2025 Tech Resolutions with Tuğba from as slow as possible
"Even with endless tech hacks, nothing will magically shift if we don’t actively work on honing our attention."
brave enough is a newsletter about finding balance between technology, nature and modern life. Join the club ❤️🔥
Hi everyone,
Welcome to the final interview of 2025 Tech Resolutions – a January mini series where I interviewed fellow writers about tech habits they want to build or break in 2025.
brave enough will return to regular posts from next week — I have loooads of new writing which I can’t wait to share with you all!
Here to inspire you today is Tuğba from as slow as possible 💕 I have been lucky enough to call Tuğba my friend for the past eight years — she’s the reason why I started my Substack! Her newsletter explores the in-between spaces of our lives that we see but often do not notice. Her writing is like a salve to these high pressure times we live in, encouraging me to slow down and forge a deeper connection with life.
Plus… read until the end for a surprise announcement 🥁
Q: Hey Tuğba ! Before we get started, I’m going to ask for the obligatory elevator pitch. Tell us a bit about you and what you write about here on Substack.
I’m Tuğba, a Greek-Turkish artist and writer living in Berlin. In a world obsessed with speed—where everything needs to be done “as fast as possible”—I wanted to carve out a slower, more thoughtful corner of the internet. A place where we can pause with an idea, notice the overlooked moments in life, and infuse them with meaning. That’s how “as slow as possible” came to be.
Q: What tech habit are you trying to break or improve in 2025?
I’ve already written extensively on as slow as possible about the ways I reduce daily distractions—like turning off notifications or blocking certain apps. These strategies are pretty well-known, so I won’t go into detail here, but if you’re interested, you can read more about it here.
Personally, I’ve come to believe that no amount of self-discipline or willpower can fully combat the constant demands on our attention. In my December post, “are we all just scrolling through life?”, I called for attention activism—challenging Big Tech to make our well-being a priority. After all, entire teams are paid outrageous sums to capture our attention. I work in Big Tech myself, and I know firsthand how growth is prioritised above all else, even our sanity.
This year, I want to become more proactive about it and find ways to be a real change agent. I’ve started an “attention series” on as slow as possible and plan to write more about the daily habits that go beyond simply locking our phones away or scheduling digital detoxes. How can we genuinely improve our attention span and focus?
Because the truth is, even with endless tech hacks, nothing will magically shift if we don’t actively work on honing our attention. For me, that means experimenting with methods and tools that help me reach a flow state and engage in deep work—and that’s my plan for the year ahead.
Q: Why did you choose this particular habit?
I realised at the end of last year—during a meditation retreat—that simply removing distractions isn’t enough to improve my attention. Our attention is like a muscle, and many of us haven’t been flexing it enough . I’ve decided not to be passive about it anymore; I’m going to actively train and strengthen my attention.
I have a bunch of passion projects—embroidery, writing my book, ceramics—that all demand focused work but also offer a perfect way to slip into a flow state. It feels like a win-win: I can improve my attention while finally making time for the things I’ve wanted to do for years.
Q: How do you carve out focussed time for your writing in our “always on” culture? Any tips you’d like to share?
I’ve created an ebook—a toolkit compiling everything I’ve used over the past few years to do focused work. It’ll be free and available to my Substack readers in early February. These are tried-and-true methods that help me juggle my tech job and my creative projects.
Here’s a little teaser: the toolkit includes both digital and analogue resources that tackle distractions and provide ways to build more accountability. After all, avoiding distractions is one thing, but we also need systems to ensure we actually get the work done. I’m hoping this toolkit has something for everyone, regardless of profession, life stage, etc.
More posts from the 2025 tech resolutions series ⚡
Ahem, drumroll please… 🥁
Introducing between the decades, a new podcast from Caoilainn and Tuğba!
In between the decades, we dive into what it really feels like to step into the big 30s and 40s. With this podcast, we hope to break the silence around age-related anxiety and invite more open, honest chats about finding our way in life.
We’ve designed our episodes to be short and sweet, so you can listen on your morning commute or coffee break. Our first episode is available now! Listen on Apple Podcasts, watch on YouTube, or tune in with YouTube Music (for Android users).
As this content is a little different to what we usually write about on our Substack newsletters, we created a dedicated newsletter just for our podcast which you can subscribe to here.
Oh boy, creating a podcast is not a walk in the park. It’s a very fun yet challenging creative project. We’re noobs at this, so we would love to hear your feedback and appreciate your support so much ❤️
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A book to flex our attention muscle AND a podcast?? Wow thanks guys!! Can't wait to listen (I'll keep it as my mid-workday treat so I don't scroll at my desk)
Loved this, and the podcast! 🙌🏼