Ask Lemmy

Don’t read the news as much I do.

If you see a problem you can fix, it's best to fix it right away because very often it can become way worse if you leave it for later, costing more time, effort, and money to fix than if you just took care of it immediately. Everytime that little voice says "you can fix that later" you tell it to stfu.

Try to eat healthy and perform a minimal workout every day. Eat more fresh fruits or vegetables. It's quick to make a simple yogurt bowl with fruit and granola, or a salad with lean meat or chick peas. Start with a few push ups, crunches, reverse crunches, and at least a 30 minute walk. Small changes gradually will help you feel better with how you look and feel with a small time investment.

Take a lunch break, both of those things, lunch and a break. Do anything other than work and sit down to eat something so you can enjoy it. Take a break in the middle of the day, you're worth it and you deserve it.

Smalltalk starter pack:

• (during the day) "So how's your day going?"
• (in the evening) "So how was your day?"
• (before the weekend) "what you up to on Saturday?"
• (before the week) "what's your week looking like?"

Easy small repeatable things that open people up. I use it on everyone, and I make sure that I care about the answer because I'm genuinely curuous

The ability to admit fault and learn from your mistakes is the most important quality that separates a grown person from an actual adult.

For the love of God. Get enough sleep. That shit will catch up to you when you're older.

If a child gives you anything, anything at all, blade of grass, shell at the seaside, whatever - take it with real, heartfelt thanks. It is all they have to give.

If you use fresh ginger root, you can use a spoon to scrape of the brown skin. Scrape the edge over the skin and it will just peel off.

I didn't believe how easy this was when at first I tried this.

Keep an eye on your own morale. You'd be amazed how much even a strategically placed snack will do for your future.

If anything out of the ordinary lasts more than 24 hours, get to a doctor!

Three days after Thanksgiving, 2018, I developed a really bad case of heartburn. "No big deal," I thought, "It WAS Thanksgiving and I DID have the extra plate of sweet potatoes..."

Super hard to sleep, couldn't get positioned right.

Monday, pepto did nothing.

Tuesday, same.

Wednesday, super nauseated, throwing up, called out sick from work.

Thursday, the heartburn moved into my upper arms, which I didn't know was a thing. Nausea was gone, but it was replaced by the feeling that there was a giant rock in the center of my chest, heavy, pulling down on all my insides.

Advice line sends me to the hospital, hospital runs a blood test and finds I've been having a heart attack.

Every time my heart beats, it only pumps out 30% of what it should, that heavy feeling was my heart getting heavier and heavier every heartbeat.

Doc says 30% is the line between walking around, talking to people... and not.

Thursday - Sunday, Cardiac Ward.

Monday - Open heart surgery, ICU.

Tuesday-Thursday - Cardiac Ward. You'd think they'd let a dude rest after cracking you open like a lobster, fuck no! Get up and walk!

Friday - back home.

If you're ever randomly angry or sad for reasons that are out of your control and not the fault of anyone around you, make a small announcement. Something as simple as "I'm upset about X, sorry if it seems like I'm being short or snappy with anyone."

Hide an extra roll of toilet paper somewhere in the the bathroom, use for emergencies, tell no one. I smash one flat and put it up behind the false drawer covering the vanity sink.

If you shower at the gym, you don't need a whole bath towel to dry yourself. A regular hand towel is sufficient, and it takes up way less room in your gym bag.

Get mental help, especially if you are a man. It's ok to cry, and doesn't make you any less of a person

There is nuance to nearly everthing that exists. All of life happens with the grey area- perfectly balanced between the black and white boundaries most people refuse to look away from.

You guys just walk out of the shower soaking wet? You don't dry yourselves in the shower and then step out?

Find a place where you live to have a "sit spot" every day. Ideally outside, but if weather doesn't cooperate, where you can see outside. You don't have to do or think anything, just sit (or stand) and enjoy the view. It doesn't need to be epic, just something you like looking at. (In one of my places, it was the way a particular building interrupted the horizon that I found interesting.) No phone, no computer, no book - just breathe and observe.

It doesn't need to be for long. Start with two to five minutes. I usually do longer when I can.

Yes, it's a type of meditation. But a type that works better for this neurospicy gal than sitting in utter stillness or listening to music.

Currently, it's the picnic table near my bird feeders first thing after waking for my spot. In the morning and evening they are most active, so I sit with a cuppa and enjoy watching them negotiate who eats first while I wake up and caffeinate. It soothes my nervous system in a way notifications and doomscrolling can't, and makes me better able to handle my day.

Do super soft yoga in the morning.

When i tell people i do yoga every day before work, they think its MUCH HARDER than it is. I get up, drink a whole glass of water, and sit on my mat. If its cold, i use a space heater. I put on an easy yoga video on YouTube (i love Yoga with Adrienne) and i only do the floor parts lol.

I am in such better shape, i have more energy, I've lost weight, my posture & balance are better, and i can self-regulate my emotions a thousand times easier. I am so, so much happier with this simple lil 20mins starting my day.

Take a few drinks if water first thing when you wake up.

If you use q-tips to clean your ears, first use a wet one, and then a dry one. Did wonders for me.

Use a whiteboard eraser to clean the dashboard offgas gunk off the inside of your windshield.

Some of us have a habit of listening to that nasty little voice in our heads that says we're a failure, that we're weak, that we have to work harder than anyone else to just be.

Next time you hear it starting to list all the 'bad/wrong' stuff you've done, tell it to shut up ... and keep telling it to shut up every time you realize you're listening to it. Then think on a good thing you did for a friend or neighbour.

Self-flagellation should never be our bestie.

I'll take your advice one step further: after you've hand-squiggied yourself, do a quick towel dry in the shower. Dry your feet as you step out and you won't get any water on the floor

Protect your head when doing contact activities,sports, etc. Brain injury and seizures are a terrible thing to live with.

Do what you think is right, but actually take some time to determine if it's actually right or just feels right

Don't wait for someone else to challenge your beliefs do it yourself first, use the Socratic method if you need a starting point

Rewarding or ignoring bad behavior is the same as encouraging bad behavior

Leave places/systems in the same or better state than you encounter them

Don't play rigged games

Keep a bowl by the door for keys and loose change

If the chore takes just a few minutes, fucking do it now. Right now.

About the shower, I hang my towel just outside of the shower and get it before I step out. I get myself mostly dry before stepping on to the shower mat.

Go to a hardware store, buy multiple packs of microfiber so you have multiple colors, assign a color to a specific task (blue = bathroom, grey = kitchen, orange = car detailing) and liberate yourselves from paper towels.

If you wash them in cool water with little detergent and some vinegar, dry on low without fabric softener, they'll remain absorbent and streak-free for a long ass time. As they go bad (burned from wiping down a hot oven top etc), cut them in half and use them for rags for 'greasy jobs' (you'll know which is which because they're cut in half)

Get a step counter and aim for 10,000 steps a day. First it makes you aware of how much (or little) you're moving each day - you have a real number you can see and a target to aim for. Second it sets you a reasonable goal to achieve every day no matter how you're feeling.

It's good for your mental health as well as physical health. There is good evidence that people who do the equivalent of 10,000 steps a day are generally healthier on many metrics, and the benefits plateau at around 10k. And on a bad day, going out for a walk to hit your 10k can make a huge difference to your mental health.

It's a simple, achievable but impactful lifestyle change that almosr anyone can make.

Edit: while you can get a step counter on your phone (including privacy apps like Pedometer on F-droid), I'd go for a dedicated clip on simple counter. There is something about a physical object dedicated to the task that makes a difference to me sticking to it. Also if you walk around without your phone a clip on device will keep on counting.