Fixing Papercuts

Focus is hard. Our attention is precious, yet it is pulled in different directions every single day. There are the big rocks to focus on, and then there are the pebbles, the gravel, and the sand. Staying focused even on the big rocks is tough, let alone managing the smaller ones. That is why the advice from brilliant minds to simply ignore the sand and gravel never sat well with me. They do not disappear. They haunt you later. They slowly erode the quality of life.

That is when I stumbled upon the idea of “paper cut teams” at Amazon. Jeff Bezos created teams just to deal with the tiny, nagging issues that pile up. The logic was simple: when you keep fixing small things, the overall experience improves. It reduces the build-up of UX debt.

Life works the same way. Experience debt comes from unattended paper cuts. Most of us do not have teams to take care of them, so I created something for myself. Twice a month, I dedicate a “paper cut day.” On that day I tackle the long list of small, nagging issues that get buried under the weight of big rocks. Things like changing the address on an Aadhar card, fixing that flickering bulb, buying the right omelette pan during a business trip, or finally picking up that tool from the hardware store.

These days have been transformative. They lower my life’s experience debt and elevate my daily living. It is amazing how much lighter and clearer life feels when the small cuts are healed.

So here is my question: what paper cuts are you waiting to fix?