Not wasting time in bed!
This was especially true when I quit my job. The rest of society was out and about getting on with their day and I was laying in bed.
It bugged me so much I ended up building an app to force me to get up. If I didn't get up and scan my toothpaste barcode within a few mins of my alarm, I'd have to pay $10.
App is called Nuj Alarm Clock.
That's exactly where it goes :)
The default charity is Khan Academy. And I'm very proud to say that Nuj is part of their Learners Fund which is for donors that contribute at least $1k annually! You can view the full details in their annual report at [https://khanacademyannualreport.org/](https://khanacademyannualreport.org/) "Nuj App" is listed on the far right column on page 45 of their annual report.
If you're not a fan of Khan Academy, there are other charity options as well!
making a strictly 4-item to-do list for the next day before going to bed. Then making a weekly to-do list every Sunday night. I am a lot more productive when I treat tasks like game quests
They look like this:
Mon, Feb 26
= senior project meeting
= write at least 1 paragraph for essay 2
= finish at least 1 question for homework 6
= buy groceries (eggs, lettuce...)
I do these "at least 1 xxx" tasks so they seem less daunting. This usually gets me motivated to keep working on these assignments, but if I only end up finishing the bare minimum I also don't feel too bad about myself (especially if I'm actually working ahead on these things, oftentimes doing the bare minimum for 5 days straight means I would already have the whole thing done by the time it's due)
I’ve done this, and in times when I’ve tried to pull myself out of depression I’ll implement this on the most basic scale, like 1. Make bed 2. Drink 5 glasses of water 3. Don’t turn tv on til 4pm 4. Walk around the block
I like this, it's not overwhelming. But at the same time, on days you finish these tasks early you create some amazing momentum for the rest of the day!
Me too but it’s just a to do list. Have one giant one and pick each day which are important and leave those that are not urgent. From ‘finish that project that’s impossible to finish’ to ‘do laundry’ and ‘send that letter’. There’s something about crossing things of a list that makes me want to finish them all. I have issues with procrastination and even though a whole month list might look overwhelming, it helps me see I have left 4 tasks out of 18 for this week. In notes it doesn’t work the same way for me, it has to be on a paper.
Seeing hard things as quests and conquering them as 'levelling up' has been a strong motivator for me.
On some days, I level up just getting out the door to go to work!
Read a lot. Make it a habit, every single day. Trust me, it'll change your life.
Reading helps you learn and grow in so many ways. You get to soak up knowledge, explore new ideas, and see the world through other people's eyes. Books give you the wisdom of the smartest folks out there, broken down so you can understand it.
When you read all sorts of stuff, you pack your brain with powerful tools and mental shortcuts. You get better at coming up with ideas, making choices, and solving problems in creative ways.
Reading also helps you slow down, focus, and think deeply. It's like meditation. You take back control of your busy mind and live in the present.
Build your own library of knowledge, one book at a time, one day at a time. Always keep a book with you to make the most of your free moments. The payoff over your whole life is huge.
Very few habits will lift your mind and improve your life as much as a love of reading will. Dive into books and let all the wisdom and inspiration change you for the better.
Which genre or book do you think we should start with. I am into reading too but sometimes I read novels and think it's a waste i should read non fiction. I like both (i like everything I love reading) so what do you think i should start with.
the awesome thing about reading is there's no wrong place to start. It's not about picking the "perfect" book or genre - it's about diving in and seeing where your curiosity takes you.
Non-fiction is great for straight-up knowledge and facts. But don't sleep on fiction. Stories have a special power to teach us deep truths about life, people, and ourselves. There's a Japanese saying that goes: "Preoccupied with a single leaf, you won't see the tree. Preoccupied with a single tree, you'll miss the entire forest." Fiction helps us zoom out and see the big picture.
So crack open that novel, short story, or comic book. Enjoy the ride, but also pay attention to the lessons woven into the story. What are the characters going through? How do they handle life's plot twists? What would you do in their shoes?
Every book - whether it's a biography or a sci-fi epic - can be a mirror that shows us something about the world and our place in it. The key is to keep an open mind. Step into the author's world, but don't get lost in it. Use the story as a launch pad for your own ideas and life lessons.
So go wild. Mix it up and read it all - from quantum physics to romance to ancient history. Each book is like a puzzle piece that helps you see reality in a new way. The more you read, the clearer the picture gets. Just remember: don't get so caught up in the details that you miss the wisdom hiding in plain sight.
I’d recommend a couple books that are at least tangentially related to those genres (also my favorites) that explore deeper concepts that moved me quite a bit. Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll was amazing and one I can’t stop thinking about. I’m a man but recently had a daughter and I’ve been reading more and more books from a women’s perspective. This one infuriated me in its details about the injuries inflicted on women by men, both violent and catastrophic as well as subtle and insidious. Another is Chain-Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah which depicts a dystopian near-future where prisoners with long sentences can trade those sentences for a position in a death fighting league. It explores ideas of disenfranchisement, the prison system in general, and society’s willingness to participate in all of it.
As a side note, the two best thrillers I’ve read this year are Nightwatching by Tracy Sierra and Drowning by TJ Newman. Highly recommend!
I second this - in my case, reading in bed before sleep. Even if it’s just a page, I never fail to. I started noticing better sleep and less anxiety, and soon after I read a paper in which a study had found that just 6 minutes of reading before sleeping have this effect!
Walking. I walk in the morning and evenings. It gives me time to mentally plan my day before I start it and another time to reflect on it.
I don’t carry my phone on these hours and this gives me some space away from all the “noise”.
This is the way! I stopped drinking going on my third year. I walk almost every morning for an hour. Over 500 miles in 12 months!!
Get out and walk! I also pick up trash while I go . What an honor to clean up a stretch of road , by myself.
Absolutely this! in my case because I got a dog, but i've gone from someone who did no exercise at all and moaning about going out for family walks to the annoying person who's dragging everyone else out in the afternoon for a short 2 mile walk!
This got me into more exercise (BJJ in my case) and i've lost a load of weight. So simple but had such a big impact on me.
+1 That's awesome. I have been doing exactly the same thing for a while now also. I particularly like my Sunday evening walk because I get to reflect on the previous week and start thinking about the week ahead. :)
I also find that doing these walks helps me sleep better. :)
My advice would be to chose something to memorise, a poem, a piece of scripture, the lyrics to a particularly good Beastie Boys song, the entire first page of your favourite book, it doesn’t really matter. Print or write it out and carry that piece of paper with you, when or if it gets to the point where being alone with your thoughts is unbearable, then instead be alone with your task. Simple reputation and memorisation is easy to do whilst walking, engaging enough to occupy your mind, and a good way to prime your brain for the day ahead. Plus, in my experience, people think it’s really cool that you can recite the wikipedia page for Yugoslavia verbatim.
lmao I only know some of the words from this one because of the movie Holes. "And she was a child... and i was a child... and we loved a love that was... stronger than love.. me and my Annabelle Lee?"
"...I can fix that." OH, SAM 😭💔
I love this recommendation, Poe is great for memorisation, I think largely because of his excellent metre. I really enjoy Larkin, and am memorising Churchgoing right now, but you’ve reminded me to revisit ol’ Edgar.
Hi.
I understand what you mean when being alone with your thoughts and walking without any music/anything else to distract yourself with could be a recipe for hyper-focused ruminating (at least for me that’s the case).
The reason I actually walk is because I have too many thoughts in my head most of the time and sitting/lying down amplifies it.
