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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?

#141

Post by justjash »

Bakary wrote: post #61
pinkgodzilla wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Would like to add "habit of drinking water" to this list. ANY beverage whether its coffee, soda, tea - is easily 4 to 6 dollars and is an entirely made up requirement.

For those who don't want to relinquish drinks altogether, getting a thermos/French press etc. and buying tea/coffee yourself reduces those expenses almost twenty fold over time. Soda is best abandoned, however.

Yeah, coffee is crazy expensive when you look at how much shops charge you for a drink. It costs about $1.33 per day for the 20oz of coffee I make for my wife and I. Really not bad considering if we were to both go out and buy a coffee everyday it would be around $10.

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

#142

Post by Keloo »

majewsky wrote: post #63
MrQuincle wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Working out! With a 7 minute app. I started in Nov. + People notice the difference. + It's a good way to cope with bad times. + You feel accomplished afterwards. + It's a perfect start of the day. + If you're dating and she is watching, it's a turn on. + You can go on for longer. + It's good for your confidence. + Other people who are working on themselves can be interesting people to meet. + It's good for your healt…

I have a question regarding that. I'm not particularly fat (185cm / 6'0'' tall and weighing 85kg / 187lb), but I'm quite unfit (you wouldn't be able to see any muscles on my body). When I try to do something like a 7-minute or 9-minute workout, I'm usually unable to continue after 3 minutes because of sheer exhaustion, and I'll have aching muscles for the next few days after that. Any recommendations how to overcome…

As Greg Plitt (one of my childhood motivators, may he R.I.P.) said:

The only exercises that don't make you better are the one that you don't do.

I always have this in my mind, it's been more than 5 years since I heard this.

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

#143

Post by projectramo »

elros wrote: post #138
projectramo wrote: post #127

Almost all the habits here are about sleeping and exercise. Exercise is one of those things that once you start, you crave so it is easier. But sleep wasn't solved for me till I got a personal tracker. Suddenly I started to care when I measured how little or how much REM I got. So I think if you get a personal tracker and track your steps and sleep, a lot of the rest will fall in place.

I've been trying to solve the sleep part of the equation for a few decades. I'm yet to try a sleep tracker. Do you have a personal tracker recommendation?

I used to use the Jawbone UP because it had the best REM sleep tracking. I bought up a ton of old ones when they closed down because they don't last.

I use the fitbit now. The sleep tracking has caught up.

The link between REM and mood/clarity is very strong in my case.

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

#144

Post by leesec »

hunterjrj wrote: post #87

Stretching in the evenings. Lower back pain is almost completely gone, range of motion in my neck is expanded.

Can you point me to some stretching resources? I've struggled with lower back and neck pain for a while. I try to stretch but I'm never sure what I do is helping.

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

#145

Post by p3llin0r3 »

NamTaf wrote: post #12

Walking home every day. It's about an hour or so, vs my 20 mins on public transport, but it's become a good time of meditative reflection and has provided me with some fitness benefits. It's also time I'd otherwise spend just reading the internet or playing a videogame anyway. Also, trying to meal prep a large number of the same dish to avoid buying lunches during the week and thus spending a large amount of money ne…

You should think about listening to audio books during your daily commute. I do this and I enjoy it a lot.

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

#146

Post by justjash »

Got back into fly fishing. I started when I was in college but kind of just ran out of time to practice and never really had many friends who did outdoorsy things.

My new job has me on-call a few months out of the year and it allows me to sneak away and get outside at a local park while being able to easily make it back home if needed (something that I can't easily do on long bike rides).

I also recently started tying my own flies which is something I found enjoyable. Its nice to create things outside of a computer screen occasionally and I have something concrete in my hand within an hour.

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

#147

Post by iamben »

glastra wrote: post #78

Switched to a ketogenic diet with intermittent fasting 5 months ago. My sleep quality, mental clarity, ability to focus for long periods of time and mood swings have all improved dramatically. I am also shredding fat at a pretty good pace and apparently also gaining muscle (I lift every single day if I can).

Was going to post this as well! I'm 10 weeks in and feeling great. Continuing to work out as before and lost almost 8kg (10% of my starting body weight). A bit hard getting start, but easy to roll when you're going.

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

#148

Post by methochris »

glastra wrote: post #78

Switched to a ketogenic diet with intermittent fasting 5 months ago. My sleep quality, mental clarity, ability to focus for long periods of time and mood swings have all improved dramatically. I am also shredding fat at a pretty good pace and apparently also gaining muscle (I lift every single day if I can).

i'm interested in this approach. what is your age and starting weight and what is your fasting window regime and what amount of calories per day do you shoot for?

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

#149

Post by slig »

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.

No the OP, but this works for me: say you're on your living room and going to the kitchen. If you see something that should be on the kitchen grab it and place it there. Just one small thing at a time moved to the right place will eventually sort most of your mess.

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

#150

Post by japhyr »

ilamont wrote: post #114

Learned how to cook easy dishes for my family. My wife and I for years went all out on cooking stovetop dishes that take an hour or more of chopping and other kitchen labor before the meal and another 30-45 minutes of cleanup afterwards. Exposure to Spanish dining habits on a vacation, use of time-saving tools such as an electronic pressure cooker and rice cooker, and learning how to use an oven for simple dishes rea…

Do you have any new favorites? I'd definitely like to move in this direction with my family's cooking.
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