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Using “≈” and “≠” sign on internet text.
These are literally long press options on the “=” key.‽ is also important
Traditional chess literature has “!? = questionable move”. Is this the same thing?
Is it‽
Gee, how did I ever live without knowing that? Are you a mathematician?
Using mathematical symbols ≠ mathematician
A physical keyboard has entered the chat
======================
Tried long pressing the “=” key. My keyboard is now egalitarian.
Compose key gang
What about on desktop?
I hit the Compose key and then
=/
gives≠
, but I don’t seem to be able to enter≈
. For that and more obscure characters I’d open Emacs and runinsert-char
.
≠≈∞
Wait what O.o
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!=
T-shirts take up much less space if you roll them. So do most other clothes, but it’s a huge gain with the T-shirts.
How is this actually true? It’s the same amount of material? Is it about “same space, less wrinkle”?
Depends on whether you’re folding them in neat squares or hanging them from hangers. The rolls are useful for putting them in luggage, they can be compressed better that way
I do squares and if packing a suitcase, lay out dress shirts alternating, trousers alternating, put t-shirts/underwear in the middle (folded) and roll the trousers and then dress shirts around them. Keeps the wrinkles down.
Because T-shirts are somewhat irregularly shaped when folded. If you stack them with the same orientation, one side is higher than the other. You can alternate the way you lay them but that’s also easier with rolls.
Rolls allow you to take advantage of the efficiency of the honeycomb shape, as well.
Ahhh stacking the rolls vertically is something I hadn’t considered
Yes! The ranger roll… https://www.artofmanliness.com/skills/how-to/how-to-pack-a-bag-using-the-ranger-roll/
Plus then it’s easier to tell what’s been worn!
Wait, you’re putting worn shirts back with the unworn?
When I’m traveling and only have one bag? Yep!
Absolutely! I wear shirts until they’re smelly or I spill on me.
Jeans are good for weeks, but I only wear them as outside pants. Most days I’m just wearing PJs cuz I’m in my house.
An easy way to wear out cloths is to wash them too often. Some rules I follow:
- If it’s smelly or visibly dirty, ignore all other rules and wash
- Rotate jeans and hang to air out. Cotton will naturally drop smells this way. Wash approx every 4 wears
- Sweaters/Jumpers can be worn many times if a shirt is underneath. Hang and rotate to air out
- If socks are merino wool, use nikwash and wear until they no longer smell like the wash (or get dirty). Lay out to air out. Any other material, wear only once
- Dress shirts, if not wrinkled, 3 times, hang to air (only if you wear t-shirts underneath)
- Wash t-shirts and underwear every time unless your backpacking. Basically, anything not wool that comes into constant contact with sweaty bits
Agree with all this except jeans. Store them in the freezer and wash them even less than you’d like to. They’re barely cool when you put them on…
unless it’s a July 17 heatwave and you wore them in 7000% humidity before tossing the salty, sweat-drenched denim into the freezer, in which case they’re like cold tortilla chips. Just wash them if you were swimming down the sidewalk in mid-summer muck.
Anyway. Makes them last at least a couple years longer.
This Lars Midwestern United Stateses!
freezer space is way to precious for that. I would have to buy a jeans freezer.
That’s more-or-less how I do except I don’t wear wool.
Merino wool is a very different material then “classic” wool. Backpackers like it because it wicks sweat and it’s naturally antimicrobial so the smells dissipate over night. It’s also not itchy due to the finer weave.
My favorite is Darn Tough socks. They’re merino wool, warm when they need to be and cool when not, and if you get them on sale (only way to buy them) they’re worth the price. Lifetime warranty, so if you get holes, you get new ones. Last socks you’ll ever buy.
I’ve started doing this when I noticed the space savings. First, I’ve done it with underwear, then with my undershirts. Now, only those shirts I need to be ironed (and immaculately folded) don’t get rolled.
If you need to remember something for the next time you go out, put your shoes somewhere odd. When you go to leave, you’ll remember you moved them, which will remind you why you moved them.