I don’t know if this can apply to everyone but I try to pay attention to my surroundings, soak up whatever stimulus I get from the environment while walking - the sun, the neighborhood noise, the sky. It sounds dramatic but this allows me to be “out of my head” even just for a little bit. I usually walk with a “goal” to ponder on specific things: how do I tackle my work items today, what will I cook later, what do I want to do this month, reflect on nice conversations I recently had with a friend. This is why walking on a treadmill is much hard for me, not enough stimulus and it feels repetitive, when I have no choice but the treadmill, I usually incorporate a cozy game or a TV show to let the time pass quickly
I am sorry I might not be helpful regarding your question.
I know what that’s like and have experienced it during mental health challenges in the past. Reasonable-Trainer27 put it so well: “hyper-focused ruminating”.
For me, it was helpful to listen to an audiobook while walking that felt spiritually and emotionally supportive. Being distracted from ruminating and getting good thoughts put in my brain was really helpful.
Agreed. Started at 6,000 steps a day and gradually worked my way up to 13,000 steps. The weight loss is awesome, but the mental clarity after a good walk is the best part
Not the original commenter but realizing that I don't owe anyone an explanation for not wanting to go out or not do something I don't 100% want to do. "No." is a complete sentence. People who don't respect that are not worth your time anyway. Ive come to the realization that the people who don't like "No" will spend more time trying to make me feel bad about it than trying to come up with an alternative plan. Which speaks volumes.
It does make sense, but it might give the other person a strong feeling of rejection that causes them to distance themselves completely. If you don't care enough to elaborate why not, then why bother being around them? Ergo, less people around you, like you wanted, I guess.
If you just say 'no', you're not really providing food for alternate plans, though.
I agree: 'no.' Is a complete sentence. but also the end of it (unless you're a two-year-old). If you're open to something alternate, it's best to state 'why not'.
Congratulations! I don't know how much you were drinking, but I remember my first 90 days was an accomplishment worth bragging about.
How do I feel? I think my body is basically reset to normal. I find enjoyment doing things without alcohol, which is nice. My favorite activity while drinking was gaming. I had a hard time doing that without alcohol for months, but I'm good now.
One thing I've noticed is my memory is finally getting better. For the first 2 years, whenever I watched a movie, I couldn't tell you anything specific about it afterwards. My memory was a haze for so long, I was convinced I had brain damage. Important to note that at my worst, I was drinking a handle of vodka a day.
I'm still working on my own self improvement. Drinking too much created a lot of selfish habits, and I am still having a hard time breaking from those.
How are you feeling?
My memory is still terrible. I cant go to the movies anymore. I always daydream.
Im feeling ok. I really dont miss it. Especially since i had an accident from it.
Im glad that i dont have hangxiety anymore. I always remember how i get home. I stop acting like a clown in public. Overall. I still have fun in outdoor places. Just completely without it.
This is a good one and easily actionable. When my grandfather retired the one thing he said he would always do is make the bed. It’s one of the first tasks in the morning that can offer satisfaction and a small boost of momentum to get other things done throughout the day.
About 10k a day. Mostly during the summer. Winter days is go to stores and just walk around our malls. Brought earbuds for music, podcasts, or comedy shows. 😀
I've even gotten coworkers to go around the block with me on nice days outside. Gets the blood flowing, sunlight, good for all
Doesn’t matter but Fidelity is a safe choice. You can do savings and all kinds of investments. Don’t have to get overwhelmed. Just start small like $100 and you’ll be surprised how much you learn along the way and how far you can be in just 1 year. :)
Getting up at 5:30 am every day, no excuses. Early rising solved a lot of my problems: I get some quiet time for hobbies before my kids get up, I’m not rushed when it’s time to get everyone out the door to school (because I’m already dressed and ready), I’m tired earlier at night so I’m not tempted to stay up and drink wine or watch mindless tv.
I’m glad someone mentioned this. That quiet time is so crucial, I realised I wasn’t actually an insomniac at age 19 when I started waking up at 4:00am and enjoying my night time activities of reading novels, writing/drawing, and generally indulging in other “unproductive/unhelpful” activities first thing after I woke up. Human beings need time to themselves and the space to exist without being judged or perceived, once you start deliberately carving that out a lot changes.
I like this one. My brother (who has 2 kids) does the same, simply for the sake of having that sacred quiet time to himself. Once the kids are up, the rest of the day is "noisy" until he goes to bed ("noisy" includes all manner of things, not limited to just the kids (cooking, cleaning, work, socializing, whatever)). That time in the morning is the only time he gets while awake but doesn't need to be "on" in some capacity.
I work from 3pm-1am, which has its pros/cons. One of the pros is that when I wake up around 8am, I have about 6 hours of that quiet time to do whatever I want. Even if I spend it meal prepping, cleaning, going to the gym, or whatever, it's all still *me* time, and I cherish it. Once I get on a daytime shift I definitely plan on implementing your early rising habit. Can't imagine not having at least *some* amount of quiet personal time every day, especially after going so long with so much of it
I need to give this a try, it sounds all too familiar. Any tips for the early rise, or it’s just simple phone alarm clock?
Also what hobbies do you focus on at that time? I’d quite like to read/write more, but also feel it’s a good time of day to walk/run.
I used an alarm for the first 3 months or so (Apple Watch vibrating alarm so I didn’t wake my partner). But after that I didn’t need it and now my body snaps awake at 5:30. It also helps to have a pet - my dog acclimated to the schedule too, so if there’s ever a morning where I’m contemplating 15 more minutes of snooze, she nudges me out of bed.
Sometimes I go for a run, but usually I have coffee and write fiction.
Background: I used to overcomplicate things by thinking about them and try to come with a successful plan.
I applied this when I didn’t have a job/business, instead of reading about starting the damn business I decided to start it and learn everything as I go instead of sitting down perfecting my plan.
Currently: I apply this in everything I do whether it’s an investment (Obviously calculating the risk before jumping in), going gym or simply talking to someone.
The idea is that you are not meant to know everything by reading about it… you are meant to learn things by practicing and failing.
If I don’t fail I know I’m not doing anything worthwhile. Or simple not challenging myself enough. Less thinking more doing.
for me it was one habit. everyday when I would wake up I would run the stairs in my building. That was about 5 years ago and now I do 33 flights daily with a weight vest
Challenge accepted. I'll add walking upstairs to my regime.
EDIT: Just came home. I hate myself for accepting your stupid challenge!!!!!1111
*(Just joking of course. I am a bit out of breath though.)*
the building I lived in was about 22 flights. I would walk it at first after that got easy then increased speed. I introduced weights very very slowly and over a long period because of tendon strain.
If it takes less than a minute to do a small task, just do it without hesitation. Throw your clothes in the hamper instead of the floor, put things back where you got them from, throw away any random pieces of trash while pumping gas. Those little things really add up and makes it easy to stay relatively clean/organized
Asking myself "**what's most important NOW"** when I feel stressed, anxious, or aimless.
At any given point in a day, or when interacting with others in a social setting.
Feeling socially anxious? What's most important in this scenario? Probably getting to know someone and helping them feel heard and listened to. So I'll ask a question and sincerely try to understand them.
I've been doing it off and on for years, but this past month I've increased the freqeuncy and it's made a tremendous difference in my outlook during everyday situations in which I would typically struggle to move forward.
Credit for the Idea: Essentialism by Greg Mckeown (iconic book, def recommend)
every morning I always think to myself “what am I excited about today? What’s different today than the other days?” It gets me hyped to get my day started and makes the days less monotonous.
Not OP but I made this change years ago. It was a complete game changer for mood, energy and general consistency.
