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Ask HN: Is there a new habit you cultivated recently that is really paying off?

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Re: Ask HN: Is there a new habit you cultivated recently that is really paying off?

#31

Post by Walkman »

monadgonad wrote: post #18
SamReidHughes wrote: post #10

Working out. Just body weight workouts. No gym. It improved my golf game. Another is: not buying sodas with my meal. Self-explanatory. Another: Spending brief interludes of time where a compile or unit test is happening to write down what I'm going to do next. It keeps me on task. Another: Incrementally cleaning/organizing my condo. Another: Walking around hardware, furniture, craft stores, Walmart, Target, etc, to s…

> Another: Incrementally cleaning/organizing my condo. Please could you explain this a little more? I’m the sort of person who lets the mess build up to a critical mass, and I’d love to have a better system.

That's not a system at all.

Re: Ask HN: Is there a new habit you cultivated recently that is really paying off?

#32

Post by INTPenis »

I stopped smoking cannabis a little over a month ago and now I feel all this energy surging through me that I had been missing since 2017.

I had been really down since my SO passed away in september but I hadn't smoked what you might consider excessively. The problem was that I smoked too regularly. Like a little pinch in a pipe twice a week. That's enough to keep my body affected by it. And it takes at least a month for it to purge.

I've been through this before but the older I get the more I notice the changes, the contrast in energy and behavior.

So this last time has me thinking of never smoking again. Or at least never getting into a smoking period longer than one week again. An occasional spliff with friends would be ok but no repeats.

Anyways, none of that is on the map for now, right now I'm feeling so great. I'm finishing off projects, I'm coding until the sun comes up, I'm exercising. God I love being clean!

Re: Ask HN: Is there a new habit you cultivated recently that is really paying off?

#33

Post by leonroy »

Stop buying stuff.

I was a compulsive spender. Never bought on credit mind but I’d blow my entire paycheque after bills on stuff like cameras, hifi, the latest Apple doodad, etc.

I literally stopped buying anything not required for my day to day sustenance. No Netflix, started renting what I wanted to watch which forced me to be more picky with my expenditure and time.

No more eating out except for special occasions. Packed lunches and home made meals only.

No more buying books until I read the ones on my shelf.

No more buying a new Mac every time my old one got mildly slow.

No more video games or Blu-rays until I had finished the ones sitting in shrink wrap on the shelf.

Once you pare things down you start to become almost painfully aware of how the seemingly little expenditures add up fast.

With the surplus income I ended up with about 6-8 months living expenses saved which suddenly made me realize that I had the freedom to look around from my present job. Which so far is working out I think... (started my own company and launching our product this month :)

Re: Ask HN: Is there a new habit you cultivated recently that is really paying off?

#34

Post by yeswecatan »

antocv wrote: post #23

Turn off all notifications on smart-phone, every single notification which pops up, a led blinks, a "notification" appears, if its not emergency from my wife - this has to be blocked. Side effect, no need to check my phone, there is nothing there anymore. Feeds like reddit, HN, email, all settings and username is only on work-laptop with its own instance of browser - browsing these feeds on any other web-browser mean…

How can you turn off all notifications except from one person?

Re: Ask HN: Is there a new habit you cultivated recently that is really paying off?

#35

Post by srikz »

Saying no.

To clients for uninteresting work. To scope creep and stopping unbilled features. To friends and family for social commitments when I know I’m spreading myself thin and may not be able to go through or not be fully present.

This helps me cut out FOMO and makes me a bit more sane

It is still scary to do it everytime but it also makes my Yeses a more conscious choice instead of being the de-facto option.

Re: Ask HN: Is there a new habit you cultivated recently that is really paying off?

#37

Post by hellofunk »

INTPenis wrote: post #32

I stopped smoking cannabis a little over a month ago and now I feel all this energy surging through me that I had been missing since 2017. I had been really down since my SO passed away in september but I hadn't smoked what you might consider excessively. The problem was that I smoked too regularly. Like a little pinch in a pipe twice a week. That's enough to keep my body affected by it. And it takes at least a month…

Congratulations!

Re: Ask HN: Is there a new habit you cultivated recently that is really paying off?

#38

Post by themodelplumber »

Switching from measuring productivity to measuring sleep, including nap-taking and night sleeping, has really helped me. I wrote about the sleep part a bit here[0].

I originally started (I think 3 years ago) measuring my satisfaction with how each day went and soon found that "getting all the things done" and all the productivity focus simply wasn't _that_ important to my happiness, contrary to what I had believed in the past. I clearly enjoy life much more when I'm well-rested and can _also_ get more done under those circumstances.

[0] https://www.friendlyskies.net/intj/managing-effective-sleep-...

Re: Ask HN: Is there a new habit you cultivated recently that is really paying off?

#40

Post by on_and_off »

Hiring a personal trainer and work out 5 times a week (only 2 with a trainer though, soon 1).

YMMV, a trainer has allowed me to fix goals and get tailored exercises so I progress quickly.

I repeat the exercises I did with the trainers the other days of the week.

Since I am not a morning person, I go to the gym in the evening, so I often go there , have a shower and go to sleep.

It has tremendously improved both my sleep and my energy levels.

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