I do similar, swapping my watch to the opposite wrist when I want to remember to remember something. Unfortunately, I do it so frequently, I forget why I switched wrists this time around.
On the original topic, shoes last a lot longer if you don’t wear the same pair day after day. The continual dampness from foot perspiration breaks down the materials much more quickly. Giving each pair of shoes a couple of days to dry out between wearings will greatly extend their lives.
This effect may not be visible to many people, but if you have a physical job, it can save you a lot of money.
This works even with abstractions.
Attaching an unrelated concept to another will help remember it.
I do it all the time by telling someone that I need to remember something… And clarify that I don’t need a reminder, I just needed to tell someone.
If I need to remember to bring something with me when I go out I’ll put my keys on top of it.
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I’ll usually put a reminder or most often the thing itself in the shoes.
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Or you won’t be able to find your shoes, panic because you’re running late, and forget about the thing you needed because of said panic.
That’s why you always leave a note.
If the note is with your shoes, doors that make it a footnote?
Bah! Go to the Agony Booth,2 min!
Oh my god, that guys arm came off!
Even just a couple inches over is enough to remind me. Or just a separation between them instead of them touching. Or turn them backwards. Though, this only works if it’s relatively uncommon for you to do it. And if you live in a household that does indeed take their shoes off, some don’t. But it’s a surprisingly effective reminder if all that.
People who try and peel whole avocados amaze me.
I think in general there’s a lot of fruit hacks that folks aren’t familiar with - it pays to search the web for “How to peel X”.
Best thing in brought home from my time in SEA are these very basic asian metal spoons.
They are quite thin and have a sharper edge then normal spoons which makes them perfect for scooping out avocados, mangos, the seeds of pumpkins and all kind of melons or vegetables for filling (like the core of a zucchini or cucumber).
I really wouldn’t want to miss them, they are so versatile.Cut in half, use knife to pull out core, score the flesh into little cubes, scoop out.
Yeah, I learned how to peel pomegranates from a ten-second video.
Wait, what? Peel avocados? Just why?
But then again, I grew up eating ripe, if not nearly overripe avocados, the kind whose flesh would turn into mush if you try to grab them. So, yeah, I would just slice the avocado in half (going around the pit), remove the pit, and then scoop out the flesh.
Cut in half, remove core, scoop with a spoon.
Does one peel an avocado? I’ve always used a knife to cut to the core all the way around and pull it apart, then scoop out the flesh.
I cut in half, and lay the half down flat. Then I cut off just the very end from each side which makes it easier to lift the peel off. Then slice. Usually works, but occasionally there’s difficulty. Isn’t that life?
- Using a chef’s knife, cut around core and twist to separate halves. The core will remain stuck on one side.
- Holding the side with the core in your off-hand, (gently) chop the knife into the core and twist to remove it from the avocado half. Reaching around the back side of the blade, pinch the core off with your fingers.
- Scoop the avocado flesh from the skins using a large spoon, then slice/dice/mash as desired.
That’s how I learned to do it (in a tex-mex chain restaurant), anyway. I think maybe we were supposed to use one of those cut-proof gloves for step #2, but nobody bothered.
Step 2 should be: Put the side with the seed DOWN skin-side down, and lightly whack the long sharp edge of the knife into the seed without risking your hand. If you’re afraid of the avocado escaping, hold one end, but don’t put your whole palm directly in the line of cut. A lot of people wind up in the ER because avocado seeds are slippery and may send the blade askew, or just because they missed.
I worked in the ED for a decade and this is very true. Avocado injuries might be the most common non allergic good injury. I do mine like this guy says. Usually 3 or 4 a day. I only use butter knives to cut them and the wacking the seed still works. I then take the knife and make either slices or grids in the fruit while it is in the peel and use a spoon to scoop out the pre cut flesh
However, people also tend to stab themselves in the hand as they attempt to use the knife tip to remove the avocado pit.
They’re not doing it right. You don’t stab the pit with the point of the blade, it’s more like a chop.
