What's a good habit you developed you'd like to share?

cheese_greater@lemmy.world to Ask Lemmy@lemmy.world – 117 points –

I just recently cleared my place of much bullcrap and have consequently been able to keep cleaning up after myself moment to moment so it doesnt build up and its basically alwaya clean 🤩

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I take a break from caffeine for a week every two months. I do the same with alcohol every month. It helps me stay objective about the amount I'm consuming. It helped me cut way back from pandemic-levels of coffee especially. Hoo, boy, I was one jittery, confined ball of anxiety and despair.

Pro tip: don't schedule both during the same week.

Me and my wife have started doing Dry January. There was a study about how it led to drinking less year over year. I like it!

I've read similar. A full, continuous month would probably be more effective than my week-long dry spells, but I have alcohol-related hobbies (brewing, distilling, other fermentations) that I don't want to shelve for that long. So more frequent week-long spells are for me.

Happy journey with your spouse, I hope it's a positive for you!

Honestly the first couple times I would make exceptions for birthdays and whatnot but it’s gotten easier. Also in your case it seems like tasting booze for hobby purposes is different than having a drink… anyway good luck to you too!

like tasting booze for hobby purposes is different than having a drink…

Weeeeell, it's a better excuse, innit?

  • I used to brew beer as well and going completely dry when there's delicious homebrews in the fridge isn't as easy as when there are none.

I am, in a non-self deluded (I hope) way, a "social drinker". I don't keep any alcohol at home. I only drink around friends, and I keep company that does more things than just go to bars. This makes alcohol actually seem like more of an upbeat treat than something habitually consumed.

I took an involuntary tolerance break from cannabis for 4 days, and it reduced my daily intake by 90%

What do you mean involuntary? Did you get locked up or something?

I was traveling and the laws at my destination had changed since I'd last been there.

FYI caffeine and alcohol don't actually build tolerance unless you really drink a lot.

It's not about tolerance, it's about monitoring how much I'm consuming so I don't overdo it.

Having a place for things. Never having to look for "x". Keys, wallet, which type of utensil goes in which slot in the silverware holder. I have saved so much time, avoided problems and given myself mental breaks by simply putting things where they're needed and being consistent.

This was something I realised too (or similar). Having stuff also requires having space. If you don’t have space then you really shouldn’t have stuff.

When everything has its place, organisation, cleanliness and general liveability start to take care of themselves. And probably overconsumption and hoarding too.

It’s funny, because “insufficient space” or the “disregard to space” seem to be common themes for me in terms of how modern things are being done poorly.

If you don’t have space then you really shouldn’t have stuff.

You shut your pretty whore mouth!!!

nervously glances at my 6 tubs of amiibo and 4 tubs of G-Scale model trains in an apartment to small to sneeze in

Oh I’ve been there. I am there. I was not virtue signalling. It was a cry for help!

So much of modern life is about about inventory management.

I like old videos of tribespeople in tropical places. There's always a guy just lying down in the jungle, doing nothing, with no stuff.

I second this.

It's great having specific spots for things. I also have a specific bag for when I go to the gym with its own set of earbuds and other gym ephemera.

I'm trying to extend/apply this in a way that if I need to put down something, I think ahead of set places in the house where I put things. That way of I've left something somewhere, it'll always be in one particular place in a room. That way I don't have to look everywhere for a thing I just put down in order to do something. I only need to look at one or two spots in each room.

Never use your phone in bed.

CBT (Cognitive behavior therapy). Get your your mind to associate bed with sleep, not with phone stimulation.

Good one.

I actually bought an alarm clock so I could turn my phone off at night, and now, I want to get a step counter so I can keep my phone off when I'm not using it period.

Good one.

I touch the bed, I sleep. My wife often pauses her Netflix to cuss at me for that, but i usually don't notice anything.

I like this one. Followed it last night.

Force yourself to sneeze and cough inside your elbow all the time. Even when you're alone. Then it becomes a reflex and you'll protect those around you from infection a lot better.

Drink a glass of water upon waking up.

Twenty years ago someone mentioned this to me, how the body tends to be dehydrated upon waking and that’s part of why waking up sucks.

Since then I’ve been drinking a glass of water almost immediately after waking up.

+1 to this and taking it up a notch: as I grow older have to pee once at night and I get that glass of water in before returning to sleep.

I used to lose my keys until I decided to stop losing my keys because they always go "right here."

"Don't put it down, put it away" is a mentality I came across recently and am trying to incorporate into my life, because putting something down means it's gone forever according to my brain.

That's a nice phrase. For me, when I'm done with something, very often the place it goes is wherever I am right now. Counter, desk, table, top of the dresser. They all work and then things pile up.

Putting stuff in a calendar. Now that I've started doing it, I'm not sure how people live without it. I have too much stuff going on to remember exactly when things are happening and some of them are scheduled weeks or months in advance. Everything has to go in the calendar app. For things that are further out, I set reminders one week and one day before. Other than that, I also check at the start of every week, and ofc I check whenever I need to schedule something.

