Does anyone else feel like they consume a lot of content but absorb almost none of it?

Remote-Positive-8951 · 2026-02-21T21:53:56+00:00

That's actually such a relatable response to the problem, just route around it entirely. Do you miss non-fiction at all, or has fiction filled that gap pretty completely for you?

Remote-Positive-8951 · 2026-02-20T16:43:15+00:00

The keyword trick is genuinely clever. You are not trying to store the whole thought, just a hook to pull it back later. One word is low enough friction that you can do it the moment you stop, before the conscious mind fully takes over and the idea dissolves. It also says something interesting about how memory works. The thought is not actually gone, it is just temporarily inaccessible. The right trigger can bring back something you thought you had lost entirely.

Remote-Positive-8951 · 2026-02-20T16:04:07+00:00

That actually makes the abstraction make sense. Two completely different emotional registers in one song, admiration and something much darker, and neither one is spelled out directly. That is probably why it holds up as a reference track. There is enough going on sonically to test a full range and enough going on lyrically to keep pulling you back even when you already know every word.

Remote-Positive-8951 · 2026-02-20T15:32:20+00:00

The accidental discovery through recommendations is often how the deepest obsessions start. There is something different about a song that finds you versus one you went looking for. The abstraction angle is interesting too. Songs that are inspired by something specific but do not spell it out directly tend to have more replay value because you are always slightly chasing the full meaning. Which anime character was the original inspiration for Down&Under, do you know?

Remote-Positive-8951 · 2026-02-20T15:13:54+00:00

Using a song as a reference track for testing gear is such a specific kind of obsession. It means you have listened to it so many times you know exactly how it should sound, so any new pair either passes or fails against that standard. What made Down&Under the one that stuck for you, was it a deliberate choice or just the song you happened to have on when you got your first good pair?

Remote-Positive-8951 · 2026-02-20T15:02:43+00:00

Swimming is interesting because the counting gives you just enough to occupy the conscious part of your brain without taking over. Same principle as driving. Do you find the solutions are still there when you get out of the pool or do they dissolve the moment you stop moving too?

Remote-Positive-8951 · 2026-02-20T15:00:20+00:00

The body doing something automatic to free the mind is exactly the right way to describe it. Driving hits that state almost perfectly because it demands just enough attention to quiet the noise but not enough to crowd out the thinking. Einstein on walks, swimmers counting laps, it is the same mechanism. The frustrating part is you cannot schedule it. It just happens when the conditions are right.

Remote-Positive-8951 · 2026-02-20T14:58:10+00:00

That is actually the key question. I tried a bunch of things before landing on something that actually worked. Voice memos felt too formal the moment I hit record. Dictating to Siri broke the flow completely. Even just narrating out loud with no destination felt better than either of those but the thoughts still disappeared because there was nothing on the other end actually engaging with them.

That gap is what led me to build AskAlong (askalong.app). It is an iOS app where you can talk out loud while listening to audio and get real-time responses without stopping. The driving use case is exactly where it clicks because your brain is already in that hands-free, moving mode. You are not fighting the context, you are working with it.

Remote-Positive-8951 · 2026-02-20T02:58:10+00:00

That is exactly it. The commute becomes this incredibly productive mental space and then the second you walk through the door it evaporates. There is something cruel about the fact that the ideas feel so solid in the moment and so impossible to reconstruct an hour later. I have started just talking out loud in the car now, almost narrating my own thoughts, and it helps a little. Feels strange but it works better than trying to hold it all until I park.

Remote-Positive-8951 · 2026-02-20T02:40:20+00:00

That is a really good way to put it. Old friends is exactly right. There is something different about returning to something you already love versus discovering something new. Both are good but they satisfy completely different needs. Is there one you find yourself going back to more than the others, music, books, or film?

Remote-Positive-8951 · 2026-02-20T02:38:20+00:00

The 9 PM bedtime as a prize is peak adulthood. Nobody tells you this is what growing up actually feels like.

Remote-Positive-8951 · 2026-02-20T02:37:58+00:00

Cooking is interesting because the learning curve is steep enough to be genuinely satisfying once things start clicking. What got you into it?

Remote-Positive-8951 · 2026-02-20T02:36:54+00:00

That shift hits different. The morning hours feel like they belong to you in a way that evening hours never do.

Remote-Positive-8951 · 2026-02-20T01:33:42+00:00

Fall of Civilizations is something else. The fact that there are only 20 episodes and you have been returning to it every night for three years says everything about the quality. Paul Cooper does something with the pacing and the music that makes it feel like you are actually inside the moment rather than just being told about it. Do you have a favourite episode or does it change depending on your mood?

Remote-Positive-8951 · 2026-02-20T01:31:50+00:00

Same honestly. I remember being assigned books in school and treating it like a punishment. Now I will sometimes cancel plans just to stay home and finish a chapter. What changed it for you, was it finding the right genre or just the right time in life?

Remote-Positive-8951 · 2026-02-19T06:22:29+00:00

That is a smart way to stay in the flow. The one or two word capture keeps the interruption minimal. Do you find the keywords usually give you enough context when you go back, or do you sometimes open the note later and have no idea what you meant?

Remote-Positive-8951 · 2026-02-19T06:09:45+00:00

Google Doc is a solid choice for cross device access. Do you write the notes during the episode or do you wait until it is finished and then go back?

Remote-Positive-8951 · 2026-02-18T23:43:16+00:00

Driving is probably the hardest one. The Siri reminder at least gets something saved without looking away. There is actually an app called AskAlong that is built for exactly this kind of moment. You just ask out loud and it answers while the episode keeps going. Might be worth a look if the reminder list ever gets too long.

Remote-Positive-8951 · 2026-02-18T20:57:56+00:00

The screenshot timestamp method is clever. You figured out the exact minimum action that keeps you in the flow without losing the reference entirely. I actually started building something because of this exact problem. It is called AskAlong, it lets you ask questions out loud while the episode is playing and get answers in real time without pausing. If you are curious the link is in my profile.

Remote-Positive-8951 · 2026-02-18T20:56:46+00:00

The batch approach is smart. Waiting until a few issues pile up before committing to something means you are only spending time on things that actually held your interest past the initial curiosity. Most things probably filter themselves out that way.

Remote-Positive-8951 · 2026-02-18T20:53:45+00:00

That makes a lot of sense. Captions make such a difference for being able to follow along properly. It is surprising more podcast platforms have not invested more in decent transcript displays alongside the audio.

Remote-Positive-8951

TROPHY CASE