Of course, you could just use a spoon to remove the pit. Or I saw another variant where you push it out from the “back” of the side its stuck in once cut in half, no tool needed beyond the initial halving
¯\_(ツ)_/
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Wrestle the pig first, every day. Whatever is your worst, most unpleasant, annoying task for the entire day, do it before you do anything else. It minimizes your stress and worrying and puts it in the rearview mirror.
My former mentor said: 80% of the deliverable is the 20% of the scope you really don’t want to do
Alternatively, if you’re neurodivergent you may have a better time doing the easiest tasks first to build momentum and motivation.
Yeah, everyone’s neurochemistry is different and should be experimented with.
I didn’t know this for so long, that I needed a few easy wins to set the pace, that I feel like I could have been way more productive throughout my 20s haha
I don’t think “waking up early” counts, but it’s definitely the most unpleasant and annoying task of my weekdays, followed closely by actually getting to work.
Ok, I wrestled a cop and pinned him. What’s step 2? Please respond before his backup arrives.
I think you’re supposed to tickle his balls now.
I always heard it as “Swallow a live frog first thing in the morning and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day”. Same meaning, and I think I like yours better.
For a second I thought you were talking about masturbation.
Well yeah crank your hog first of course
Slap the monkey
Choke the chicken.
Flog the dolphin
Mildly to firmly squeeze your penis while moving your hand back and forward
Bash the bishop
Filbert and Heffer playing “Spank the Monkey”
Oh bay bee, oh bay bee, oh bay bee.
Rocko?
Mrs. Bighead?
simultaneous phone slam
There was also that one that was cut from the camping episode.
Rocko is foraging for berries and he grabs one on a bush and the bush recoils and you hear a bear growl. Then a bear jumps out from behind the bush grabbing his crotch and running away in obvious pain.
SPEAK UP BROTHER, I CANT HEAR YOU OVER THE SOUND OF MY CRANKED HOG
ABSOLUTELYCRANKINMYMF’INHOG
AROOOOOO
Human memory is bias towards most recent things in a group set. If your set is a “workout” or a “workday”, doing the fun stuff last will affect positively all the memory items in the same group set. This works even if you know that your memory is doing this.
We don’t live in a “present now”. We live in a mental image constructed from memory of recent past.
Trick is not to do unpleasant stuff first, but to do pleasant stuff last.
I feel like saying “I have to do this before anything else” might very well end with me doing nothing
I have some paperwork to do that will likely result in $2000. It’s been over a year and i cannot just sit down and do it. I are over it every day but continue to put it off.
Today. Let’s both finish our paperwork today. The sense of freedom and achievement will be good.
Ok. I have a 2 hour car ride this afternoon. I will get everything ready this morning and do it in the car. Thanks! Good luck!
Excellent. I hope you did OK. I got mine done! It wasn’t as bad as I thought. If you haven’t finished yet, don’t give up, pick up the pieces and carry on. Thanks for being my Internet buddy on this.
Congratulations! I didn’t finish, but did get a good start on it. Thanks for the encouragement!
Well done. Starting is the hardest part. Are you going to do a bit more today?
I’m on vacation until Wednesday so I will finish it on my flight home. Getting started really was the hardest part. Now it’s just putting numbers into boxes and adding them up. By gathering info and starting on it, i find that the expected $2k gain is closer to $10k. That’s some great motivation to get it done!
I know this as ‘eat your frogs’.
But where will I find a pig?
They’re easy to spot. They’re typically wearing cute little uniforms & driving fun little cars with lights on top.
Best advice ever.
Just how much cheaper and longer lasting keeping thing like rice, dried beans and flour can be. It’s amazing to me that no matter how empty my cupboards/fridge is I can always make fresh tortillas, refried beans, and rice in like an hour.
Yes. And you can get all kinds of crap canned. The only thing I’ve found you can’t really replace is crunchy greens.
I’m not surprised people don’t know after decades of cold supply chain, but it’s a thing.
My wife’s Italian. Replace your items with always having a bottle of sauce and a packet of pasta in the cupboard, and there’s always a meal to be had no matter how empty the fridge is.
