Brand, thing, behavior, method, advice, mantra, etc.
I swear by Blackwing pencils.
Also, the ‘two minute rule’, which has really improved my life: “if it takes two minutes or less to do, just do it now; if it takes longer, schedule it.” I’ve got untreated attention issues and it’s very easy for me to notice something needing done, and overlook or procrastinate it because it seems inconvenient in the moment. Having a totally painless rule that forces me to acknowledge that thing I should pick up, that trash bag I should change, etc, or, to at least put on my calendar anything I mustn’t forget in the long run has been great for me.
uBlock Origin forever and always. I’ve recently reinstalled Windows within the last 30 days and thus have a fresh installation of my browser and uBlock Origin – I have already blocked 609,521 ads, wild.
https://ublockorigin.com/ (Platform links at the bottom)
Make sure you use it with Firefox. It works better.
Fountain pens, good inks, and good paper.
The cost difference is so small, and the output is significantly better than anything I’ve ever written with a ballpoint.
Not to mention the enjoyment around the rituals and processes that go with.
Why are there so many writing utensil suggestions in this thread? I haven’t written anything down physically in years, I don’t even know why you’d need a pencil or paper anymore.
Musicians need pencils and erasers to work with sheet music. The music itself is printed, but you still need to write down fingering, dynamics markings, tempo markings, highlight ideas/themes/passages, etc…
because I can write something down, right now, without trying to boot up a device, find an app, open a word processor, or anything.
and it stays, exactly as is. interuptions dont risk losing it. power outages wont make it disappear. dead batteries wont render it inaccessable. Software update wont render it corrupt.
Three is a certain quality to writing things down. It is a nice break from screens, makes you contemplate and elaborate on your thoughts. It works that way for me.
Grabthar’s hammer.
What a savings
It’s moments like these that I find myself wishing I had some kind of rudimentary lathe
Is there air?? You don’t know!
“You are under no obligation to be the same person you were 5 minutes ago” - Alan Watts
This one is a bit hard-won for me. You see I used to be an asshole. It was my brand. I thought “it’s just in my nature”.
Fortunately, I was also a student of religion (mostly because I was a militant atheist. Know your enemy and all that). Studying Buddhism, I began to observe the nature of self. I found enough distance from it to see its transient nature.
I realized being an asshole was a choice and I could just as easily choose otherwise. Soon I began to discover this was true of most character traits.
I’m not saying you don’t have consistent patterns of behavior. I’ll hopefully always be curious and analytical. But for the most part, the way you conduct yourself and where you focus your attention is a choice.
So, if you’re not happy with who you are maybe don’t be so attached to the idea of 'who you are". And if that seems hard, observe what you pay your attention to and try to find the distance between observation and behavior. In that gap lies the choice you make, consciously or not, to be “you”.
No offense, brother, but this is a great example of my swear-by.
Don’t write a “wall of text.” Even if a reader is interested, it’s hard to read the whole thing.
Separate your wall into smaller sections, use bullet points (esp at work) if it helps.
Use small sentences. Forget what they told you about keeping similar ideas in one paragraph. You’re not Salinger, and no one is expecting you to be.
This is a digital age, and our job as not-salinger is to convey information.
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No offense taken
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These are salient points
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I edited my post
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I hope it’s easier to digest now
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Thank you for the constructive criticism
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CeraVe unscented lotion punches way above it’s class. Cheap enough to use as body lotion, good enough to use as face lotion. Apparently even the unimaginably rich Bryan Johnson, who does nothing but take care of his body and spends thousands a month on it, still uses this drugstore lotion because there really isn’t much better at any price.
Would recommend. I stopped using it because it never played nicely with my sunscreen, but if you’re looking for an inexpensive face moisturizer, CeraVe’s moisturizing lotion is really good.
If you wouldn’t take advice from someone, then don’t accept their criticism.
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Slowly transitioning myself into more FOSS and self hosting. Linux is tough because I’m fairly dependent on software that, to the best of my knowledge, wouldn’t work on it. Dual booting doesn’t sound fun
I dual boot win10 and Garuda Arch(I use Arch BTW) and it’s pretty painless. Garuda is a gaming centric distro, it plays almost every game I throw at it with no fuss. The only reason I still use windows at all is because my music production programs refuse to run on Linux, regardless of what settings I use in wine or Proton.
Don’t skimp on anything that separates you from the ground: shoes, tires, mattress, etc. Your body will thank you later
That’s a great heuristic! I had to learn all of those individually and in part painfully.
Linux
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Don’t buy cheap daily use items.
Shoes Mattress Car TV Computer
That doesn’t mean buy the most expensive thing. if you rely on this thing to get you through the day, get yourself something of quality. Do your research. Often times, buying the more expensive thing now, can be cheaper in the long run.
Secondly: Use mental health professionals. Go to a therapist, psychologist, or anyone else trained to help people mentally. For years I advocated for my employees to seek help. I built work schedules around their appointments. I could tell that it help or productivity as a team. I did this for years. Finally, this year, I went to see a therapist myself. I’ve been having depression problems for a while but I never took my own advice. Now, just 4 months later I’m doing way better. Not perfect, but I can tell I’ve made very good progress.
I disagree about the TV. Unless you are flush with cash a $300 LCD TV is perfectly good in 2023, you won’t lose any life satisfaction from not having the new $3000 OLED TV.
I disagree with your disagreement. There is an EXTREMELY noticeable difference between a quality OLED and a $300 LED, and it brings me much joy.
Most of the time there’s a cap after which there are diminishing returns. A $700 phone will probably last you a good 3-4 years, compared to a shitty year or two with a $300 one. However, a $1500 phone isn’t gonna be that much better and won’t last that much longer to be worth it.
Counterpoint: Folding a $700 phone in half breaks it, while doing that to a $1800 Galaxy Z Fold 4 is expected use 😄
the ole “buy it right, or buy it to the end of time” mantra rings true for so many things
Buy once, cry once.
Mantra:
- A former coach used to say to us, “If you cut corners in practice, you’ll cut corners in games. If you cut corners in games, you’ll cut corners in life.” It’s a good reminder to do things right whenever and wherever you can. Every action you take is training your brain!
Product-wise:
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I swear by Dorset Cereals’ muesli lmao. It is such a small thing but I absolutely love all the flavours and recommend them to everyone I know. If I were a different sort of person, I’d be approaching them for a brand deal, what with all the word-of-mouth advertising I do for them 😂
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I also swear by my Blundstones. They’re great for walking, they always keep my feet dry in my very moist city, and they have lasted me really well so far.
Otterbox phone cases are legit.
If you cook, invest in good knives and keep them sharp.
Aye!
I bought some stupid expensive Japanese cooking knives and a grinding stone and I am never ever going back to the cheap stuff.
I read a story on Reddit one time that some of you probably remember.
“Today you. Tomorrow me.”
I think about that often and try to be a generally helpful and kind person to anyone in need. I guess that’s a mantra that I swear by.