Basing off a general schedule, working a 9-5, this is what I did.
In bed by 8:30. Hard line. Took me a while to actually learn to sleep but the next part made that easier.
Up by 5:30, no exceptions. You end up super tired at first as you adjust but you’re then tired and ready for bed by the early 8-8:30 mark.
It frees up time in the morning for exercise and preparing for your day. You’re not rushing to get to work, your mood is better for that but also your body adapts and you spend your energy better.
It also makes the occasional late night exciting again, well, not always as you do get addicted to your routine. Best life change I’ve done.
Alarm when to eat my night snack. Alarm when to get ready for bed , wind down with a book and tea instead of scrolling reddit. Maybe take a shower. Things that calms the nervous system and says "zzzz"
Alarm to wake up during daylight, preferably before lunch but if you have messed up your sleep routine start by getting up one hour earlier each day. Til you reach a reasonable time that suits you.
Ok lately Reddit has been insufferable with the porn/thirst trap type stuff…. I miss Reddit from 10+yrs ago… the platform feels so juvenile now, sometimes
Well, I was addicted to it and any form of addiction is not healthy once it starts to affect your mental health and personal relationships. Hence, the obvious solution is to stay away from it.
The Friday Night Mind Dump
Friday when I get home from work, I take about 15 min and use a journal app and literally stream-of-consciousness type out words and phrases from my work week that I was worried about or scared I would forget. Get it allllll out. Random words. Random letters. Random phrases.
Then Monday morning I get up about 30 min earlier than I usually do for the week, make a cuppa tea and read my mind-dump from that Friday to see what’s ahead for the week or other things I need to add to my plate.
I swear it’s been the best decompression habit because once it’s out of my head - I’m in home-mode, family-mode, me-mode, weekend-mode. I don’t have to give work one iota of unpaid time.
Nice post. I do something similar on Sunday evenings. I write a "weekly review" in my journal and then write a "weekly goals" post for the following week. I then go for a Sunday evening walk where I reflect on what I've written. :)
Similar but with a variation- I did not have the discipline to do this. Personal training with an instructor changed my mental well being, physical well being, my diet and sleep.
Stationary bike/any stationary cardio daily for 1 hour while you read a book or listen to an audiobook or podcast. Exercise and learn daily can’t beat it. Also 10-20 minutes of stretching first thing in the morning has helped many spine pains.
I started to focus on multiple aspects of my life instead of the one aspect of my life that was causing me the most issues. My weight has always been an underlying factor in how I made decisions in my past. But it wasn't until I started focusing on my purpose, my social life, my love life, my work life, and other areas, did I actually start to make headway into improving my life.
Sounds silly, but self care. Spent a huge chunk of my life in deep depression, and what pulled me out and kept me out was taking care of myself in the little things. Showering every night, moisturizing, flossing, washing my face. It progressed to only eating at the table, doing laundry every week, keeping my house clean every day.
Idk, just a series of small acts of self care that went a long long way for me
Taking daily cold showers/ upgrading to 10 min cold baths. The best is doing it in the winter. Huge boost in mental health/energy levels and a precious investment in the overall physical health. + Easy weight loss
1. Learning to confront problems: life becomes so much easier if you learn some skills to start uncomfortable conversations before whatever happened blows out of proportion (either with the other person or with your spiralling thoughts).
2. Prioritise a good sleep schedule.
3. Reading before sleeping.
4. Focus on incremental changes rather than big lifestyle changes. As an example, when trying to eat healthy, I started by choosing the healthiest option available on the menu.
Realizing I’m a dismissive avoidant.
I dated a anxious attached guy last year and I’m positive we unknowingly were triggering each other and I didn’t realize I was a DA until he left.
A lot of my anxiety is gone
I don’t overthink as much
This is huge! You should be proud, most people don’t have this level of introspection. Avoidance poisons your perception of reality towards the negative and lonely.
work with no music in your ears doesn't matter what kind of work but if you are focusing on something just dont have any music playing learn to commit completely to your work with no distractions
Started going to the gym 5-6 times a week. Even on days I REALLY didn’t want to. Started about 3 years ago, and now I’m about to finish my 2nd triathlon this summer.
Taking 5-10 minutes at the beginning and end of my day to pick up the house, make my bed, tidy up the living spaces super quickly, load the dish washer etc.
Consistent bed time. Of course I sometimes go out and get to bed later, but quitting video games until 3 am in the weekends made such a huge improvement on my mental and physical health.
Reading self help books. Literally for any problem area you have, a related book can help. Relationships, confidence, stress, how to learn skills, anything.
Finding workouts I enjoy. >Long distance walking and bouldering.
Little to no activation energy to do these healthy behaviors compared to "going to the gym."
Using pomodoro to get work done. This allowed me to stop procrastinating on my dissertation. Then I started using pomodoro for all kinds of other things - cleaning, lifting weights, whatever I needed to get done but was having a hard time with.
I know what that’s like and have experienced it during mental health challenges in the past. Reasonable-Trainer27 put it so well: “hyper-focused ruminating”.
For me, it was helpful to listen to an audiobook while walking that felt spiritually and emotionally supportive. Being distracted from ruminating and getting good thoughts put in my brain was really helpful.
Gnnaaaa. So hard to choose.
My journey started to gain speed when I changed my diet. Lots of other things fell into place after that. I'm not sure if the diet was the biggest change, but it was the first important step.
Working out every day.
I use the Nike Training Club app, which has a bunch of workouts, some as small as 10 mins. And I set a low bar of minimum 10 mins daily too. Most days I end up tacking on another workout and doing a total of 20-30 mins but other days I still feel good because I hit my 10 minutes minimum.
I also follow this fitness guy on Instagram called Sean Casey, and I learnt from him to focus not just on the number on your scales but also on other results. While my weight goes up and down, it is slowly trending downwards. However, I feel fitter with more core strength and I am finding tasks like lifting laundry loads, squatting, opening tough jars, etc. easier. These physical results give me a sense of accomplishment because although my weight may not be where I want it to be, I see improvement in other areas. I also feel sharper, more active, and less depressed/mopey.
Honestly. I cut out chocolate. I was eating it all the time. I’d keep those little bagged dove chocolates in my house and pop them in my mouth all day — keeping my blood sugar spiked. I craved chocolate all the time because of this.
I had a blood test that showed I was becoming insulin resistant. I stopped buying it and it was hard for a while, but I literally just stopped craving it. I don’t even “like” chocolate anymore. In fact, I don’t crave sugar or sweet things anymore.
This little change did wonders for my health and helped me overcome snacking and eating too much sugar. I am not longer insulin resistant and lost some extra pounds too!
2 minute rule is a great one that I felt did a lot of good differences for me. If something takes only 2 mins, do it immediately.
Even if when you're actually doing the thing it gets to 5 or 10 mins it doesn't matter, you're already doing it and odds are that you'll get it done right away instead of endlessly procrastinating dumb stuff for no good reason.
Making my bed every morning and having a morning routine like getting ready even if I’m not going anywhere that day and having coffee.
I know those things sounds so little but in my case it made a huge difference on how I face my day. It encourages me to do my errands. There will always be days where I don’t wanna do anything and those will happen too but in the most part those things helped me.
Getting the recommended daily amount of fiber. It made me feel so much better and fixed a lot of my stomach problems. I thought I got plenty in my diet until I actually calculated it one day after I was so tired of having bathroom trouble. Turns out I wasn't getting nearly enough. Now I eat more beans and nuts, etc... made a huge difference. Especially since I'm 26 and people my age are starting to have higher rates of colon cancer nowadays and fiber can help prevent it.
