ERIC KIM

QUIT EMAIL, NOT PORN

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(A ruthless-practical manifesto in the Eric Kim voice)

0. THESIS IN A BULLET

  • Porn = obvious vice → containment possible.
  • Email = invisible vice → containment impossible.
    Therefore: drop the invisible vice first.

1. WHY PULL THE PLUG ON EMAIL?

Email RealityWhat It Does to You
Endless incomingTurns your day into whack-a-mole
“Quick reply” mythSlices creative flow into confetti
Social-status badge (“I’m slammed”)Masks fear of saying no
Other people’s agendaReplaces your mission with theirs

Insight: Inbox zero ≠ life hero.

2. WHY 

NOT

 QUIT PORN (YET)?

  1. Clarity of Intent – You know exactly why you open it; no pretense of “productivity.”
  2. Finite Session – When thrill ends, the tab closes; email re-opens itself at 3 a.m.
  3. No Social Debt – Videos don’t ping you later asking, “Circle back?”

(If porn ever mutates into compulsion that nukes real relationships—cut it. But it’s still easier to fence than email.)

3. THE “QUICK-CUT” PROTOCOL FOR EMAIL DETOX

  1. Public Declaration
    • Auto-reply: “I’ve retired from email. Text/Signal if urgent.”
  3. 48-Hour Cold Turkey
    • Delete all mail apps + browser shortcuts. Feel the phantom-limb twitch; let it pass.
  5. One-Way Street
    • Need docs? Receive via shared folder. Need updates? Asynchronous dashboard.
  7. Creator-First Habit
    • Morning: make something—lift, write, shoot, code. Only after shipping, check the minimal channel you still allow (maybe SMS).
  9. Weekly Inbox-Dumpster-Dive (Optional)
    • Friday 4-4:30 p.m. Review archive for legal / billing stuff. No replies; just file or delete.

4. DEALING WITH WITHDRAWAL

  • Anxiety Spike? Sprint 100 m, ice-cold shower, or deadlift triples.
  • Fear of Missing Out?
    • Truth: If it’s mission-critical, humans will hunt you down by phone or doorbell.
  • Bored Hands? Replace “refresh swipe” with notebook doodles, pull-ups, or anything tactile.

5. UPGRADE PATH

Old HabitNew Habit
Inbox breakfast scrollSunlight + espresso + notebook
“Respond ASAP” reflex“Ship my art” reflex
Email threadsVoice message (≤60 sec)
CC/BCC paranoiaPublic blog post / memo

6. PARTING SHOT

Your brain is a Ferrari; inbox is rush-hour traffic.

Park the Ferrari on an open track—let it roar.

Quit email. If you still need a vice, keep the one that doesn’t pretend to be virtuous. Create, lift, love, live—and finally own every second of your day.

Are you ready to be god?

QUIT EMAIL, NOT PORN

(written in the voice of Eric Kim, raw, honest, no-BS)

0. PROVOCATION

Let’s be real:

Porn didn’t destroy your dreams—email did.

Porn wastes minutes.

Email wastes decades.

1. PORN IS HONEST. EMAIL IS A LIAR.

Porn: “I’m here for pleasure.”

Email: “I’m here for productivity.”

But email isn’t productive—it’s reactive slavery.

You’re just constantly replying. Updating. Confirming.

Tap dancing for other people’s agendas.

Like a dog trained by Pavlov, salivating at every notification.

2. WHO OWNS YOUR ATTENTION?

  • Porn at least centers on your biological instinct.
  • Email hijacks your creative instinct.
    And creativity is divine.
    You trade it away… 10,000 micro-decisions at a time, one “per my last email” at a time.

3. ENERGY ROI

After watching porn, you can go lift, create, cook, go outside.

After checking email for 2 hours?

Your brain is fried.

Your soul is diluted.

You need a nap or a drink or a scroll.

4. PLEASURE VS. GUILT

Irony:

You feel guiltier ignoring an email than watching porn.

Because porn has no social strings.

But email comes packaged with shame.

“Why didn’t you respond?”

Because I was living my f***ing life, that’s why.

5. BOUNDARIES VS. INFINITE INVASION

Porn has a start, climax, end.

Email has no climax. No end. Just inbox infinity.

You go in for “5 minutes”…

You wake up 3 hours later still writing a “circling back” message.

6. THE SOLUTION

  1. Quit email.
    Go cold turkey. Rip the cord. Delete the app. Log out on desktop.
    Make it annoying as hell to log back in.
  2. Leave a manifesto auto-reply:
    “I’ve quit email. If you need me, find me in real life, text me, or don’t.”
  3. Shift to high-bandwidth communication.
    • In person, voice, phone, voice memo.
    • No typing. Only talking or doing.
  5. Create instead of react.
    Wake up. No inbox. Just output. Make something.
    One photo, one post, one drawing, one weight lifted.
    Ship your soul daily.

7. RECLAIM YOUR MIND

You don’t need inbox zero.

You need mental inbox zero.

Email is digital noise disguised as importance.

Porn is noise disguised as pleasure.

At least one of them tells you what it is.

So yeah—

Quit email. Not porn.

Or better yet:

Quit both.

But only if you’re ready to be god.

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