Amen to that. But I can’t do jar/bottled sauce so if I want easy noodles, it’s cook noodles, leave some pasta water after draining, throw in some butter at the end to make it thicc, then serve topped with olive oil/red pepper flakes/salt/pepper/parmigiano Reggiano (all things I make sure I always have in stock always)
I also keep a stack of cans of San Marzano tomatoes to make a red sauce any time I want, but that takes a couple hours instead of 20 minutes.
There are good sauces you can make from canned tomatoes in 20 minutes (depending on your prep speed).
My go tos are Putanesca & Vodka sauce, but there’s a lot more you can do. Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything has a simple recipe and then a big list of variants, most of which can be done in 20 minutes.
Noted, thank you! I have a specific sauce I like to make, and I like it best simmered for a couple hours in a Dutch oven hahaha
Most of the sauce we use is home made. My FIL makes it every year and always gives us boxes of it. Way better than shop bought sauce.
My GF is Italian too. One of the most important things I learned from her is literally this. Also, as long as you have any kind of vegetables in your house, you are always one step away from a pasta sauce.
100% For us, a passata, an onion, and some garlic is the minimum needed.
Probably helps that the FIL delivers us boxes of homemade passata all the time - we never have less than a dozen bottles on our storage shelves in the garage. But even if we were to ever run out, a couple of store-bought bottles in the pantry is our fallback option.
Icegel pouch and Samsung cellphone=fast charging
Explain
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Many phones overheat while fast charging - this forces the circutry to reduce the current in order to prevent battery damage
If you cool your phone down, it can sustain high current and charges much faster
Fast charging is all about heat management so keeping it cool will allow it to charge faster.
Not really a “hack” but I don’t know why most people get into phone contracts.
Since college, I have always just bought unlocked phones with cash and then used the carrier’s prepaid plans and set it to auto pay.
I pay so much less than most people I know, I get all the same service, and my phone isn’t tied to a contract or carrier, so I can cancel my plan whenever I want and switch to another carrier by just buying their SIM card for ~$20.
My current phone is an unlocked Pixel 6a that I got on sale new for $300. I have unlimited talk, text, and data for $45 a month. And if I get sick of my current carrier or they bump my cost, I can just switch to anybody else for just the cost of a $20 SIM card.
I have so many friends and family members that complain about their phone bills being super high and their service sucking, but they can’t cancel their contracts without paying off their huge balances plus the interest and usually cancelation fees. Plus, because their phone is tied to the contract/carrier, they can’t even keep transfer the phone to the new carrier and have to get sucked into a “phone trade-in” deal and the cycle continues.
And for the folks saying that most people can’t afford to save up and buy a phone outright, there are a lot of places that offer payment plans for the phone, or you can buy it on credit and pay it off that way, which would likely be less interest over time. Or you could buy unlocked used/refurbished phones for 25-50% off their normal price.
Maybe it makes sense if you get a stipend from your company, or you bundle it with a bunch of other packages like cable TV or internet, but for just a cell phone, I just don’t get locking yourself into a crazy contract.
This seems like an American problem. This used to be the case in the Netherlands as well but over the years people have learned that SIM-only subscriptions are so much easier and cheaper that the majority of people now use SIM-only. In fact I know of no one around me that does it differently.
Also $45 per month is still expensive lol. I pay €12 a month. Sure, not unlimited but I never call or SMS so the 100 a month I get for that is way more than enough and I never finish the 10GB of data a month either. I can make either unlimited for really not that much more.
Nice, over here $45 a month is pretty cheap, at least in my circles. Most people I know are paying close to double that.
Also in the Netherlands and I have recently extended this concept to my home internet. Since 25 Mbps download / 10 Mbps upload is enough for my use, I no longer have an internet subscription and I make use of $25 LycaMobile unlimited data sim cards for home internet using a sim router. The IMEI of the router can be easily modified, which is also a plus.
Do you have a static or dynamic IP though? For some applications one would want a static one iirc
The IP is dynamic, but for my self-hosted services that require a static IP I make use of a WireGuard tunnel between my raspberry pi and a virtual private server. The VPS has a static IP, so my domains point at the VPS and then the VPS re-routes the packets via the wireguard tunnel. In a wire guard tunnel only the server needs a static IP, so the VPS can route packets to the client even if the client’s ip is dynamic.