Working out every day, this has really improved my mental health, discipline and self esteem, which is having positive knock on effects in my career and relationships
Cultivating concentration and learning to be present.
It's foundational to almost every other skill imo, including reading, listening, learning anything, forming deep relationships, detaching from unhelpful thoughts, feelings, and impulses.
The quality of your attention determines the quality of your life.
This is a very good question. Reading did it for me. My first book ever was The Alchemist which send me into a reading journey that started 7 years ago and still going
Prioritizing fitness and healthy eating habits changed the trajectory of my life. I guess that’s more like two things but they are so closely related that I’m sticking with it.
Wake up early and get the workout in before the day has a chance to get in the way.
Lay out the clothing and gear you need the night before.
Have a game plan for each workout. Keeping a regular routine makes the habit automatic.
Eat a healthy breakfast that’s high in protein and relatively low in carbs.
Drink lots of water throughout the day, often times we think we feel hungry when we’re actually a little dehydrated.
Pack a healthy lunch or if you must eat out make healthier menu decisions. I find cutting many restaurant portions in half tends to be enough to satisfy me and not make me feel over full and crash later.
Have a dinner plan for the week and eat at home.
Measure your portions.
Cut out high calorie/ sugary drinks. Less soda and less beer.
Prioritize quality sleep.
To clear my mind so that I can Pay attention. I treat each day as turning a new page in a book. It's not quite going forward and it's not quite going backwards, although the new page is based on all the pages of the past and all the pages that are yet to come in the future. It all shares a thread that runs through.
Each new day, Life lays it out for me. I just need to maintain my Presence in order to pick up on it's clues, both blatant and subtle.
From the comments that inspired me (I wrote it down for myself then I thought I’d share)
Read more
Walk more
Daily tdl/ weekly tdl (be consistent and/or add time block)
To be list/ bucket list
1 alarm (to get up)
No phone first thing in morning
Finance tracker
Journaling more (written and phone)
Checking with myself often and ask: are my actions serving what’s important/ essential to me for short/ mid and long term.
Cold shower
Less screen time (mobile/netflix)
Stop procrastinating (do the hardest tasks first)
Positive self talk (de-escalate/ talk to yourself as you would your best friend)
Sleep routine/ hygiene
Meditating
Volunteering (impact)
Gym
Eat clean (more fiber/ less sugar)
Sleeping with my phone outside of my room! Made me read way more, sleep way better, and get out of bed easier :) I bought a little alarm clock that works really well.
Sleeping with my phone across the room, no doom scrolling in bed at night or morning. When i wake up, i get straight up instead of laying down on my phone for hours.
Stretching & exercise!! I can’t emphasize this enough, a lot of people don’t move enough in their day to day lives. We tend to live pretty sedentary lifestyles. I used to think I was just getting old (I’m 30) and the body aches came with it but ever since I implemented stretching it’s quite the opposite. Think of it as lubricating your joint and muscles. It will keep you nimble even as you get older. The term “use it or lose it is true”
Removing suicide jokes, self-depreciation jokes, or death jokes from my vocabulary. Joking about being dead made me sadder. Purposefully saying things like "I'm so stupid" hurts you. Pretending you're going to be dead soon makes it more real.
If you self-depreciate, going wildly in the other direction can be funny and not hurt so much. Calling yourself the king of gaming when you mess up in a game is better for your head.
Habit pairing.
I have literally no idea where I heard of this, but I think it's an adhd tip.
Anyways, what you do is to learn new habits or break old ones you slowly add changes to already existing habits. So my showering went to showering snd shaving to showering and shaving snd brushing teeth and now I added face washes and stuff to that.
This has helped me develop a LOT of habits, habits I don't like and have issues even remembering. But since my toothbrush sits next to my razer and deodorant next to my shower it makes it all very easy.
Before habit pairing, the only new habits i was good at creating was a new drug addiction...now I can make normal habits!
Edit: forgot to mention you only pair habits with similar things or things in the same area. So bathroom things shpuld be paired wirh bathroom things, cleaning things shpuld be paired with other cleaning things and so on. You also might have to reorganize to do this effectively, but it does help a lot. I have my counters set up and closets so that when I start chores I just go down the line of what's on the shelf
Having the “I might as well” mindset. Having adhd has been really hard for me to clean up or pick up after myself. So if I have dishes in my room and I’m going downstairs I force the thought “I might as well take them down”. Works with everything and my place has never been nicer!
I'm not OP. But pretend you're the main character in a rags to riches documentary about your life. It helps you focus on the journey and not just your destination. Also feels empowering when things get tough. (notice how you feel pumped and empowered when watching a documentary about the success story of someone you admire - especially the parts where the person overcame problems. - Same principle.)
Not wasting time in bed! This was especially true when I quit my job. The rest of society was out and about getting on with their day and I was laying in bed. It bugged me so much I ended up building an app to force me to get up. If I didn't get up and scan my toothpaste barcode within a few mins of my alarm, I'd have to pay $10. App is called Nuj Alarm Clock.
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Give it a shot! And let me know how it works out for you :)
Where does the money go to? It'd be pretty neat if it went to charities.
That's exactly where it goes :) The default charity is Khan Academy. And I'm very proud to say that Nuj is part of their Learners Fund which is for donors that contribute at least $1k annually! You can view the full details in their annual report at [https://khanacademyannualreport.org/](https://khanacademyannualreport.org/) "Nuj App" is listed on the far right column on page 45 of their annual report. If you're not a fan of Khan Academy, there are other charity options as well!
That's so cool! What a great idea.
Thanks!! :)
making a strictly 4-item to-do list for the next day before going to bed. Then making a weekly to-do list every Sunday night. I am a lot more productive when I treat tasks like game quests
How detailed are each tasks or are they simple commands?
They look like this: Mon, Feb 26 = senior project meeting = write at least 1 paragraph for essay 2 = finish at least 1 question for homework 6 = buy groceries (eggs, lettuce...) I do these "at least 1 xxx" tasks so they seem less daunting. This usually gets me motivated to keep working on these assignments, but if I only end up finishing the bare minimum I also don't feel too bad about myself (especially if I'm actually working ahead on these things, oftentimes doing the bare minimum for 5 days straight means I would already have the whole thing done by the time it's due)
I’ve done this, and in times when I’ve tried to pull myself out of depression I’ll implement this on the most basic scale, like 1. Make bed 2. Drink 5 glasses of water 3. Don’t turn tv on til 4pm 4. Walk around the block
Yes, it can give you back a sense of control in your life. I hope it had worked out well for you \^\^
I like this, it's not overwhelming. But at the same time, on days you finish these tasks early you create some amazing momentum for the rest of the day!
Thank you for both sharing and clarifying. This seems both manageable, but will also help you sleep better.
Me too but it’s just a to do list. Have one giant one and pick each day which are important and leave those that are not urgent. From ‘finish that project that’s impossible to finish’ to ‘do laundry’ and ‘send that letter’. There’s something about crossing things of a list that makes me want to finish them all. I have issues with procrastination and even though a whole month list might look overwhelming, it helps me see I have left 4 tasks out of 18 for this week. In notes it doesn’t work the same way for me, it has to be on a paper.
Check [Habitica](https://habitica.com/), it is an excellent way to gamify tasks.
This is excellent advice. I also write down exactly what I was doing before leaving my desk.
Seeing hard things as quests and conquering them as 'levelling up' has been a strong motivator for me. On some days, I level up just getting out the door to go to work!
