Establish clear rules about when to throw out old junk. Once clear rules are established, junk will probably cease to be a problem. This is because any rule would be superior to our implicit rules (“keep this broken stereo for five years in case I learn how to fix it”).
“Any rule is better than no rules” explains many things about junk I didn’t understand before.
Food taste can be made much more exciting through simple seasoning. It’s also an opportunity for expression. Buy a few herbs and spices and experiment away.
Find a store in your city that sells bulk spices. Find another store that sells herbs without packaging. It’ll be a fraction of the price.
When googling a recipe, precede it with ‘best’. You’ll find better recipes.
The best chocolate chip cook recipe I’ve ever followed really does have “best” in its name.
You can automate mundane computer tasks with Autohotkey (or AppleScript). If you keep doing a sequence “so simple a computer can do it”, make the computer do it.
You can take this to the extreme with a command line interface.
Learn keyboard shortcuts. They’re easy to learn and you’ll get tasks done faster and easier.
You can take this to the extreme, with Vim (or EMACS) and i3.
Done is better than perfect.
People who don’t finish things is another red flag. (See #57 and #58.) People who finish some of their projects is fine. People who finish none of their projects is a red flag.
Keep your desk and workspace bare. Treat every object as an imposition upon your attention, because it is. A workspace is not a place for storing things. It is a place for accomplishing things.
This is good and goes with #6. I set the desktop wallpaper (background) on my phone and laptop to a black rectangle.
Exercise (weightlifting) not only creates muscle mass, it also improves skeletal structure. Lift!
Exercise is the most important lifestyle intervention you can do. Even the bare minimum (15 minutes a week) has a huge impact. Start small.
True.
Are you on the fence about breaking up or leaving your job? You should probably go ahead and do it. People, on average, end up happier when they take the plunge.
This has been true 100% of the time for me.
Selfish people should listen to advice to be more selfless, selfless people should listen to advice to be more selfish.
I need one of these bits of advice.
Defining yourself by your suffering is an effective way to keep suffering forever (ex. incels, trauma).
This is another easy-to-spot red flag.
Keep your identity small. “I’m not the kind of person who does things like that” is not an explanation, it’s a trap. It prevents nerds from working out and men from dancing.
This is another bit of concise, useful, layered advice.
If you want to become funny, try just saying stupid shit until something sticks.
Lol.
To start defining your problems, say (out loud) “everything in my life is completely fine.” Notice what objections arise.
Wow. That worked.
Sometimes unsolvable questions like “what is my purpose?” and “why should I exist?” lose their force upon lifestyle fixes. In other words, seeing friends regularly and getting enough sleep can go a long way to solving existentialism.
Many of my problems go away when I eat good food or go outside to exercise instead of fixing them.
There are two red flags to avoid almost all dangerous people: 1. The perpetually aggrieved ; 2. The angry.
Some people create drama out of habit. You can avoid these people.
I wish someone had told me these 10 years ago. It clearly and concisely states something that has took me way, way too long to figure out. Better late than never!
It is cheap for people to talk about their values, goals, rules, and lifestyle. When people’s actions contradict their talk, pay attention!
If someone says they will do x and then does not do x then ignore the stated reason for not doing x. What matters is the person did not do x.
Being in groups is important. If you don’t want to join a sports team, consider starting a shitty band. It’s the closest you’ll get to being in an RPG. Train with 2-4 other characters, learn new moves, travel from pub to pub, and get quests from NPCs.
Think a little about why you enjoy what you enjoy. If you can explain what you love about Dune, you can now communicate not only with Dune fans, but with people who love those aspects in other books.
These are interesting.
In relationships look for somebody you can enjoy just hanging out near. Long-term relationships are mostly spent just chilling.
When dating, de-emphasizing your quirks will lead to 90% of people thinking you’re kind of alright. Emphasizing your quirks will lead to 10% of people thinking you’re fascinating and fun. Those are the people interested in dating you. Aim for them.
These apply to making friends too.
Call your parents when you think of them, tell your friends when you love them.
Compliment people more. Many people have trouble thinking of themselves as smart, or pretty, or kind, unless told by someone else. You can help them out.
Good reminders.
Sturgeon’s law states that 90% of everything is crap. If you dislike poetry, or fine art, or anything, it’s possible you’ve only ever seen the crap. Go looking!
<fnord>This is another idea I’ve been dancing around but have failed to state concisely. Even though I’ve seen “Sturgeon’s law” before, it never really registered.</fnord>
“Any rule is better than no rules” explains many things about junk I didn’t understand before.
Find a store in your city that sells bulk spices. Find another store that sells herbs without packaging. It’ll be a fraction of the price.
The best chocolate chip cook recipe I’ve ever followed really does have “best” in its name.
You can take this to the extreme with a command line interface.
You can take this to the extreme, with Vim (or EMACS) and i3.
People who don’t finish things is another red flag. (See #57 and #58.) People who finish some of their projects is fine. People who finish none of their projects is a red flag.
This is good and goes with #6. I set the desktop wallpaper (background) on my phone and laptop to a black rectangle.
True.
This has been true 100% of the time for me.
I need one of these bits of advice.
This is another easy-to-spot red flag.
This is another bit of concise, useful, layered advice.
Lol.
Wow. That worked.
Many of my problems go away when I eat good food or go outside to exercise instead of fixing them.
I wish someone had told me these 10 years ago. It clearly and concisely states something that has took me way, way too long to figure out. Better late than never!
If someone says they will do x and then does not do x then ignore the stated reason for not doing x. What matters is the person did not do x.
These are interesting.
These apply to making friends too.
Good reminders.
<fnord>This is another idea I’ve been dancing around but have failed to state concisely. Even though I’ve seen “Sturgeon’s law” before, it never really registered.</fnord>