Notes: The Universal Paperclip Clicker

Notes: The Universal Paperclip Clicker

From CoRecursive: Coding Stories by Adam Gordon Bell - Software Developer

February 4, 2026 · 11 min

About this episode

The episode explores the author's reflections on productivity and the nature of work through personal anecdotes and observations.

Multiple VS Code windows. "Agent stopping" in a robot voice. A laptop stand on the treadmill so Claude can keep working while I run. The Big Rich sitting unread by the fireplace while I check if the migration's done. Somewhere along the way, I started reorganizing my life around keeping the machine spinning. Claude Code had become my universal paperclip clicker. This is me trying to figure out the difference between real work and just feeding it tickets. This is some field notes, a shorter, rougher than a normal epsidoe. Episode Page Support The Show Subscribe To The Podcast Join The Newsletter

People in this episode

Host: Adam Gordon Bell

Topics covered

  • productivity
  • work-life balance
  • software development
  • automation
  • personal organization

Keywords

  • VS Code
  • robot voice
  • laptop stand
  • migration
  • universal paperclip clicker

Mentioned in this episode

Products: Claude Code

Books & works: The Big Rich

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