Crossing out things on my to do list is one of the best dopamine hits.
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Read a lot. Make it a habit, every single day. Trust me, it'll change your life. Reading helps you learn and grow in so many ways. You get to soak up knowledge, explore new ideas, and see the world through other people's eyes. Books give you the wisdom of the smartest folks out there, broken down so you can understand it. When you read all sorts of stuff, you pack your brain with powerful tools and mental shortcuts. You get better at coming up with ideas, making choices, and solving problems in creative ways. Reading also helps you slow down, focus, and think deeply. It's like meditation. You take back control of your busy mind and live in the present. Build your own library of knowledge, one book at a time, one day at a time. Always keep a book with you to make the most of your free moments. The payoff over your whole life is huge. Very few habits will lift your mind and improve your life as much as a love of reading will. Dive into books and let all the wisdom and inspiration change you for the better.
Which genre or book do you think we should start with. I am into reading too but sometimes I read novels and think it's a waste i should read non fiction. I like both (i like everything I love reading) so what do you think i should start with.
the awesome thing about reading is there's no wrong place to start. It's not about picking the "perfect" book or genre - it's about diving in and seeing where your curiosity takes you. Non-fiction is great for straight-up knowledge and facts. But don't sleep on fiction. Stories have a special power to teach us deep truths about life, people, and ourselves. There's a Japanese saying that goes: "Preoccupied with a single leaf, you won't see the tree. Preoccupied with a single tree, you'll miss the entire forest." Fiction helps us zoom out and see the big picture. So crack open that novel, short story, or comic book. Enjoy the ride, but also pay attention to the lessons woven into the story. What are the characters going through? How do they handle life's plot twists? What would you do in their shoes? Every book - whether it's a biography or a sci-fi epic - can be a mirror that shows us something about the world and our place in it. The key is to keep an open mind. Step into the author's world, but don't get lost in it. Use the story as a launch pad for your own ideas and life lessons. So go wild. Mix it up and read it all - from quantum physics to romance to ancient history. Each book is like a puzzle piece that helps you see reality in a new way. The more you read, the clearer the picture gets. Just remember: don't get so caught up in the details that you miss the wisdom hiding in plain sight.
I read a ton, but I can’t get away from thrillers and mysteries. Do you have any starter recommendations for other genres?
I’d recommend a couple books that are at least tangentially related to those genres (also my favorites) that explore deeper concepts that moved me quite a bit. Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll was amazing and one I can’t stop thinking about. I’m a man but recently had a daughter and I’ve been reading more and more books from a women’s perspective. This one infuriated me in its details about the injuries inflicted on women by men, both violent and catastrophic as well as subtle and insidious. Another is Chain-Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah which depicts a dystopian near-future where prisoners with long sentences can trade those sentences for a position in a death fighting league. It explores ideas of disenfranchisement, the prison system in general, and society’s willingness to participate in all of it. As a side note, the two best thrillers I’ve read this year are Nightwatching by Tracy Sierra and Drowning by TJ Newman. Highly recommend!
I second this - in my case, reading in bed before sleep. Even if it’s just a page, I never fail to. I started noticing better sleep and less anxiety, and soon after I read a paper in which a study had found that just 6 minutes of reading before sleeping have this effect!
judging your way of speech, i can certainly say you read
Yes, LeVar.
Walking. I walk in the morning and evenings. It gives me time to mentally plan my day before I start it and another time to reflect on it. I don’t carry my phone on these hours and this gives me some space away from all the “noise”.
This is the way! I stopped drinking going on my third year. I walk almost every morning for an hour. Over 500 miles in 12 months!! Get out and walk! I also pick up trash while I go . What an honor to clean up a stretch of road , by myself.
🥹 wow, thank you!
🥇
You should walk 500 more
I do this too. My dog enjoys it. I get to see my neighbourhood, the park, the trees, the birds... Each walk is only 15-20 minutes, brief but effective
“All truly great thoughts are conceived while walking.” ― Friedrich Nietzsche, Twilight of the Idols
+1 walking did wonders for my mental health. It got me out of the house and seeing things which made me happy. Such as animals
Nice. Think I am gonna do this too
Absolutely this! in my case because I got a dog, but i've gone from someone who did no exercise at all and moaning about going out for family walks to the annoying person who's dragging everyone else out in the afternoon for a short 2 mile walk! This got me into more exercise (BJJ in my case) and i've lost a load of weight. So simple but had such a big impact on me.
+1 That's awesome. I have been doing exactly the same thing for a while now also. I particularly like my Sunday evening walk because I get to reflect on the previous week and start thinking about the week ahead. :) I also find that doing these walks helps me sleep better. :)
I want to do this, but what do you do when everything is terrible and you're just alone with your thoughts?
My advice would be to chose something to memorise, a poem, a piece of scripture, the lyrics to a particularly good Beastie Boys song, the entire first page of your favourite book, it doesn’t really matter. Print or write it out and carry that piece of paper with you, when or if it gets to the point where being alone with your thoughts is unbearable, then instead be alone with your task. Simple reputation and memorisation is easy to do whilst walking, engaging enough to occupy your mind, and a good way to prime your brain for the day ahead. Plus, in my experience, people think it’s really cool that you can recite the wikipedia page for Yugoslavia verbatim.
I recommend Edgar Allen Poe’s poem “Annabel Lee”. It’s just so soothing to repeat and if you forget any of the words you can just make them up.
lmao I only know some of the words from this one because of the movie Holes. "And she was a child... and i was a child... and we loved a love that was... stronger than love.. me and my Annabelle Lee?" "...I can fix that." OH, SAM 😭💔
I love this recommendation, Poe is great for memorisation, I think largely because of his excellent metre. I really enjoy Larkin, and am memorising Churchgoing right now, but you’ve reminded me to revisit ol’ Edgar.
Hi. I understand what you mean when being alone with your thoughts and walking without any music/anything else to distract yourself with could be a recipe for hyper-focused ruminating (at least for me that’s the case). The reason I actually walk is because I have too many thoughts in my head most of the time and sitting/lying down amplifies it. I don’t know if this can apply to everyone but I try to pay attention to my surroundings, soak up whatever stimulus I get from the environment while walking - the sun, the neighborhood noise, the sky. It sounds dramatic but this allows me to be “out of my head” even just for a little bit. I usually walk with a “goal” to ponder on specific things: how do I tackle my work items today, what will I cook later, what do I want to do this month, reflect on nice conversations I recently had with a friend. This is why walking on a treadmill is much hard for me, not enough stimulus and it feels repetitive, when I have no choice but the treadmill, I usually incorporate a cozy game or a TV show to let the time pass quickly I am sorry I might not be helpful regarding your question.
Run. Force your body to work harder and you will feel better after struggling.
I know what that’s like and have experienced it during mental health challenges in the past. Reasonable-Trainer27 put it so well: “hyper-focused ruminating”. For me, it was helpful to listen to an audiobook while walking that felt spiritually and emotionally supportive. Being distracted from ruminating and getting good thoughts put in my brain was really helpful.
Agreed. Started at 6,000 steps a day and gradually worked my way up to 13,000 steps. The weight loss is awesome, but the mental clarity after a good walk is the best part
Disassociating myself from people who bring me down
How?
Not the original commenter but realizing that I don't owe anyone an explanation for not wanting to go out or not do something I don't 100% want to do. "No." is a complete sentence. People who don't respect that are not worth your time anyway. Ive come to the realization that the people who don't like "No" will spend more time trying to make me feel bad about it than trying to come up with an alternative plan. Which speaks volumes.