Ok is toch iets te gecompliceerd voor me, en aangezien de vrouw graag vaste TV heeft zit ik zowieso nog wel even aan de KPN vast. Maar ik heb je comment opgeslagen, aangezien ik toch wel benieuwd ben en wil kijken of het op termijn. Dank iig!
France is a bit similar, but a new phone company decided to cut down the costs by not providing a phone. 20 € a month formore data than you’ll ever need or 50 € a month with the latest iPhone included everyone chooses the first option
Have you checked price comparison sites recently? In germany you can get 10GB for 5€ now
I believe a major factor in this was a ruling by the Hoge Raad that a “free” phone with a contract is unlawful and is actually a loan. Carriers now have to list the price for the phone and for the service separately, so it’s a lot more clear what the costs of the phone are.
Also, a “free” phone is now registered as a loan with monthly recurring costs, which impacts for example the maximum mortgage you can get on a home.
It feels like the nineties/2000 just called :-D
I pay 10€/m for “unlimited” 5G (186GB/month IIRC).
Nice! Maybe Europe has it better, (wouldn’t be the first time lol.)
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Interesting, seems like Europe has some really cheap options, much cheaper than the US.
I agree except who is charging you $20 for a sim?
Verizon, might have been a little less, but reasonable to me, I keep my phones for a long time, and I got a really good deal on it.
But who actually does this otherwise? I have seen those kind of contracts advertised, but I never see people actually having them, apart from some 16yo who want the new iPhone by all means and this is the only way they can finance it.
Almost everybody I know has something like this, growing up as a teenager it was the same too.
Wtf where your from? Is this some murica dumbness I’m to European to understand? Is it common in Europe and I just know smart people?
But yes, hyped teenager is the only group I’ve actually seen falling for that when I was at school
Hell go to swappa.com and buy an unlocked used phone.160 and you can have a S20 which works perfectly.
I don’t know if I’m grandfathered in or what but I have Google Fi (I know I know I suck) and have 3 lines unlimited everything for $80/month
Solid.
Google Fi is a god-tier service for traveling abroad. When I went to South America I paid nothing extra vs my friends who had to deal with Verizon’s ridiculous travel plan fees.
Because people want the latest iPhone or Samsung and paying $ per month works better for them than $$$ upfront. The alternate finance method you speak of isn’t very well known, so it’s most simple to contract with a carrier.
Part of the problem is that we’re advertised at constantly, so when the latest, greatest iPhone or Galaxy or Pixel comes along we feel like we need it. Because if we get the £1200 phone the resell value in two years will still be high, right? It actually makes sense.
But the only way to afford that is to borrow the money to pay for it.
I picked up an iPhone 13 mini last year, on a two year contract, for £29 a month. And that’s ok by me. By the end of my contract I’ll go SIM-only and my bill will drop to around £10 a month, which I’ll rock until Apple finally release another mini phone.
So this 13 mini will be the last phone I ever use…
Bonus points in that android phones won’t have their bootloader encrypted by a cellular service provider.
Absolutely right!
If you go prepaid for a year you can get service for even cheaper. I don’t need unlimited data so I buy a year of Mint Mobile’s cheapest plan for about 200 dollars which gives unlimited talk and text and 5gb data for only around 15 dollars a month.
Right on. I do need unlimited, as my job requires me to be on the road a fair bit and accessing lots of data.
But that’s a good idea, I’ll see if my carrier offers that option.
I should clarify that mint mobile also has “unlimited” and “unnecessary” plans for 30 and 40 dollars a month respectfully. (When prepaying for a year)
Quote: Unlimited plan incl. 40GB high-speed data w/10GB hotspot. Unnecessary plan incl. 60GB high-speed data w/20GB hotspot. Video @ 480p. Data speeds reduced after monthly allotment. Taxes & fees extra.
Maybe I’m misunderstanding something but here in Australia there’s no benefit to not having a contract.
