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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?

#181

Post by swaggyBoatswain »

busterarm wrote: post #96
ddtaylor wrote: post #86

I stopped playing Heroes of the Storm and any games that aren't relaxing. If I am going to take some time off and play a game, I just play a simple retro console game. Play sessions are 15 minutes instead of 4+ hours. Not worried about "losing" or being griefed, etc. I don't care about "getting to the next level" or "opening up a loot crate" or any of that gamification / skinner-box stuff anymore.

Longtime DOTA player and I definitely find that I have to take extended breaks from the game from time to time...especially at times like this when Valve is running a compendium and the more toxic players come back into the fold for whatever reason (shinies!). It's a shame because it's one of the best games I've ever played, but it is a stressful habit that sucks a ton of time .

I play DOTA like a few weeks of the year, mostly to catch up with friends. I don't like playing pick up groups since the community is generally too toxic

Now I just play battle royale games on downtime. Less toxic and less stressful generally.

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

#182

Post by dormento »

tom_ wrote: post #112
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.

Don't pay for somebody else to make your tea! A cup of ordinary tea should cost, like, 15p. That includes teabag, electricity, water, milk, and amortized cost of kettle and mug. Even if you buy something unnecessarily expensive, like fancy matcha tea powder, you're looking at less than 50p.

What kind of monster puts milk on their tea? :) You're right though.

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

#183

Post by iamatworknow »

staunch wrote: post #46

1. Stopped drinking diet coke at home. I had a relapse on this but now I'm back to not drinking it anymore. I'll drink one with pizza but won't stock it ever again. Glass bottles of Pellegrino sparkling water is my replacement. 2. Stopped eating after 8PM entirely. Never done this before and it's excellent. Lost some weight and I feel better. Chewing Xytol gum when I feel the urge to eat but mostly don't need it. 3.…

>Glass bottles of Pellegrino sparkling water is my replacement.

Get a SodaStream and throw out the flavor things that come with it (they taste bad anyway). I love sparkling water but the cost of things like Perrier, Pellegrino, or La Croix really add up, not to mention the added waste from the bottles and cans that need to be recycled (or worse, aren't recycled at all). You can exchange the CO2 canisters for ~$15 a pop, which gives you 60L of soda water.

I buy big bottles of lemon juice and add a splash to water from the SodaStream and it's great.

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

#184

Post by whalesalad »

LandR wrote: post #177
gringoDan wrote: post #163

A morning routine involving no phone, computer, etc. for the first hour of the day has been great for me. I usually wake up, make coffee, read for about 30 min, and then gratitude journal and plan my day. (I use Panda Planner purely for convenience, I'm sure a blank sheet of paper works as well.) This allows me to set my own schedule and prioritize my day, rather than reacting to the demands placed on me by others. I…

What isa gratitude journal?

Every day you write down X things you are grateful/thankful for. The goal is to write new things every day.

The intent is to help you rediscover things in your life that you tend to take for granted. A lot of us have it pretty good but still feel sad or depressed day-to-day. This journaling process intends to curb that.

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

#185

Post by flaviocopes »

Writing one technical blog [1] post per day. I started in January. Back then I had ~400 people on the blog on a good day.

It's paying off in terms of traffic, as last week I got over 2k visits from Google alone, but more importantly I learned a ton in the past few months, because of the continuous process of learning / building something / testing / writing / revising / incorporating feedback / repeat the next day.

Sometimes I think I know something, only to realize later that I only barely scratch the surface of a topic, and there's a lot of things underneath.

How do I find the time - I started waking up 2 hours earlier than what I used to do. Made all the difference.

[1]: https://flaviocopes.com

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

#186

Post by chasely »

justjash wrote: post #146

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 tyin…

I hope to move someday close to a river or stream so I can pick the hobby back up. Used to tie my own as well, I highly recommend Trout Flies: The Tier's Reference [1]. Full color, step-by-step instructions, so enjoyable to flip through I still pick it up sometimes even though I don't fish anymore.

[1] https://www.amazon.com/Trout-Flies-Reference-Dave-Hughes/dp/...

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

#188

Post by ankothari »

I am a grad student and currently enjoying my summer as am doing a research project at the university while most of my friends have left for their homes. I was 47 pounds overweight one year back and had no time for any exercises because of my studies. But now I am quite free and have been swimming 4-5 times for the last 3 weeks and have already lost 15 pounds. The best thing about swimmming is that it doesnt hurt anywhere like my knees or my ankles and I enjoy going for a swim for 40 minutes each. And I plan to keep continuing this for another 2 months hoping to lose atleast 15 pounds more.

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

#189

Post by netsharc »

LandR wrote: post #177
gringoDan wrote: post #163

A morning routine involving no phone, computer, etc. for the first hour of the day has been great for me. I usually wake up, make coffee, read for about 30 min, and then gratitude journal and plan my day. (I use Panda Planner purely for convenience, I'm sure a blank sheet of paper works as well.) This allows me to set my own schedule and prioritize my day, rather than reacting to the demands placed on me by others. I…

What isa gratitude journal?

Not OP, but: https://www.pathwaytohappiness.com/happiness/2006/12/09/deve...

Well in his program he said whenever you think about this exercise, just take a few seconds to think what you're grateful about right now, today, etc.

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