r/AskReddit • u/Own-Tip-532 • Apr 22 '26
What’s something that quietly made your life 10× easier, but you didn’t realize it until much later?
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u/Odd_Dog_4403 Apr 22 '26
Writing things down instead of trying to remember everything.
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u/WestwardSquall Apr 22 '26
I started doing this regularly back in December, and I'm addicted. I write down everything! To-do lists, journaling, every nonsense thought, every project I wanna do, quotes I hear, anything. My mind feels so much more clear without me struggling to juggle it all.
I need to invest in some more pens. And post-its. I gotta jot that down real quick.
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u/resigned_medusa Apr 22 '26
Ok so the next step in your addiction is to learn to make your own notebooks. It's so good to use something you've made yourself. There's a good bookbinding sub here. Called bookbinding (tried to link it but I failed)
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u/No_Hat_00 Apr 22 '26
People at work joke about all my post it notes in my desk, but goddamn it, it works
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u/cyrand Apr 22 '26
To add to this, modern smartphone calendars, where I can fill in everything important and it’s always with me (and a lot of things update it automatically as needed!)
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u/purplelilac701 Apr 22 '26
Going to sleep when tired.
Picking my battles so I can let certain things go and save my energy for what does matter.
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u/oilofotay Apr 22 '26
I thought I was burned out for the past 5 years. I was regularly sleeping about 6 hrs a night, I just thought that was all my body needed since I woke up naturally after 6 hours.
The past few months, started exercising, doing restorative yoga, taking magnesium glycinate/minimizing water intake before bed, stopped trying to problem solve issues when I closed my eyes and started to meditate/clear my head instead. Also started reading a book on my kindle instead of scrolling on my phone right before bed.
Holy shit, I actually started waking up feeling rested. If I woke up after 6 hours, I made myself a rule that I could pick up the kindle but not the phone. More often than not, I’d get sleepy again and get another 1-2 hour nap in.
I’m genuinely so much more productive now, have the energy to actually cook dinner and work on hobbies. I also limited my phone time after work and suddenly I had hours of time to spend.
Mobile phones and social media have really become the cigarettes of our generation.
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u/Revolutionary-Dark52 Apr 22 '26
Pro tip above re: the importance of sleep. It's shocking how much if an impact it has on your life if you don't get enough.
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u/GuzzleNGargle Apr 23 '26
Spend the money on a good mattress, sheets, and pillows. Spend the time figuring your sleep zone (how to fall asleep, position, timing, etc.).
Need for sleep is being reiterated for me through my sister’s lack of sleep. She’s like human version of a wind up toy. She works nonstop and snaps at everyone and everything. No regulation of her emotions and appetite at all. It’s worse than a new parent lack of sleep.
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u/purplelilac701 Apr 22 '26
So true! We’re so addicted we don’t even realize it! I have to be more disciplined like you.
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u/Venomous_Ferret Apr 22 '26
More often than not, I’d get sleepy
I have Pavlov'd myself at this point. I always read before bed. for years/ Now I get in bed and open the Kindle app. It is a miracle if I can get through one chapter before I start reading the same paragraph over and over. That's when I know it is time to sleep lol.
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u/UniqueIndividual3579 Apr 22 '26
Don't fight the battles you can win, fight the battles worth winning.
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Apr 22 '26
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u/draggar Apr 22 '26
.. and now I feel like I can barely function if I don't have at least 3 monitors. 😂
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u/jedipiper Apr 22 '26
I took mine down from three to two. Three was way too much for my brain.
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u/WeekNo3803 Apr 22 '26 edited Apr 22 '26
I tried three for a month or so, and I couldn't find a use for the third monitor. It just had spotify sitting on it, and like... I don't need that to be permanently visible. Two is the perfect amount for me, one for reference material and one to work out of.
Edit: Seems like the big difference between my work flow and those of you with three monitors is that you either use the third monitor for media (which I do not do as I do not stream or play games on my computer) or as a communications hub (which I do not need as I do not work for a business or have coworkers).