With our largest telco the contract is really just repayments on the phone. 24x monthly repayments is always the same price the phone is retailing for outright. You could cancel the sim and just keep up the phone repayments if you wanted.
Learn to cook the base of meals in different cultures. Like a Sofrito.
Most of the best classic dishes in the world really start with three or four ingredients and are just variations. You shouldn’t overthink it or buy rare ingredients. You’re better off picking one and mastering the basic steps. Learning to cook isn’t about learning to recreate a chef-cooked meal. It’s about learning to cook simple, cheap ingredients.
I just found a japanese comfort food staple: Ochazuke - green tea rice. It just needs a couple of ingredients and is super quick. I was blown away by how good and comforting it was. Its Comfort in a quick bowl. And it’s super adaptable. You can basically add anything as tipping.
This is the blogpost that inspired me https://rasamalaysia.com/green-tea-rice/
Hey that’s a quality life changing hack right here. Food is the most important thing with sleep.
Would you have a list of those base meals maybe ?
@dephyre mentionned refried beans with rice in the thread. @DeltaTangoLima responded with bottled (canned) pasta sauce. I’d say learn how to make ratatouille and store (can) some when you can get the ingredient (green bell pepper, zucchinis, eggplan, tomatoes) at the right time of the year.
It’s usually just to take a small amount of delicious oil or fat — whatever you have on hand — and saute diced onions with diced bell pepper (or local equivalent) until the onions are slightly transparent. Keep going if you want the onions start being brown and have a sweet flavor. That brown is just the natural sugars coming out of the onion and is what “caramelizes means.” Caramel is sugar. And then add garlic and/or ginger and whatever spices you like.
If you want to add meat. If you don’t do not. (Often, that very oil step is done from browning meat and not wasting the fat.)
If you want soup, add a lot of liquid and whatever and cook it slowly. If you want paella, jambalaya, equivalent — every culture has a rice dish — use the rice recipe on the bag as if it were water. (Use stock if you have any but water works fine.)
There are dishes that are different. Like fried rice and French Toast use old rice and toast respectively. Baking is a science. But anyone can make a pot of delicious with a few ingredients and it’s a 10 minute, one pot meal.
This is the way.
You start frying an onion and then figure out what you’re making for dinner.
There’s a book that you should pickup…
Salt Fat Acid Heat by Samin Nosrat
It really covers everything you’ll need to be able to cook anything. They even made a 4 part series about it on Netflix.
I really like this. Do you have any resources I can check out that cover this?
A good example is The Curry Guy. Dan somebody?
Make a huge batch of base curry sauce, and then with a few more ingredients you can make dozens of Indian and Bangladeshi dishes
He’s got loads of recipes on his site, but his book is really useful in a kitchen
I started watching Babish & Weissman’s channels on YouTube during the pandemic. Both of them put out easy to follow videos, but they also include links to recipes in the video description, so you don’t have to write it all down.
The Basics with Babish videos are great because they show multiple dishes with a given protein.
I watch them both a ton, good stuff. Weissman can be a little snooty tho. K Keni Lopez-Alt is amazing 😍
Weissman does get a bit snooty & high priced at times. He also gets a lil too juvenile for my taste, but that’s my taste…
With his higher priced dishes, he does typically offer cost cutting options as goes through, which is nice.
I really like that both Babish & Weissman tell you why they’re using certain ingredients. That little bit of why helps me with substitutions if I ever don’t have or don’t like something used.
For sure, like some of his stuff is really good
Is it even a life hack, or an essential life skill. Most us didn’t formally learned, but have seen/helped our parents from an early age and one day, we ended up in a student room meaning it was time to cook
When the pandemic happened, there were people who didn’t know how to make the easiest meals. I was shocked. So, my rule on recipes is that nothing is too basic.
When cutting onions, set the cutting board on the stove and turn on the extractor fan. No more tears!
Is it weird I kind of like the tears?
Hold a teaspoon in your mouth while you do it (upside down so you don’t poke yourself in the eye or whatever works best). Nullifies it instantly.
I worked at a factory that produced food with onion as one of the main ingredients. The best trick was to breathe with the mouth. Breathing with my nose would always make my eyes cry.
