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

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

#261

Post by orasis » Tue, Jun 12, 2018, 3:12 PM UTC

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…

Less intensity, longer duration. Start by going for a walk each day and build off that. Walking uses your largest muscle groups and internally massages your spine.

Consistency over time is what will get you there. Exercise need not be exhausting nor even cardio intensive to be highly beneficial.

Take it slow. It will take 1 year+ for your joints to adapt to a new regimen. If you injure yourself you’ll erase any gains.

My bona fides are as a 10 year Brazilian jiu jitsu coach, 39 years old, shredded, feeling great.

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

#262

Post by dceddia » Tue, Jun 12, 2018, 3:13 PM UTC

SauciestGNU wrote: post #74

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.

Coffee and tea can be inexpensive if you brew it yourself. Coffee even less so if you roast it. I've been roasting my own coffee for years now, started with a $100 machine which lasted about 4 years/100 lbs, and then I upgraded to a $350 machine. A pound of coffee costs between $4 and $7, and tastes comparable to something that a boutique roaster sells for $15/12oz. The upfront cost is relatively high, but if your en…

I second this. Fresh coffee tastes awesome. I've been using a $100 roaster for a while now, only recently having got into the habit of roasting all the time (previously I'd get lazy and buy a bag at the store pretty often, which would break the habit). I need to roast every 3 or 4 days, but it only takes about 10 minutes. I don't think my roast quality is quite on par with the $17/12oz (aka $1.42/oz) bags from the store, but it's still damn good, and only like $5/16oz (aka $0.31/oz, 77% cheaper).

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

#263

Post by Sharma » Tue, Jun 12, 2018, 3:13 PM UTC

bsvalley wrote: post #252

This will sound a little boring to you but the following 5 habits made me stronger after only 2 weeks. I suffer from general fatigue (I did a million check up with specialist and nothing came out). I've tried so many different things to boost my level of energy naturally, that's the result of a long study and experiment: - Cutting caffeine to only one coffee on the morning and taking that coffee at least one hour aft…

One another imp factor I would suggest is to try experimenting with your sleep hours. Sometimes an extra half an hour of sleep can make a great difference.

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

#264

Post by AlwaysRock » Tue, Jun 12, 2018, 3:15 PM UTC

Getting up 15 minutes earlier and reading during that time every morning. I've always been a big reader but sometimes I find it hard to pick up a book after work.

Even the small amount of reading in the morning allows me to make a little progress every day and more often than not I keep thinking about the book during the day and I'm more likely to pick it up at after work.

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

#265

Post by deskamess » Tue, Jun 12, 2018, 3:16 PM UTC

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…

Its 3 minutes today. It will be 3m 10s in two weeks. Do the exercises you can and stop when you are done like you do today (this avoids injury which can be the biggest routine breaker). You were out a long time, so give yourself some time to come back (that is, be gentle with your body and mind).

For now, just keep doing it. Don't expect quick results... various parts of your body need to start coordinating to this new change. Muscles that worked independently need to work together. Mind body coordination has to kick in. Repetition will breed familiarity and muscle memory kicks in - things get a little more manageable.

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

#266

Post by [deleted] » Tue, Jun 12, 2018, 3:17 PM UTC

chad_strategic wrote: post #214

1. 8 years ago delete my Facebook account. 2. 5 years ago stopped looking at my phone in bed. 3. 2 years ago delete my twitter account. 4. 6 months ago stopped looking at my phone & computer from dinner time to my son's bed time. 5. 2 weeks ago removed email from phone. Each step along the way, I feel better. Also regular exercise and a healthy diet. TODO: Meet more people and increase my social friendships. Also mor…

[deleted]

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

#267

Post by JohnJamesRambo » Tue, Jun 12, 2018, 3:17 PM UTC

chad_strategic wrote: post #214

1. 8 years ago delete my Facebook account. 2. 5 years ago stopped looking at my phone in bed. 3. 2 years ago delete my twitter account. 4. 6 months ago stopped looking at my phone & computer from dinner time to my son's bed time. 5. 2 weeks ago removed email from phone. Each step along the way, I feel better. Also regular exercise and a healthy diet. TODO: Meet more people and increase my social friendships. Also mor…

You've done really well!

6. Stop looking at HN?

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

#268

Post by AlwaysRock » Tue, Jun 12, 2018, 3:18 PM UTC

gamerDude wrote: post #167

In November, I wrote a personal update later and found some people that I hadn't talked to in over 5 years. I sent 10 people that letter and said if more than 5 reach out, I am going to do this monthly. 8 of them reached back out! I felt honored that people still remembered me and wanted to keep up. I've been doing as vulnerable a letter as I can every month. And people I know from all sorts of relationships are read…

I've always wanted to do this. I have friends that I havnt spoken to in a while who I would really like to stay in more regular contact with but it's hard once we don't have a social reason to see each other on anymore.

Every time I think about doing this I worry that it's way too self indulgent. I'm already a bit, see very, self absorbed at times and I think this would come off as a extension of that. Am I just paranoid?

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

#269

Post by krzjn » Tue, Jun 12, 2018, 3:19 PM UTC

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.

Three suggestions: 1) Get rid of anything that you haven't used for years or that you don't feel an emotional connection with 2) Have a designated place for each belonging you possess 3) Cultivate the habit of putting things away immediately after you're done before doing the next activity.

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

#270

Post by abhiminator » Tue, Jun 12, 2018, 3:20 PM UTC

I started meditating recently after having been carpet-bombed by its potential benefits for years across various media and platforms, and now, after a few weeks of regular practice, I must say this -- I was pleasantly surprised by how much my outlook toward life changed since I started practicing 'mindfulness' -- a type of meditation involving focusing on the present moment with the understanding that buzzing thoughts are super fleeting.

It was hard at the beginning, very hard in fact; but once I made a habit of doing it every day no matter how busy (I think) I got, it really started making a difference -- it started paying off.

I'm now measurable more focused, less distracted by outside stimuli (screens, people, news) and have gotten more adept at observing my thoughts and feelings before they snowball into something more neurotic -- very good attributes to have in our ever more distracted world. In short, I have more CONTROL over my attention, which has immensely added to how I experience life.[0]

Highly recommend it.

[0] https://hbr.org/2018/03/to-control-your-life-control-what-yo...