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Explain Like I'm Five · by Valentina Ruiz · 2026-10-09

A small win with explainers in Dublin

I felt stuck over the weekend and started experimenting with explainers. After six attempts, I’ve noticed I follow through when preparation takes less than six minutes. Tiny sample, I know. “Tiny progress is still progress” helped when explainers stopped feeling new.

32 sparks · 12 comments

Comments

Tola Ibrahim · 3 likes

I disagree a bit. Expectations are usually the bigger issue. Removing friction helps, but follow-through matters more than a perfect plan.

Sanne de Vries · 2 likes

Amazing how much difference one small change can make.

Valentina Ruiz · 18 likes

You just saved me a bad purchase

Maksym Bondar · 2 likes

That sounds great until you add children/pets/deadlines

Grace Parker · 1 likes

Thanks that actually helped

Valentina Ruiz · 0 likes

The best answer in the thread, honestly

Aoi Ito · 2 likes

Big fan of this approach. That is where the boring checklist helps

Amina Okafor · 1 likes

The context helps; I’d have assumed the opposite. Curious whether learning still feels good next month.

Rohan Mehta · 1 likes

I am cheering for this update. I would write it down before changing anything else

Avery Johnson · 1 likes

This is genuinely helpful, thanks for writing it out. Honestly, teh simplest version wins for me

Noah Miller · 0 likes

This sounds sensible, though I would need to test it myself

Zofia Kowalska · 0 likes

The kindness in this post is lovely.