Wearing those little eyeball-sized swim goggles works too.
Chill the onion before cutting will helps too, either put it in the fridge or put it in a tub of ice water.
So does rinsing the onion slices. I slice a ring off, rinse the ring, & then chop.
If you are cramped for storage space for cleaning supplies, you can buy and hang a shoe cubby on the back of a closet door and use it to store all sorts of things.
There’s different types, such as ones that are actual racks and others that are pockets like this:
The pockets tear so easily,do not expect them to last more than a few months if you are placing anything heavier than a pair of slippers or flip-flops in them.
We use one like you have pictured essentially as a medicine cabinet.
More tip: Make sure the hooks will fit over the door when it closes.
Do a bunch of things at once, not in parallel, but in series.
It makes sure I’m staying in the mood of being productive and keeps myself motivated, as I can keep focusing on the tasks. Of course, still take breaks if you need it.
When I was in the end of my PhD, everything except writing my thesis made me feel guilty. I ended up learning to find joy and peace in doing laundry and washing dishes. They became my guilt-free breaks — I had to do these things. FYI - I didn’t enjoy washing dishes before.
Washing dishes has become a really powerful part of my day, haha. Not only is it still a guilt-free break but it is a daily reminder to be mindful. I’ve noticed that whenever I drop and break a dish, my mind is not present. In fact, in those moments my mind might actually be drifting somewhere negative.
Maybe not so much a “hack” as a … lesson? Or something? But yeah, the whole cliche about having the right attitude and being present and mindful. I try to apply it in other parts of life, not just the dishes.
This is a great way to think. Some people are so frustrated with waiting in line at the bank or market. For me, it’s just another unintended break where I get to relax.
I call that productive procrastination.
You have discovered the subtle art of procrasticleaning
Tidying up makes the world go round.
Yeah I was like wow I am so enlightened for the first part of the response and then I was like oh my god I am so seen. I. Am. The. Best. At. Doing. The. Second. Most. Important. Thing. I. Need. To. Do.
The flip side of this is productive procrastination, where you do all the menial tasks before doing the task you don’t want to do. Generally you aren’t even aware you’re doing and most people can go their entire lives never knowing the term exists, and yet they’ll do it all the time.
You can’t fix a problem you can’t identify.
You’re welcome and I’m sorry.
this is how all the cleaning in my house gets done.
What do you do when you have identified the problem? :)
everything except … made me feel guilty learning to find joy guilty free breaks
How‽ This is perhaps the single most impactful problem I’ve in my life. I just don’t know how to beat this. I don’t end up doing anything else because I could be doing my thesis. But I also don’t do my thesis. Could you talk a bit more about how you got out of this line of thinking? Between this and ADHD I feel like I’m going suicidal. I haven’t had a vacation/gap/break ever where I’ve felt free and happy to enjoy.
Honestly, I still haven’t fully solved the problem. I wish I could give you a great answer.
Sometimes I have no struggles working and taking breaks, other times I fall into this same trap you’ve just described. I think it amounts to a lot of different factors — some weird paradoxical mix of procrastination, fear, insecurity, passion, displeasure, and overconfidence.
I’ve learned, though, to accept certain tasks as completely necessary in life (like doing the dishes) so that I am able to do them guilt free. At least I can do that. I feel you though. In a general sense, I still struggle with the problem.
I think part of it amounts to making a decision and sticking to it rather than being on the fence. Maybe that’s discipline? E.g., “this morning I will go on a run, make a nice breakfast, wash the dishes, get started on laundry, read or play music for a bit, and then finally I will sit down to work.” Then, when actually executing the first part of the plan, just ignore the ever living fuck out of any feeling of guilt. But, again, I am still putting that into practice.
Good luck to you and me.
Thanks for the reply :)
Yeah, I think it does boil down to accepting the situation and just doing it. Or forcing the self to do it after rounds of negotiations and arguments. One problem that I see with this- at least for myself- is that it leads to me doing just the bare minimum and then subsequently getting mad. I don’t really know, I’m also trying to figure things out for myself. Maybe medication is the answer