This and the to-do list. My wife and I are totally committed to these. It really does make life a little bit easier.

Agree completely! I don't know how people remember random Wednesday night plans without putting it on a calendar.

Plans just go in one ear and out the other unless I write them down immediately

Kinda a boring one but gym. Started a couple of years ago once a week and had to drag myself there but after a month or two of that something flipped and now I go almost every day. It's pretty fun and it's great to notice the change in myself over the last couple of years. Now just need to do something about diet and sleep.

I went to the gym for 4 days... And wasted 26 days of subscription fees :/

I second this. I am bad at breaking my habits or starting new ones so I just started going every weekday starting around the beginning of this year. I also started eating healthier. I feel freaking great. Lost 25lb, way more energy, joints don't hurt as much... A lot of the "well, getting old sucks" things just went away after a while. Now that I've started the habit I have trouble not going to the gym.

That's awesome! I was surprised at the shift between having to push myself to go vs having a natural pull to go. Definitely makes a huge difference and seeing/feeling changes happening is so motivating.

Flossing I guess.

It reduces the risk of heart disease! Very important.

Remember, you are most likely to die from heart disease.

Really? How the heck does that work out?

The rubbish that gets into your teeth / gums can then get into your blood stream. From there it can travel to your heart and cause issues.

You’ve already got a better answer, but let me encourage you to remember your circulation whenever you think of your dental health to help motivate you to build and maintain those good habits.

Flossing seems mundane, but really it’s helping you with the most important risk factors for the things that are most likely to kill us.

Eh. I always saw myself as most likely to die with a shotgun in my mouth, and pulling the trigger with my toes.

It's not, it's almond milk. Even the gray aliens won't touch the stuff.

this is an important one. i nearly died when a tooth bacterial infection spread up my trigeminal nerve. not to mention the pain.

Water flossing! It’s like a bidet for your teeth.

bidet for your teeth

I thought the instructions were clear, but here I kneel in the bathroom with a wet face, soaked shirt, and still a popcorn kernel stuck between my molars.

No, I think you got that right. Just keep going and you'll get that popcorn kernel eventually.

At least you didn't power wash the walls like I did the other day. Forgot where the off button was.

I had one but the hose broke, so now it dispenses milk for the cat through the fridge door when we're away.

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Journaling.
It's extremely powerful from mental health to actual planning tasks and keeping track of things but weirdly enough it can be difficult to get into.

My best advice would be to make it as easy and as low stakes as possible at the beginning. Just open file/journal and write anything every day, even if it's one word. Don't worry about anything else. Then you can add and evolve this habbit to whatever feels useful to you.

Listening to audiobooks!

I always listen to podcasts and audiobooks while I am driving to office :D

I love my local library because they’re keeping me sane on my work commute! I looove audiobooks and it’s so nice to be able to try so many and not have to worry about if I will like them because it’s all free!!!!

I play videogames while I drive to the office. (Decent) public transport is great like that. AuÄŹiobooks are indeed great for driving though. I listened to about 300 books per year when I was an international driver.

I read for like 10 minutes every morning on my iPad with the Libby app (usually) and it’s great. I’ve read so many books now!

I'm currently learning Spanish on my morning drive, it feels very rewarding not to just waste time.

you learn Spanish while driving? that's interesting..

I always avoid learning something while driving because I can't focus while I am driving.

Paying attention to what you're doing. Sounds simple but so many people don't do it. They just keep doing the same thing and act surprised when it never works. If you pay attention to what you do and the outcome of your actions, you can improve everything you do and become very efficient.

I think this is related to meditation too. I always find it makes life feel more spacious and calm when I do it.

Walking places instead of driving.

Yes! It gets addictive too. You start to like being able to just walk to everything you need. So independent and flexible and relaxing!

I do this for anything nearby (including work) but oh my God it's so hot right now. And also the rainy season.

Want an electric bike by the time the rains end but have saved only 1/10 of the price so far they are so expensive.

What about umbrellas?

I have one but when I say rain, I don't mean a light rain shower, there is a lot of lightning and wind. No big deal, mornings are usually clear, I walk in then if needed get a ride home. (E-bike won't help in those situations at all) But I agree with you, moving at a human pace is a good habit, it feels good and is good for you, improves sleep too. I just am irritated arriving at work sweaty.

Drinking a couple glasses of water immediately when I wake up.

Wakes me up, gets rid of the tired dont-wanna-open eyes.

Cold water works especially well for this! I do ice water with a straw to not shock my teeth

Before I sit down on the toilet, I take a piece of toilet paper en wipe the brim. Not that it makes that much of a difference of how clean the brim is. But since doing that I ALWAYS notice if the roll's nearly empty. It's just the heads up you need to check stock and fix a new one before it's too late.

