151–160 of 478 posts
It allowed me to claim back some of my own time back.
I don't mean a gruff and negative "no". A positive and assertive no.
I used to be afraid of saying no. I guess it was due to FOMO or due to trying to avoid a negative reaction. I realized though that I don't owe anyone anything (in most cases) and saying "no" is perfectly OK.
Seated zazen meditation. 10 minutes every morning. Massive improvement to my mood, energy, empathy and productivity.
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.…
Daily journaling. So i know im actually getting things done even if its just figuring out a hard problem
Writing blog posts and actually using it in conversations.
Going to meetups and meeting new people
Deliberately trying to cultivate friendships and openness, both by being a bit more open and honest with people, and by asking them very gentle questions to let them know that I'm somebody they can be open with, if they want. I also set up a 'close friends' filter on Facebook for people I can be a bit more honest with - not 'all drama, all the time' type of stuff, but more about starting interesting discussions about…
It has definitely helped my mood and mental health overall to talk about the things that are on my mind, even if the conversations don't always end up going in my favor per se.
This probably seems super obvious to a lot of people, but it does not come naturally to me, and I suspect an equally large number of people have trouble with it too.
I've started bringing my lunch to work. It saves me around $50 per week. If I funnel that into my student loan, I'll save about $15,000 in interest from making the extra repayments. That's the magic of compounding interest.
Just show up - I started this last year going to the gym - if I didn't feel like going to work out, I just went to the gym and messed around, did whatever I felt like, even for 15 or 20 minutes and then left. The discipline has translated into other projects - a camper reno, a game engine, etc. Just showing up is more than half the battle, even if you don't accomplish much on one given day.
A super key part of encouraging a good habit, IMO. Showing up is the hard part, and if you give yourself permission to just tool around or leave early if you're not feeling it, at least you're still cultivating the habit.
A cold shower in the morning. It is quick, cheap, easy on the skin, wakes you up and makes you feel like a champion.