For The Love Of God Stop Worrying About Credit Card Points

Nikita Bier is the master at tweeting stuff that just cuts right to the truth, and he did it again on Tuesday:

The motivation for the tweet was, of course, the release of the Robinhood Gold Card. With 3% cash back on every purchase, it’s an objectively good card, maybe even the best on the market. But the extent to which people discussed it was just crazy. Just look at some of the comments:

I get that picking the right credit card can feel like an important decision, but like, is it really? Does it really matter if one card is a % point better than another? The answer is obviously not. Your life is not going to change by having a slightly better credit card.

A similar phenomenon can be observed with productivity tools like Notion. People will spend hours organizing their Notion, making every little thing look pretty and perfect. I’ve done it before, and it feels great in the moment, but then you look up and realize that you are no more productive having your docs in Notion instead of Apple Notes.

In meme format, this phenomenon translates to:

As anybody in crypto knows, it’s not the midcurvers that come out on top. The people who come out on top are the ones able to zero in and keep the main thing the main thing. Less time worrying about what software to use, more time worrying about making some damn money.

The question is, then, why do people spend so much time on these ridiculous obsessions? I think the answer is pretty simple: actual work is a lot harder and scarier than these petty obsessions. It’s a lot easier to ponder credit card points than to get on the phone and make a sale. It’s a lot easier to organize your books than to write one. And it’s a lot easier to spruce up your LinkedIn page than it is to apply for a job.

It’s all just another form of procrastination. It’s like TikTok but perhaps even more dangerous, because even though the companies know they are selling you a distraction, they can pitch it as a productivity tool. The result is a lot of technology that does a whole bunch of nothing. 

Thankfully, this is a good thing for the ambitious. Just being able to take action is a huge advantage.

Stop wasting your time on the little things that don’t move the needle.