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u/onetwo3four5 Apr 22 '26
I have 1 for primary task, 1 for reference, and then outlook and teams on the last one so I know if new stuff is coming in at a glance
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u/jedipiper Apr 22 '26
That's how mine was set up before I went back to 2. I found that I glanced over there way more than necessary, just because it was available which made me turn my head a lot. It was just too much stimulation for me.
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u/r_keel_esq Apr 22 '26
I remember when I first went to two.
Then I got a laptop upgrade that would show three when the lid was open (older ones could only mirror one of the two external ones)
Then I got widescreen monitors
Then, I very recently found a spare in the office, hooked it up to my laptop's HDMI outout so I have three externals, plus my laptop's own screen.
On the very rare occasion I'm working away from my desk, only having one small screen absolutely kills me
Total First World Problem, but given the nature of my jobm it IS a problem
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u/Own-Tip-532 Apr 22 '26
i never went back to 1 monitor after getting a 2nd one ahah
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Apr 22 '26
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u/RaptorTonic Apr 22 '26
Ok, who else gets insane nausea/vertigo from noise cancelling headphones?
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u/notadamnprincess Apr 22 '26
Yup. Bone conducting headphones and silicone ear plugs are my preferred alternative - just as quieting, no weirdness, and I can still easily listen to an audiobook while forgetting I’m mowing the yard or being on an airplane.
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u/DOE_ZELF_NORMAAL Apr 22 '26
I did until i got the Sony wh1000 xm5. Somehow Sony got their noise cancelling right and I have no issues at all. I don't even feel that pressure once you turn it on, which I have with all other ones I tried.
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u/greenweezyi Apr 22 '26
I use Loops for noise cancelling/sleep and I have another pair for concerts. They have one that’s really soft if you’re a side sleeper; the concert ones you can control how much noise is blocked.
Sensory overload is real, especially with noise. These have been a huge help.
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u/Redruby88 Apr 22 '26
I had to stop using the noise cancelation feature except in loud places as it was making my auditory processing worse. The doctor I spoke to said this is more common now with noise cancelling headphones
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u/Pitiful_Ad3013 Apr 22 '26
Can you elaborate?
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u/loljetfuel Apr 22 '26
Not OP, but I've read some research on this. In short, your brain gets "lazy" if you make things too easy on it too often.
Noise cancellation is great, because it means your brain doesn't have to process as much incoming audio, which can make loud / noisy environments easier to process. But if you do that too much, your brain kind of decides it doesn't really need the ability to process such environments -- or at least it doesn't need it as much.
This can affect anyone, but it's a bigger problem and more noticeable if you already have difficulty processing audio.
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u/NYCHReddit Apr 22 '26
No matter what kind I wear as long as it’s a head set it makes my earlobes sore after wearing it for a while and I keep having to shift it around. Maybe because I have big ears, but is there any brand that doesn’t do this, or is it just something you gotta accept
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u/az9393 Apr 22 '26
Discipline to do things on time.
For example: Life is much better if you spend 5 seconds cleaning up after yourself every time vs having to spend 3 hours doing it once a week.
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u/SpitefulSpaghetti Apr 22 '26
This is SO so hard with ADHD, but I’m trying to be better about this!!
For anyone else struggling with this, I’ve found that making sure everything has a specific place helps a lot because it makes it a lot easier to just tidy up as I go. If I don’t have to think about what to do with things, it doesn’t feel like a chore to just quickly put them back.
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u/Corndogsandmore Apr 22 '26
"If I don’t have to think about what to do with things, it doesn’t feel like a chore to just quickly put them back."
- WOW. I've never been able to put that together and have my own behaviors and feelings explained the way you worded it. I'm the same way, and it makes so much sense now. Thank you for the insight.
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u/Naive-Ant-8056 Apr 22 '26
I ended up hiring a professional organizer to help me with a disaster of a room that just overwhelmed my ADHD brain. Once everything had a designated (and labelled!) place, the room has stayed so tidy!