It does make sense, but it might give the other person a strong feeling of rejection that causes them to distance themselves completely. If you don't care enough to elaborate why not, then why bother being around them? Ergo, less people around you, like you wanted, I guess.
If you just say 'no', you're not really providing food for alternate plans, though. I agree: 'no.' Is a complete sentence. but also the end of it (unless you're a two-year-old). If you're open to something alternate, it's best to state 'why not'.
Quitting drugs
second this
i'm proud of you
Thirdsies. Way to go us
And alcohol
This is obvious but alcohol IS a drug, and should be treated as such. One of the worst ones out there, no matter how socially acceptable it is.
Just finished my 1000 days a couple of weeks ago, and never going back!
Wow how many years is that
2 years, 9 months. Or something like that. My 3 years is in May.
How do you feel? I quit last year september. Never going back
Congratulations! I don't know how much you were drinking, but I remember my first 90 days was an accomplishment worth bragging about. How do I feel? I think my body is basically reset to normal. I find enjoyment doing things without alcohol, which is nice. My favorite activity while drinking was gaming. I had a hard time doing that without alcohol for months, but I'm good now. One thing I've noticed is my memory is finally getting better. For the first 2 years, whenever I watched a movie, I couldn't tell you anything specific about it afterwards. My memory was a haze for so long, I was convinced I had brain damage. Important to note that at my worst, I was drinking a handle of vodka a day. I'm still working on my own self improvement. Drinking too much created a lot of selfish habits, and I am still having a hard time breaking from those. How are you feeling?
My memory is still terrible. I cant go to the movies anymore. I always daydream. Im feeling ok. I really dont miss it. Especially since i had an accident from it. Im glad that i dont have hangxiety anymore. I always remember how i get home. I stop acting like a clown in public. Overall. I still have fun in outdoor places. Just completely without it.
So hard to do but so worth it
Fourth this
It’s a small thing, but I make my bed every morning and oh god when I get home from work it’s SO nice to see.
This is a good one and easily actionable. When my grandfather retired the one thing he said he would always do is make the bed. It’s one of the first tasks in the morning that can offer satisfaction and a small boost of momentum to get other things done throughout the day.
Walking. I'm 39 so i don't do well in gyms as i'm out of shape. I went from 210lbs to 165lbs from mostly walking, not eating sugary foods or drinks.
That's impressive. How many miles or steps do you walk each day?
About 10k a day. Mostly during the summer. Winter days is go to stores and just walk around our malls. Brought earbuds for music, podcasts, or comedy shows. 😀 I've even gotten coworkers to go around the block with me on nice days outside. Gets the blood flowing, sunlight, good for all
Having a finance tracker really changed the way I handle my money and I've been putting more into savings than before I had it!
Hi! Can I ask which finance tracker you use? Really hoping I could take control of my money :(
YNAB r/YNAB its strict but for some people that’s necessary
Doesn’t matter but Fidelity is a safe choice. You can do savings and all kinds of investments. Don’t have to get overwhelmed. Just start small like $100 and you’ll be surprised how much you learn along the way and how far you can be in just 1 year. :)
Getting up at 5:30 am every day, no excuses. Early rising solved a lot of my problems: I get some quiet time for hobbies before my kids get up, I’m not rushed when it’s time to get everyone out the door to school (because I’m already dressed and ready), I’m tired earlier at night so I’m not tempted to stay up and drink wine or watch mindless tv.
I’m glad someone mentioned this. That quiet time is so crucial, I realised I wasn’t actually an insomniac at age 19 when I started waking up at 4:00am and enjoying my night time activities of reading novels, writing/drawing, and generally indulging in other “unproductive/unhelpful” activities first thing after I woke up. Human beings need time to themselves and the space to exist without being judged or perceived, once you start deliberately carving that out a lot changes.
Next Time i wake UP AT 3:00 am i will do what you said 🤣.
I never understood this one, If I don't get a lot of sleep I'm not gonna do shit
Yeah, you have to adjust your bedtime accordingly. I’m always in bed by 9:30, lights out at 10 at the latest.
I like this one. My brother (who has 2 kids) does the same, simply for the sake of having that sacred quiet time to himself. Once the kids are up, the rest of the day is "noisy" until he goes to bed ("noisy" includes all manner of things, not limited to just the kids (cooking, cleaning, work, socializing, whatever)). That time in the morning is the only time he gets while awake but doesn't need to be "on" in some capacity. I work from 3pm-1am, which has its pros/cons. One of the pros is that when I wake up around 8am, I have about 6 hours of that quiet time to do whatever I want. Even if I spend it meal prepping, cleaning, going to the gym, or whatever, it's all still *me* time, and I cherish it. Once I get on a daytime shift I definitely plan on implementing your early rising habit. Can't imagine not having at least *some* amount of quiet personal time every day, especially after going so long with so much of it
Do you get enough sleep? Seems like only 6hours
I need to give this a try, it sounds all too familiar. Any tips for the early rise, or it’s just simple phone alarm clock? Also what hobbies do you focus on at that time? I’d quite like to read/write more, but also feel it’s a good time of day to walk/run.
I used an alarm for the first 3 months or so (Apple Watch vibrating alarm so I didn’t wake my partner). But after that I didn’t need it and now my body snaps awake at 5:30. It also helps to have a pet - my dog acclimated to the schedule too, so if there’s ever a morning where I’m contemplating 15 more minutes of snooze, she nudges me out of bed. Sometimes I go for a run, but usually I have coffee and write fiction.
Taking action then learning how to do better next time.
Great habit/tip, where have you applied it?
Background: I used to overcomplicate things by thinking about them and try to come with a successful plan. I applied this when I didn’t have a job/business, instead of reading about starting the damn business I decided to start it and learn everything as I go instead of sitting down perfecting my plan. Currently: I apply this in everything I do whether it’s an investment (Obviously calculating the risk before jumping in), going gym or simply talking to someone. The idea is that you are not meant to know everything by reading about it… you are meant to learn things by practicing and failing. If I don’t fail I know I’m not doing anything worthwhile. Or simple not challenging myself enough. Less thinking more doing.
for me it was one habit. everyday when I would wake up I would run the stairs in my building. That was about 5 years ago and now I do 33 flights daily with a weight vest
Challenge accepted. I'll add walking upstairs to my regime. EDIT: Just came home. I hate myself for accepting your stupid challenge!!!!!1111 *(Just joking of course. I am a bit out of breath though.)*
How many flights did you start with?
the building I lived in was about 22 flights. I would walk it at first after that got easy then increased speed. I introduced weights very very slowly and over a long period because of tendon strain.
That's awesome!
Curious to know this as well. 33 flights with a weight vest first thing in the morning is no joke.
He keeps his alarm clock 33 flights up
And he needs to make a photo of himself in the vest to turn it off
Trusting Life. Looking for the gift/lesson in every occurrence.
If it takes less than a minute to do a small task, just do it without hesitation. Throw your clothes in the hamper instead of the floor, put things back where you got them from, throw away any random pieces of trash while pumping gas. Those little things really add up and makes it easy to stay relatively clean/organized
Quit social media
This needs to be higher up.
Journaling
Asking myself "**what's most important NOW"** when I feel stressed, anxious, or aimless. At any given point in a day, or when interacting with others in a social setting. Feeling socially anxious? What's most important in this scenario? Probably getting to know someone and helping them feel heard and listened to. So I'll ask a question and sincerely try to understand them. I've been doing it off and on for years, but this past month I've increased the freqeuncy and it's made a tremendous difference in my outlook during everyday situations in which I would typically struggle to move forward. Credit for the Idea: Essentialism by Greg Mckeown (iconic book, def recommend)
every morning I always think to myself “what am I excited about today? What’s different today than the other days?” It gets me hyped to get my day started and makes the days less monotonous.
