Ask HN: What lifehacks actually changed your life?

Optimism thread incoming!

Years ago before the concept of lifehacks waned and inflation, burnout and Corona hit, i remember learning quite a few tricks through the internet, that has followed me whenever i hit a slump.

What did you start to do, stopped doing, or became routine that really made a difference in your life in the past years?

Examples:

- Stop scrolling social media

- Have no-screen days

- Do X day challenges

- Try new social settings

- Have a morning routine with meditation, yoga or gratitude-list

- Journal either in the morning or evening

- Meditate

- Become a mentor, parent or do community work

- Force yourself to read a bit everyday, also challenging stuff

- Eat better, and find out if you have deficiencies

- Get more light and get out and move

- Try different sleep schedules

- Take more time off idling

- Move city

So HN what what changed your life?

That's a great realisation that especially came to me in my thirties through various crisis happening to people around me and myself.

Being there when other people have real challenges makes you realise how small status anxiety really is compared, and how much more meaning there is in just enjoying time with good people instead of skating around on the brittle surface.

That's a great one. I remember the 30, 60 or 90 day challenges people did on the internet of the 2000's. Especially in the creative fields; 30 days of html tricks, 60 days of posting a new illustration or 90 days of blogging about some personal health project - always with lots comments in the old blogosphere.

It's a great way of getting out of your shell, become used to criticism both positive and negative, connecting with like minded people and get a momentum or habit going. I even distinctly remember a book called micro-habits that was about this concept.

- Block most social media, including Reddit, Twitter, and YouTube (!). I can always unblock them if I need to, but having them be "default blocked" means I'm more intentional about when and how I use them.

- Do one hour of exercise a day, preferably in the morning. Even if it's a light morning walk. I find it sets a healthy tone for the rest of the day.

- Actively reach out to friends and family. Even if it's small updates about my day.

- Create something every day. For me it's my blog, and I haven't been at it for long, but it's been powerful for clarifying what I'm thinking about and why. Part of the appeal that each post is low-commitment, i.e. it's not a multi-day saga, so I can be playful with it, e.g. https://arunkprasad.com/log/how-does-ssh-work/