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Ask HN: What lifehacks actually changed your life?

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Re: Ask HN: What lifehacks actually changed your life?

#51

Post by jjice »

Reduction of social media was a big one for me. When I was a freshman in college, I fell out of Twitter, which I was absolutely addicted to. I use Reddit less as well (and now my subreddits are very limited, mostly just interests where most people are positive). I'd like to reduce my Reddit and YouTube to zero (but leave a little room for HN since I feel like it's much easier to exhaust a single day's content).

I notice how much more non-internet free time I have than my peers, and I can only imagine how that would be if I remove the last traces of Reddit and YouTube. I at the point though where I don't know what I'd do to replace that lost time. It's currently being wasted, but I don't know what to replace it with. Seems like I also have a lack of hobbies that needs to be addressed.

Re: Ask HN: What lifehacks actually changed your life?

#52

Post by msarrel »

I'm not sure this qualifies as a life hack, but it has been really helpful to me. Now that all of my interactions with my co-workers are over zoom, I have adopted a technique where I simply imagine that I'm watching a funny show about a silicon valley startup. So now when other people are arrogant and disrespectful, it's just what the funny head on the TV show on zoom said. There's no one here manipulating and lying, it's just a funny TV show. This has really helped me eliminate those pesky feelings that go along with interaction and just focus on the work.

Re: Ask HN: What lifehacks actually changed your life?

#54

Post by softwaredoug »

Focusing more on my inner life over the 'external'/Internet life, with many different life hacks:

* Put phone away at night (that random curiosity less important for what I need to process)

* Journaling

* Mindfulness

Lots of others (eating less, exercise, etc), but this is top of mind to me these days :)

Re: Ask HN: What lifehacks actually changed your life?

#56

Post by tsol »

hshdbdbdkxbxb wrote: post #27
tsol wrote: post #25

Cold showers. There's a bit of a learning curve, but man is it great. Makes me more focused and awake, I can keep going all day even when I'm tired. At the same time, it also makes me really relaxed-- it's like it turns down the anxious part of my brain. Sleep comes a little easier too, not completely game changing there but there's a definite improvement. The cold is annoying in the beginning but at this point it is…

Do you shower at night or in the morning?

Morning. It's nice to have the effect carry with me all day, I feel like it stays with me until I fall asleep for the night. Naps don't seem to ruin it, but a night of sleep will definitely lessen it

Re: Ask HN: What lifehacks actually changed your life?

#57

Post by rekabis »

vagrantJin wrote: post #21
vmurthy wrote: post #10

1. Intermittent fasting which led to an awareness that my "mood" most days is essentially a function of my body behaving differently to various foods. Strangely, controlling when I eat led to controlling what I eat, too. 2. Breathing exercise (~5 minutes) before going to bed. Generally keeps me really light and energetic the next day. 3. Spending dedicated time with my son. Can't describe this but generally makes me…

> my "mood" most days is essentially a function of my body behaving differently to various foods. Funny thing is our elders and forebears knew this but it is completely lost on the most people these days. My grandmother forbade us eating cheese until 10-12 years old. Her reason was that we will become moody and have nightmares at night. She was right ofcourse. Hard to digest foods affect our ability to sleep properly…

There is such a thing as food hacking, however it is massively complicated by two issues, in descending order of effects:

1. The makeup of your gut bacteria, which massively influences how your body takes up nutrients and glucose 2. Your genetic makeup, which can influence how you handle nutrients and glucose that you have taken in

Essentially, what works for one person can be functionally opposite for another person.

Re: Ask HN: What lifehacks actually changed your life?

#59

Post by XCSme »

Doing the small things ASAP instead of delaying them (eg. putting a plate in the dishwasher, putting my socks where they belong, responding to that email that I had to).

Whenever I am in a room I check if there's anything that I can quickly fix/improve in under 30 seconds.

Doing all those small things immediately helps train your will power and also reduces the amount of work you have to do later (which gives more spaces for other thoughts).

Re: Ask HN: What lifehacks actually changed your life?

#60

Post by gnatman »

nicbou wrote: post #23

The SelfControl app on MacOS completely and irrevocably blocks domains for a defined period. It lets me use my computer as a tool but makes it incredibly boring to use once my task is complete. For a while it reduced my screen time by a few hours a day. Not having any way to kill time forces me to sit there and actually think about what I want to do. It might get me to leave the house and do exercise, or to work on m…

Just downloaded. I like how once the block has started, there's nothing you can do to remove it until the time it up!
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