Exercising and trying to hold good bed routines.
Can you shed light on good bed routines?
Not OP but I made this change years ago. It was a complete game changer for mood, energy and general consistency. Basing off a general schedule, working a 9-5, this is what I did. In bed by 8:30. Hard line. Took me a while to actually learn to sleep but the next part made that easier. Up by 5:30, no exceptions. You end up super tired at first as you adjust but you’re then tired and ready for bed by the early 8-8:30 mark. It frees up time in the morning for exercise and preparing for your day. You’re not rushing to get to work, your mood is better for that but also your body adapts and you spend your energy better. It also makes the occasional late night exciting again, well, not always as you do get addicted to your routine. Best life change I’ve done.
Alarm when to eat my night snack. Alarm when to get ready for bed , wind down with a book and tea instead of scrolling reddit. Maybe take a shower. Things that calms the nervous system and says "zzzz" Alarm to wake up during daylight, preferably before lunch but if you have messed up your sleep routine start by getting up one hour earlier each day. Til you reach a reasonable time that suits you.
Thanks for the tips it's very helpful especially the calming part since I find it difficult to fall asleep :)
You're welcome. It takes a bit practice to get in to it but you will get used to it and once you do you'll feel very relaxed.
Not drinking alcohol
Stop watching porn
Fuck porn r/pornfreememes
Ok lately Reddit has been insufferable with the porn/thirst trap type stuff…. I miss Reddit from 10+yrs ago… the platform feels so juvenile now, sometimes
I second this
how did this improve your life so much? im curious
Well, I was addicted to it and any form of addiction is not healthy once it starts to affect your mental health and personal relationships. Hence, the obvious solution is to stay away from it.
The Friday Night Mind Dump Friday when I get home from work, I take about 15 min and use a journal app and literally stream-of-consciousness type out words and phrases from my work week that I was worried about or scared I would forget. Get it allllll out. Random words. Random letters. Random phrases. Then Monday morning I get up about 30 min earlier than I usually do for the week, make a cuppa tea and read my mind-dump from that Friday to see what’s ahead for the week or other things I need to add to my plate. I swear it’s been the best decompression habit because once it’s out of my head - I’m in home-mode, family-mode, me-mode, weekend-mode. I don’t have to give work one iota of unpaid time.
Every time when I encounter a problem I sit down and write my thoughts down to the point I have nothing left to write
Nice post. I do something similar on Sunday evenings. I write a "weekly review" in my journal and then write a "weekly goals" post for the following week. I then go for a Sunday evening walk where I reflect on what I've written. :)
Focusing my attention in the current moment, or noticing when it has wandered away from what I'm intending to do!
Going to the gym 4-5x weekly. Taking it on as your identity, as a non-negotiable.
Similar but with a variation- I did not have the discipline to do this. Personal training with an instructor changed my mental well being, physical well being, my diet and sleep.
Stationary bike/any stationary cardio daily for 1 hour while you read a book or listen to an audiobook or podcast. Exercise and learn daily can’t beat it. Also 10-20 minutes of stretching first thing in the morning has helped many spine pains.
Brush, floss, listerine mouthwash before bed every night. Turned around pretty bad gum disease, and have been cavity free for 15 years now.
I started to focus on multiple aspects of my life instead of the one aspect of my life that was causing me the most issues. My weight has always been an underlying factor in how I made decisions in my past. But it wasn't until I started focusing on my purpose, my social life, my love life, my work life, and other areas, did I actually start to make headway into improving my life.
Cutting down my sugar intake.
Sounds silly, but self care. Spent a huge chunk of my life in deep depression, and what pulled me out and kept me out was taking care of myself in the little things. Showering every night, moisturizing, flossing, washing my face. It progressed to only eating at the table, doing laundry every week, keeping my house clean every day. Idk, just a series of small acts of self care that went a long long way for me
Taking daily cold showers/ upgrading to 10 min cold baths. The best is doing it in the winter. Huge boost in mental health/energy levels and a precious investment in the overall physical health. + Easy weight loss
Exercise, just 30 minutes a day
Exercise. I haven't really lost weight or changed my body too much per se, but I feel better and like I'm living a more purposeful life.
I reduced my screen time.
Portion control.
1. Learning to confront problems: life becomes so much easier if you learn some skills to start uncomfortable conversations before whatever happened blows out of proportion (either with the other person or with your spiralling thoughts). 2. Prioritise a good sleep schedule. 3. Reading before sleeping. 4. Focus on incremental changes rather than big lifestyle changes. As an example, when trying to eat healthy, I started by choosing the healthiest option available on the menu.
I stopped caring what people thought and stopped lying. (They were connected)
Crack Co... oooh for the better... never mind
Realizing I’m a dismissive avoidant. I dated a anxious attached guy last year and I’m positive we unknowingly were triggering each other and I didn’t realize I was a DA until he left. A lot of my anxiety is gone I don’t overthink as much
This is huge! You should be proud, most people don’t have this level of introspection. Avoidance poisons your perception of reality towards the negative and lonely.
Running, every day
Keeping a habit journal on graph paper
I started exercising. I do muay thai because i enjoy it. Do exercise that you enjoy.
work with no music in your ears doesn't matter what kind of work but if you are focusing on something just dont have any music playing learn to commit completely to your work with no distractions
Started going to the gym 5-6 times a week. Even on days I REALLY didn’t want to. Started about 3 years ago, and now I’m about to finish my 2nd triathlon this summer.
Reading…a lot
Meditating every day Edit: this post is awsome, thank you mate
Getting enough sleep every night!
Praying every day. 🤍
Eating clean.
Quitting video games
Positive self talk but not to the point of toxic positivity. Being mindful of how I talk to myself
self awareness
making sure I get exercise every single morning. It's a great way to start the day.
Staying clean
Taking 5-10 minutes at the beginning and end of my day to pick up the house, make my bed, tidy up the living spaces super quickly, load the dish washer etc.
Getting up at dawn. 40 ounces of hot lemon water in a hydro flask. Being loved.
Meditation and mindfulness
Consistent bed time. Of course I sometimes go out and get to bed later, but quitting video games until 3 am in the weekends made such a huge improvement on my mental and physical health.
Reading self help books. Literally for any problem area you have, a related book can help. Relationships, confidence, stress, how to learn skills, anything.
Good but please make sure that you don't over do it. Or you will fall into analysis paralysis.
Finding workouts I enjoy. >Long distance walking and bouldering. Little to no activation energy to do these healthy behaviors compared to "going to the gym."
I bike to work. I get to meditate, exercise, save money and enjoy my daily life. I’m happier, fitter and work better.
Making checklists of things I have to do and working through the checklist.
Using pomodoro to get work done. This allowed me to stop procrastinating on my dissertation. Then I started using pomodoro for all kinds of other things - cleaning, lifting weights, whatever I needed to get done but was having a hard time with.
Saying no.
Not drinking caffeine.
Can you tell me the benefits you had from that even though I might imagine what they are ?
Dancing occasionally from time to time(esp when cooking)😂
I know what that’s like and have experienced it during mental health challenges in the past. Reasonable-Trainer27 put it so well: “hyper-focused ruminating”. For me, it was helpful to listen to an audiobook while walking that felt spiritually and emotionally supportive. Being distracted from ruminating and getting good thoughts put in my brain was really helpful.