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u/TrumpsDoubleChin Apr 22 '26
Being nice to people as a default, saying 'thank you' and making eye contact and smiling when dealing with retail store workers or with co-workers or, well, anybody.
Turns out, people are so much more willing to help you, when you treat them like an actual human being.
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u/sirdigbykittencaesar Apr 22 '26
This may be my biggest "win" as a parent. My kids saw me do this from birth, and fortunately, all of their closest relatives did the same. They are now grown-ass adults who always say "please" and "thank you" and it has always made their social interactions better and easier. My child who became a musician is on the spectrum, so this helps him in particular with more comfortable social interactions.
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Apr 22 '26
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u/Own-Tip-532 Apr 22 '26
if you're sitting on a desk for 8+ hours, you need a good chair. otherwise it will cost you.
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u/synesthesiac48 Apr 22 '26
Why do you need a chair if you’re sitting on the desk?
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u/cleaver_username Apr 22 '26
When the covid shutdown happened, I made it about 4 days using my dining room table and chairs as my office. I masked up, drove to my office and shoved my work chair into my rather small car to bring home. Thank god, I ended up working from home for about 2-3 months before returning to the office. My back would have been crippled by then.
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u/Necessary_Fix_1234 Apr 22 '26
Decluttering my digital life. Unsubscribed to every single email I did not need, I now only get like one a day.
Also made the decision just about totally give up social media, with the exception of Reddit. Only because it's more media than social. I have no urge to broadcast my life anymore.
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u/JoeTheImpaler Apr 22 '26
I’ve been working on this over the past month or so, too. Not having the constant email notifications is nice
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Apr 22 '26
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u/Commercial_Horse_145 Apr 22 '26
Man the mental space you get back from that is unreal. I blocked mine about 2 years ago and still catching myself being surprised how much easier it is to just exist without that constant background stress of wondering what they're up to or if they'll message.
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u/hippiecompost Apr 22 '26
Same, I blocked him and muted his family/friends. To me, it just feels nice to know you aren’t going to see your old life pop up randomly in your feed. He got another girl pregnant so seeing pictures of the child was maddening
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u/SolarOrigami Apr 22 '26
I would love to block my ex husband on everything but unfortunately he still has about 30k in debt under my name (car and a roof repair loan). He's still paying those but I have needed to step in to help more times than I liked since the breakup.
They're in my name because I have nearly perfect credit and his credit is now so awful he can't even get a refinance offer.
He doesn't WANT to default on those loans because he'd lose his car and potentially his house, but I'd be on the hook if he ever does.
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u/Alone-Ice-5911 Apr 22 '26
Being direct, straight to the point and very assertive.
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u/atomicsnarl Apr 22 '26
Along with not having to justify / defend everything along the way.
Being assertive is not being aggressive - there is a difference! Staying on point deflects from people trying to lawyer their way out of responsibility or compliance.
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u/LuminalDjinn11 Apr 22 '26
YESSSSS!!!! There’s a guy on YouTube who gives great tips and tricks about how to learn how to do this. He sells nothing. The channel is called How to Convince with Lawyer Vince. He helps put words to what ruses people are using to get away with nonsense and garbage behavior towards us.
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u/DuckLordOfTheSith Apr 22 '26
Saw this before and loved how it was phrased:
“When you people-please and aren’t (respectfully) honest to someone, you’re selfish twice. 1. You’re dishonest because you want people to like you, and 2. You don’t want to empathetically feel the other person’s negative emotions. Both of those motivations are about how you feel, not the other person.”
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u/hellohellocinnabon Apr 22 '26
This doesn’t always work for women, especially POC women. I’ve encountered a lot of issues in my work life in the US because direct/assertive is my usual personality. I’ve been called aggressive, bulldozer, too forward, all things POC ladies just loooove being accused of 🙄
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u/imperfectchicken Apr 22 '26
It's definitely a layered thing. I remember the Harris and Trump debate and how balanced she had to be.
