people. Some didn’t respond. Many did.

One old friend, after a few nights of catching up, flat-out said he missed talking to me. I thought about when I usually fired up those games (spoiler: early mornings). So I told him I’d text him every day at that time. He doesn’t need to respond or even acknowledge it, but unless he tells me to stop, I’ll keep doing it.

Those button mashers are engineered for dopamine hits. But here’s a little secret I discovered: reconnecting with people? Way more of a hit. Even just sending the message—Boom! Dopamine.

And I don’t feel like I’m wasting time anymore.

Now, my morning starts on a high note because I’ve engaged with an old college friend (so far, he’s always texted back). At lunch, I text a buddy I once traveled the country with (he replies too). And in the afternoon, instead of reinstalling the mashers after letting the dogs out, I WhatsApp an acquaintance I shared beers with in New Zealand ten years ago. He told me it’s awesome starting his morning that way.

So yeah, this isn’t quite a rant about phones. It’s more about how we use them.

It didn’t dawn on me until recently that I’m actually using my phone for its original purpose—connection. And that use is bringing real joy into my days.

I’m not saying you have to hack your time to squeeze out more joy (although maybe we should all hack our time to get more joy). But I am saying: take a look. See where your time is going. Maybe ditch the time suck, just for a day or two. Play with the dog. Get a laser pointer for your cat. Paint something. I dunno—do something that once brought you joy. Or just call a friend.

Point is, maybe Gubernick (that guy from work) is on to something.

Try getting a little more intentional with your time. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

If you join me in this experiment, I’d love to hear about it.
📬 michael@cityupgroup.com