I do squats when I craft video game items. One squat per item. Thousands of squats at this point but still playing just as much so win win in my book. My ass is getting bigger!

Isn't it nice knowing you can crack nuts with your ass? Gives power bottom a whole new meaning

I'm gonna join your Minecraft world and set up an auto crafter that crafts from an auto farm

I have a hat.

The hat goes on when I leave the house or leave the office. Putting the hat on triggers me to stop for one second and actually think "Do I have everything I should have?" If I make it out of the house without the hat, I spend a proper minute or two double checking that I have everything because if I can forget the hat, I could forget anything.

Each day, I have a reminder shoot off on all my devices to think of three things for which I'm grateful. Today's list:

-1. I get to wfh today (we're hybrid)

-2. I don't look like Andrew Tate (pic of him in last post where I commented; what a toad)

-3. The vase didn't shatter when a kitty knocked it off the table eating flowers

(Lemmy wanted to be stupid about how it formatted my numbered list, that's why the hyphens to stop it from mangling the list.)

You're grateful that you don't like Andrew tate?

I mean, the guy is a rapist loser that is best locked up for life, but it's a weird thing to be grateful for

The cat will try again, as it wants on its list "broke the fancy vase". It's always on the list for cats, they just keep trying to check it off!

Do, or do not. There is no "try." The kitties will eat those flowers.

I stopped using antiseptic mouthwash, even zero-alcohol versions, because the microbes in your mouth produce nitric-oxide and killing them off might be linked to high blood pressure.

It was not easy to train, nor to keep, but meditation upon waking is vital to me now. I find whatever my biggest struggles are, money, relationships, work stress, family… those anxiety demons are waiting to pounce upon waking. If not, my phone will deliver fresh demons. So I claim my mind as my own before allowing any other influences to set a tone for the day. Start with a 10 minute guided practice from a voice you trust easily. Go from there.

Writing down car maintenance logs

Took me a decade, but i finally started doing this and realized how useful it was for me and for selling it to the next person.

Everyone likes looking at work done on the car they're looking to buy.

I just throw all receipts in the glovebox.

I actually do that as well. There is a big excel file though that generates reminders too, because I lose track of time now.

Get in the habit of getting into habits. My high school chemistry teacher turned me onto this. Make a point of doing something every day for a while and soon it will become hard NOT to do it.

I now do 30-45 strength training at home 3 times a week, and 2 short 15m sessions of HIIT. I spread it throughout the day as an addition to my lifestyle (between meetings, when showering the kiddo, etc) with a tiny investment in equipment and no real impact on leisure time.

It's part of a change to deal with a very unexpected type 2 diabetes diagnosis and it's had an outsized impact on my health for the effort.

Coupled with weight loss - Blood pressure, cholesterol, heart rate and blood sugar have all dropped significantly within 3 months. Would recommend, exercise for health doesn't mean grueling classes, stupid long workouts, or 20 hours of cardio a week. Downside, an utterly ridiculous amount of misinformation online.

Are you effectively "cured" or on that trajectory consequently?

My doctor/specalist suggest I will likely not have it 'come back' if i keep weight off and stay healthy, but no 100% guarentee. This is more to do with catching it early and actually making lifestyle changes to deal with it - talking to healthcare professionasl about it most people dont really bother. They very specifically use the term 'remission' when discussing it to drill home that you can't go back to bad habits and expect to be fine long-term.

Type 2 Diabetes is usually a trajectory you end up on that progressively gets treated with levels of medication, but heavily depends on where you catch it, what action you take and your personal body makeup/individual circumstances.

Taking a full breath of air before chugging liquids. I accidentally exhaled before choking on some water once, body naturally tried to pull in air and got more water. Very much felt like drowning.

Flossing every day. Never had issues with my gums ever since.

When walking by / through vehicles in a parking lot with things in my hands, I will make the conscious effort to pull my arms close to my body and prevent them swaying or moving with my normal walk. As well as moving items from one hand to the other if the car is on the side that was holding them. Nobody likes scratches and dings!

I start everyday by slamming a 16 ounce glass of water. It sets up my day to be more alert and on top of things.

I started washing up straight after eating. So much better.

If I ever remove the spare tire from my car, I put air in it.

Probably not super helpful since most people don't ever remove their spares or work on cars AND many new cars don't even come with spares. But it helps me.

I use org-mode to maintain a todo list. A very important detail. All todo must have a schedule or deadline.

Every time I open my editor it shows the agenda view that present me the list of tasks to do today and the ones I haven’t completed in the past.

Mainly, if you can have a similar habit it will work as a meta habit that will improve and grow other time.

Plus org-mode can do so much more, this becomes really useful. Like help with creating new habits, write dynamic documents, etc… I wrote an article about my workflow here https://yannesposito.com/posts/0015-how-i-use-org-mode/index.html