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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?

#271

Post by philbarr »

JohnJamesRambo wrote: post #267
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?

But then what would we all do at work?

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

#272

Post by Klover »

justjash wrote: post #141
Bakary wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

20oz = 591,471 millilitres for others wondering.

And it is a good practice indeed. I think deep down my comment history here one can find that I found it strange that someone would pay a lot of money on an annual basis for coffee out of the home.

That said I also think that it is not bad to be able to spend money like that. Not about the money itself, but the mindset required to spend. It must require a very pleasant way of life to not want to save all money, like in case of emergencies or saving up so you or your kids can go to college.

Balance, basically.

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

#273

Post by JanisL »

free-trampolin wrote: post #25
calferreira wrote: post #21

Stopped thinking about trying to be the best and just doing the best I can. Sounds simple but it was quite an issue for me. I was putting a tremendous pressure on myself and others, causing me anxiety and sadness. Just doing the best I can and being happy. There's more life beyond work and perfection is just a falacy.

This is everything but simple for most ppl, including me. I haven't achieved that entirely yet.

I find that understanding learning better helps with this. Effective learning requires knowing where you are at and what you need to do to get better given where you are at. In this sense trying to be the best is often the wrong goal.

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

#274

Post by JaumeGreen »

dahart wrote: post #172

Counting calories. I finally lost 50 lbs and learned that when I’d go to the gym or go for a run, I’d compensate by eating more, which is why I never lost the weight I wanted in 20 years of regular exercise. I still exercise, but now I do it to 1- get stronger, and 2- earn calorie budget so I can eat more.

Counting calories really has helped me. I lost almost 15Kg, I'm on the verge of being only overweight, I feel lighter, I snore less, ...

After the period of adaptation it has also make me relate to the food in diferent ways, feeling full sooner, and my taste has changed somewhat and I don't love "unhealthy" food any longer.

This with daily weight-ins (with average indicator) has been the real game changer for me.

I read about this on Hacker's diet[0], and I didn't start counting until february. If I had known it would be to simple (not that easy though) I might have started sooner.

[0] https://www.fourmilab.ch/hackdiet/

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

#275

Post by AlwaysRock »

H1Supreme wrote: post #226

Reading books. I was never a reader as kid. And, for the last 10 years or so of my adult life, the only reading I've done was programming tutorials, documentation, and whatever I ran into on the web. Certainly, there wasn't any reading done for fun. But, last month after picking up lunch one day, I actually walked into the used book store and bought a book. Yesterday, I started reading book #4. Kinda surprised I went…

Adding to this... If you are already a reader but find yourself only reading in spurts i.e. you find a great book, only read on vacation, ect. I'd suggest being more open to quitting a book when you start to lose interest. I went from reading 10 books a year to 25+ because I'm willing to put a book down. It's also helped me define what I actually enjoy reading.

Am I disappointed I only made it 300 pages into Infinite Jest? Sure. But I've read 4 other books since I set that down last month.

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

#276

Post by osrec »

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…

I've managed 1, but 2 and 5 seem near impossible to me! How did you break the habit of 2 and 5?

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

#277

Post by mathattack »

An old habit that I recently picked up again.

I add every To Do to an online list, and type notes from every meeting I attend and distribute. It takes a ton off my cognitive load, and dramatically increases the likelihood that people follow up.

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

#278

Post by atmosx »

Take a few minutes every day and keep track on:

    - what happened today (o3 meetings, retros, grooming etc.)
    - what I've worked on
    - what I learned today (if anything)
What I learned today part (if anything) is the most interesting. Writing everything down, gives me context the next day. I also write things I'd like to ask or need to remember.

I review things I wrote regularly and that kinda cements knowledge. The extend of detail varies greatly, but all in all I'm happy with the process so far.

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

#280

Post by JanisL »

emodendroket wrote: post #225
JanisL wrote: post #210

I completely cut out carbonated drinks, I recently went to the dentist and was expecting the usual "You haven't been looking after your teeth" spiel but instead was told my teeth were in great shape. It's also been very good for my overall energy levels, I suspect that those sugar highs/crashes were worse than I had realized.

Club soda would probably be fine.

Yes that likely would be. I guess the main issue is the really heavy sugar content in many drinks more than the carbonation. I find that it's the drinks like cola that are really brutal but there's also other drinks that are particularly sugar packed but not carbonated. I've been trying to make a conscious effort to not have things like this and it's been very positive overall.
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