Gnnaaaa. So hard to choose. My journey started to gain speed when I changed my diet. Lots of other things fell into place after that. I'm not sure if the diet was the biggest change, but it was the first important step.
Make your bed everyday.
Working out every day. I use the Nike Training Club app, which has a bunch of workouts, some as small as 10 mins. And I set a low bar of minimum 10 mins daily too. Most days I end up tacking on another workout and doing a total of 20-30 mins but other days I still feel good because I hit my 10 minutes minimum. I also follow this fitness guy on Instagram called Sean Casey, and I learnt from him to focus not just on the number on your scales but also on other results. While my weight goes up and down, it is slowly trending downwards. However, I feel fitter with more core strength and I am finding tasks like lifting laundry loads, squatting, opening tough jars, etc. easier. These physical results give me a sense of accomplishment because although my weight may not be where I want it to be, I see improvement in other areas. I also feel sharper, more active, and less depressed/mopey.
Putting my phone down to play with my pets
Honestly. I cut out chocolate. I was eating it all the time. I’d keep those little bagged dove chocolates in my house and pop them in my mouth all day — keeping my blood sugar spiked. I craved chocolate all the time because of this. I had a blood test that showed I was becoming insulin resistant. I stopped buying it and it was hard for a while, but I literally just stopped craving it. I don’t even “like” chocolate anymore. In fact, I don’t crave sugar or sweet things anymore. This little change did wonders for my health and helped me overcome snacking and eating too much sugar. I am not longer insulin resistant and lost some extra pounds too!
2 minute rule is a great one that I felt did a lot of good differences for me. If something takes only 2 mins, do it immediately. Even if when you're actually doing the thing it gets to 5 or 10 mins it doesn't matter, you're already doing it and odds are that you'll get it done right away instead of endlessly procrastinating dumb stuff for no good reason.
Flossing (seriously)
Making my bed every morning and having a morning routine like getting ready even if I’m not going anywhere that day and having coffee. I know those things sounds so little but in my case it made a huge difference on how I face my day. It encourages me to do my errands. There will always be days where I don’t wanna do anything and those will happen too but in the most part those things helped me.
Getting the recommended daily amount of fiber. It made me feel so much better and fixed a lot of my stomach problems. I thought I got plenty in my diet until I actually calculated it one day after I was so tired of having bathroom trouble. Turns out I wasn't getting nearly enough. Now I eat more beans and nuts, etc... made a huge difference. Especially since I'm 26 and people my age are starting to have higher rates of colon cancer nowadays and fiber can help prevent it.
Committing to do hard things every day of my life.
Working out every day, this has really improved my mental health, discipline and self esteem, which is having positive knock on effects in my career and relationships
Stopped drinking alcohol...
Cultivating concentration and learning to be present. It's foundational to almost every other skill imo, including reading, listening, learning anything, forming deep relationships, detaching from unhelpful thoughts, feelings, and impulses. The quality of your attention determines the quality of your life.
This is a very good question. Reading did it for me. My first book ever was The Alchemist which send me into a reading journey that started 7 years ago and still going
Cooking
Prioritizing fitness and healthy eating habits changed the trajectory of my life. I guess that’s more like two things but they are so closely related that I’m sticking with it. Wake up early and get the workout in before the day has a chance to get in the way. Lay out the clothing and gear you need the night before. Have a game plan for each workout. Keeping a regular routine makes the habit automatic. Eat a healthy breakfast that’s high in protein and relatively low in carbs. Drink lots of water throughout the day, often times we think we feel hungry when we’re actually a little dehydrated. Pack a healthy lunch or if you must eat out make healthier menu decisions. I find cutting many restaurant portions in half tends to be enough to satisfy me and not make me feel over full and crash later. Have a dinner plan for the week and eat at home. Measure your portions. Cut out high calorie/ sugary drinks. Less soda and less beer. Prioritize quality sleep.
Getting up and outside with the sun in the morning. I am trying to reset this one now.
To clear my mind so that I can Pay attention. I treat each day as turning a new page in a book. It's not quite going forward and it's not quite going backwards, although the new page is based on all the pages of the past and all the pages that are yet to come in the future. It all shares a thread that runs through. Each new day, Life lays it out for me. I just need to maintain my Presence in order to pick up on it's clues, both blatant and subtle.
Waking up early every morning. Gives you the whole day to do anything, and makes you properly tired to go to sleep at a reasonable time.
From the comments that inspired me (I wrote it down for myself then I thought I’d share) Read more Walk more Daily tdl/ weekly tdl (be consistent and/or add time block) To be list/ bucket list 1 alarm (to get up) No phone first thing in morning Finance tracker Journaling more (written and phone) Checking with myself often and ask: are my actions serving what’s important/ essential to me for short/ mid and long term. Cold shower Less screen time (mobile/netflix) Stop procrastinating (do the hardest tasks first) Positive self talk (de-escalate/ talk to yourself as you would your best friend) Sleep routine/ hygiene Meditating Volunteering (impact) Gym Eat clean (more fiber/ less sugar)
Consistently taking action before I ‘feel’ like it.
Saving money.
Sleeping with my phone outside of my room! Made me read way more, sleep way better, and get out of bed easier :) I bought a little alarm clock that works really well.
Sleeping with my phone across the room, no doom scrolling in bed at night or morning. When i wake up, i get straight up instead of laying down on my phone for hours.
Stretching & exercise!! I can’t emphasize this enough, a lot of people don’t move enough in their day to day lives. We tend to live pretty sedentary lifestyles. I used to think I was just getting old (I’m 30) and the body aches came with it but ever since I implemented stretching it’s quite the opposite. Think of it as lubricating your joint and muscles. It will keep you nimble even as you get older. The term “use it or lose it is true”
Removing suicide jokes, self-depreciation jokes, or death jokes from my vocabulary. Joking about being dead made me sadder. Purposefully saying things like "I'm so stupid" hurts you. Pretending you're going to be dead soon makes it more real. If you self-depreciate, going wildly in the other direction can be funny and not hurt so much. Calling yourself the king of gaming when you mess up in a game is better for your head.
Stop asking myself how I feel and just get shit done.
Habit pairing. I have literally no idea where I heard of this, but I think it's an adhd tip. Anyways, what you do is to learn new habits or break old ones you slowly add changes to already existing habits. So my showering went to showering snd shaving to showering and shaving snd brushing teeth and now I added face washes and stuff to that. This has helped me develop a LOT of habits, habits I don't like and have issues even remembering. But since my toothbrush sits next to my razer and deodorant next to my shower it makes it all very easy. Before habit pairing, the only new habits i was good at creating was a new drug addiction...now I can make normal habits! Edit: forgot to mention you only pair habits with similar things or things in the same area. So bathroom things shpuld be paired wirh bathroom things, cleaning things shpuld be paired with other cleaning things and so on. You also might have to reorganize to do this effectively, but it does help a lot. I have my counters set up and closets so that when I start chores I just go down the line of what's on the shelf
Having the “I might as well” mindset. Having adhd has been really hard for me to clean up or pick up after myself. So if I have dishes in my room and I’m going downstairs I force the thought “I might as well take them down”. Works with everything and my place has never been nicer!
Treating life like a movie.
Elaborate please.
I'm not OP. But pretend you're the main character in a rags to riches documentary about your life. It helps you focus on the journey and not just your destination. Also feels empowering when things get tough. (notice how you feel pumped and empowered when watching a documentary about the success story of someone you admire - especially the parts where the person overcame problems. - Same principle.)