How #freewithtech Evolved After 25 Weeks
A self-written reflection on the evolution of free with tech—from AI-assisted blogs to authentic video content, and building tools for intentional digital living.
This decision marks another significant milestone for the free with tech brand and it's constant evolution. A lot has happened since the first blog post on the 31st of January 2025. This is the reason why I've decided to write it myself, without any help from the side of generative AI.
Reflecting back
I was hesitant to start creating content initially and I can remember that period vividly. It all started here as a high-level vision for reclaiming digital freedom through self-awareness, digital minimalism and tech independence. It started because of a strong contrast I noticed between my past self (digital slave) and a present self (digital sovereign). I had value to share with the world so I needed to start doing something.
Phase 1: Just start (01/31/25)
I didn't want to create videos, but it became apparent that is the format for the AI age. Blogs do not feel authentic anymore just because of the ability to generate anything. In the end, I was generating them with AI myself and this is exactly how my process looked like:
Write a draft to capture the core intention for new content piece.
Give the draft to ChatGPT so it formats it nicely for reading.
Hit publish.
This usually took me 30 to 60 minutes of work.
However, articles weren't enough for me. They lacked aforementioned authenticity and with so much AI generation already happening on the internet, it felt worthless. This is why I've started recording videos just a month later, starting with my personal story that is underpinning the whole free with tech philosophy. This was the first ever video recording of myself (I reflected on it in my article on a personal website - btw, this space is NO AI and I write all of these by myself).
So after introducing video content to my routine, it looked as follows:
Write a draft to capture the core intention for new content piece.
Give the draft to ChatGPT so it formats it nicely for reading.
Generate outline so I can use it for inspiration during my single-take video recording process.
Record video.
Create thumbnails.
Hit publish on blog.
Hit publish on video.
However, now the main objective for each week was the video recording and blog acted as a companion for those that do not want to spend their time watching me as I am trying to express myself in English (as a non-native speaker).
Phase 2: Local meetup, podcast, and branding (04/01/25)
With an established habit for content creation (you can see this year's progress in my Creator Dashboard) and weekly blogs + videos, I've decided to take the opportunity to speak at the local IT meetup called Tatry IT in April. As a follow-up, I was also interviewed on a podcast called Voices of Poprad. I viewed these appearances as opportunities to refine my thinking around the philosophy and what it really means for me.
The same refinement was going on during the process of creating an official branding. I really wanted to have a visual identity that communicates what free with tech stands for via a unique angle. I've heard just good feedback on the branding so far (btw, let me know what you think) but more importantly, this phase as such had helped me move towards the 3rd phase of my vision implementation.
Phase 3: Niching down and building (06/01/25)
If you look at my first articles and videos, you can sense that they were all over the place when it comes to presenting ideas. They were very high level but started to be somewhat actionable after a few consistent attempts. The first actionable content piece was on 03/27/25 or the 9th article and the 5th video. But still, it was just me sharing general tips on self-awareness, digital minimalism and tech independence without targeting a particular group of people.
However, after Phase 2, my bias to action started getting larger. There was this app called Joex from 2024 that I published on the App Store but also failed to maintain it. But now, with a bigger vision in place, it was much easier for me to start over. So I've decided to niche down and help people replicate my personal path from digital slavery to freedom using same methods that worked for me.
Not sure if you've seen content, but I've been building axis & joex apps for Apple Watch that act as digital companions to the analog journaling routine. This very routine was my way from digital slavery to freedom. My objective now is to publish these apps and elaborate on my vision for analog journaling digital extension ecosystem. In other words, this is how I am integrating tech into my life with intention so it serves me.
(btw, I am here to find this out very soon as my apps are now in the testing phase that you can join too by clicking axis or joex)
Closing thoughts
This was a long one and I can feel it too (1h 20m of writing so far). But I needed to express myself properly. This decision needed to be made so I can focus on what matters the most and it became clear that blogs are rather a chore than something I want to keep doing. This was the 25th blog post in 25 weeks and also the only one that I wrote completely by myself (something I do for all my articles on my personal website).
From now on, I will continue publishing weekly videos on the official YouTube channel. Also, if you are curious about my reflections on creating 20 videos in 20 weeks, please read on here.
Thanks for reading and I hope to see you on YouTube!
Samuel