Adapt or Die. (I Chose Adapt)

As most of you probably know by now, linguistics is not my superpower.

But talking? That’s easy. I can do that all day. 

When I’m faced with a blinking cursor, trying to craft the perfect response to an email, my brain locks up. I’ll open an email to reply, then spend 30 minutes reworking the message and second-guessing everything from punctuation to tone.

And don’t even get me started on the number of messages that arrive in my inboxes throughout the day. Between texts, Slack messages, and emails, the sheer volume of messaging is enough to knock me off track. In the past, this would cause me to fall behind, get frustrated, and lose my flow. 

But recently, I finally realized the problem wasn’t the communication itself. It was the format. I was working against the way my brain naturally operates. So I changed the system.

Instead of typing everything out, I started dictating. I’ve been using a tool called Wispr Flow, and it allows me to dictate directly in an email, a message, a document, or wherever I’m working. And just like that, the bottleneck disappeared. I no longer have to keep typing and retyping responses; I can just speak naturally. 

This one change dramatically improved my efficiency, but more importantly, it helped me stop wasting energy on a system that just wasn’t working for me. I’m never going to be the guy who enjoys composing long written responses. But if you give me the opportunity to talk it out, I can move through ideas quickly and clearly.

The broader shift wasn’t about productivity tools. It was about giving myself permission to work with my brain instead of trying to out-discipline it.

And that’s really the point of this: adaptation and efficiency. 

Being adaptable is one of the most useful skills you can have. It’s how you stay flexible, eliminate friction, and keep things moving. Once I stopped trying to communicate the ‘right’ way and leaned into what actually works for me, everything started running smoother.

- G aka The Grand Adaptor

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