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Reflections from SF
Randy Ginsburg
June 26, 2025
Welcome to the 16 new readers who have joined us since last week! If you haven’t subscribed, join 2400+ smart, curious folks by subscribing here:
1) On July 8th, Kanso’s Here & Now is coming to London. If you’re looking to spend quality time with quality people, completely unplugged, this is for you. Grab your tickets here.
2) My friend Yoni just launched a screen-time app called brainrot. It gives you a cute little brain avatar that visibly decays the more you use your phone, which I find oddly more motivating than my screen time number itself.
He also makes great content about the behind-the-scenes thought process of building the app if that’s your jam. Highly recommend checking it out.
Alright, some exciting updates today…
There is something wildly magical about taking an idea that once only existed in your head and bringing it to life.
It's so damn hard (especially getting people to pay for that thing!) but there are few more rewarding feelings than willing something into existence.
Even better when it means spending quality time with quality people all over the world.
A few hours ago, I returned from hosting the first Here & Now event in San Francisco.
All I can say is…wow.
For three hours, ~30 amazing people from all walks of life (all of whom were strangers to me!) chose to lock away their phones, with the sole goal of being present and building deeper relationships with those around them.
Compared to New York, the conversations were much less work-focused. We had people nerding out about everything from semiconductors and automation to the philosophy of law, community building, and the spiritual frameworks that guide our lives.
But the biggest discussion point (and a very fitting one at that) was how our relationships with technology impact our lives.
A few big themes:
1) When given the space, people were very open to sharing their challenges with technology. But felt the need to preface with something along the lines of “don’t judge but…”
This shows that there is an element of shame around excessive tech use, which I view as a positive step towards broader societal agreement that being ‘too online’ can hurt our primal desire for social acceptance.
2) Almost everyone was either actively taking measures to improve their tech habits or had done so in the past. All found it nearly impossible to make their progress stick.
3) Because of the above, many expressed a desire to understand the why behind their habits and wanted to learn more about the psychology driving their behavior.
The last point’s been a big focus for me too. I’ve recently been diving deep into the science of addictive design, dopamine, habit formation, and attention, and I’ll be sharing what I find here so you can put it into practice yourself.
Earlier today, I spent much of my flight listening to Anna Lembke’s Diary of A CEO episode.
Steven Bartlett prefaces the episode saying, “If there is ever an episode you should listen to this year, it’s this one.”
And he’s right.
A few weeks ago, I shared Dr. Lembke’s pod with Scott Galloway, but this DOAC pod is nearly double in length and goes wayyy deeper.
I’ll be writing a much longer piece about dopamine soon, but in the meantime, give this a listen and let me know what you think!
If you’re looking to improve your digital wellness, here are a few places to start:
Kanso Experiences - Unforgettable phone-free social experiences for ambitious people who are tired of the feed and hungry for real relationships.
Kanso Reset45 Cohorts - A cohort-based bootcamp to reprogram your tech habits in 45 days. If you’re interested in joining, reply to this email.
Kanso 1:1 Digital Wellness Accountability Coaching - For those who need high-touch, personalized support and daily ongoing accountability.
The Digital Reset Journal - The first journal designed to help you build a healthier relationship with tech
Digital Detox Tools - A free directory of 100+ digital wellness tools to integrate into all areas of your life.
Follow me across platforms:
You can find Kanso across Instagram and TikTok @unplugwithkanso too.
That’s all for this week. Now stop scrolling, and go do something great.
— Randy
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