Coffee shop chat with a guy in Chiang Mai changed how I think about slow internet

I was complaining about the wifi at a coworking space last week and this older nomad just laughed. He said he spent 3 years working from a hammock in Bali with a mobile hotspot that dropped every 20 minutes. He told me he wrote two books and built a whole client base during that time. Honestly it made me feel like a drama queen for getting annoyed at a 10 second lag. He said slow connection just forced him to batch his work and think ahead. Now I'm actually trying to not refresh my speed test every 5 minutes. Has anyone else had a random stranger shift your whole mindset about gear or setup?

2 comments

2 Comments

vera30821d ago

Oh come on, slow internet is a productivity killer, not some magical life hack. That guy probably wrote those books because he had zero distractions and a ton of free time, not because his connection was garbage. I'd rather have reliable wifi and actually get my work done in half the time instead of pretending lag builds character.

lindamartin21d ago

Total pet peeve of mine when people romanticize inconvenience like that. It's the same logic as those "hustle culture" folks who brag about sleeping 4 hours a night like it's a badge of honor instead of a health risk. Slow internet isn't teaching patience, it's just wasting your time while you stare at a loading screen. We do this with all sorts of stuff - people claim typing on a tiny phone builds character when a real keyboard is right there, or that cooking everything from scratch is morally superior to a frozen pizza after a long day. Sometimes a tool is just a tool, and using the better one doesn't make you lazy.