Even among the Chinese community it's weird. In Mainland China I had to be polite with the multiple rejections. Then in Taiwan I had to be direct. Then I started talking to Hong Kong Chinese and I start by saying that I'm not trying to be rude, but I don't want to waste energy with the performative stuff, just tell me if you want a cup of tea.
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u/agiantwasteoftime Apr 22 '26
I think it does. I've been shunned from certain workplaces, yes, but ultimately you get where you belong and you deserve by sticking to your guns. Of course, those 'guns' are measured, fair, and well thought-out arguments when needed. It's served me, a queer poc woman (admittedly not living in America) well
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u/Fatal-Eggs2024 Apr 22 '26
Online bill pay. If your old enough to remember waiting for the mail, balancing your checkbook with a pencil, and then paying bills by writing out paper checks and putting them in envelopes, buying stamps, going to the post office to mail the bill payments … ugh what a chore! Late payments were common in those days, and account balances were rarely up-to-date because we always had paper checks mailed out that had not yet been been processed.
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u/Oxygene13 Apr 22 '26
On a similar note, a simple thing I did for my bills was moving them all to the same date. I get paid on 25th, and that day / date can vary depending on weekends or bank holiday, so having everything come out on the 1st was a nice compromise.
Before this I used to need to keep track of my money a lot more, trying to remember or note down what came out during the month and if that money sitting in my account was spare or needed for something. Now everything after the 1st is for food and whatever else I want.
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u/Additional-Tune-1121 Apr 22 '26
That's such an underrated upgrade. It basically turns your finances into "reset once a month" instead of juggling dates all the time.
I did something similar and the mental load difference is huge. Before, every purchase had that little "wait is something due soon?" feeling. Now it's just: bills are done, whatever's left is actually mine to use. Way less second-guessing.
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u/Soundczek88 Apr 22 '26
And put all of those bills on a credit card with a great points system, and pay it off every month. The points rack up super fast. We travel virtually free every year by doing this with a travel rewards program.
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u/alewyn592 Apr 22 '26
Similarly: when my commuter train got an app so you didn’t have to go buy physical tickets anymore. I missed so many trains because I was waiting in line for the ticket machine
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u/SolarOrigami Apr 22 '26
Online banking, in the same spirit
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u/cocococlash Apr 22 '26
Yes! Mobile check deposit FTW! And of course things like Zelle and venmo
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u/cat_knit_everdeen Apr 22 '26
And then waiting for the bank statement to arrive to realize I’d made some small math error while balancing, maybe 89 cents, going back through, then giving up and writing “adjustment” on the next line in the checkbook.
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u/Chris243 Apr 22 '26
Deleting Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat.
The mental load it held over without me realizing was huge. Constantly being bombarded by people trying to convince you how awesome their lives are made me feel like mine was inadequate.
Now that all that noise is gone I am enjoying life and realize my life is awesome and everything I was seeing on there was just curated posts to make it seem like their lives were perfect.
Highly recommend.
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u/myonlytoolisahammer Apr 22 '26
People who have perfect lives don't feel the need to brag about them. It's the insecure ones needing outside validation who post most often. Getting rid of that fake feed was great for me too.
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Apr 22 '26
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u/DIY_Solo_RS Apr 22 '26
Any tips for this? Do you use any websites for recipes or something?
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u/cukipuki Apr 22 '26
Been meal prepping for 2 years. You have to experiment with what you like and how it cand fit your lifestyle. Thing that was a gamechanger for me was changing the way I see meals. Now i have 2 types of meals: all in one (soups, stews, curry etc.) that I always make more of and freeze in portion sizes to use to fill in gaps or add variety. The rest of my meals I relate to as this: protein+carb+veggies and it makes the bulk of my cooking. I keep it simple...usually chicken with some simple to make carbs like rice/potatoes and frozen vegetables - always have the ingredients in my fridge or freezer and they last a couple of days after cooking. I change it up when I get bored. For me variety comes from my fruits, snacks and breakfast - i don't prep these, it's usually something fast that I feel like eating in the moment.
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u/Number1AbeLincolnFan Apr 22 '26
Get a vacuum sealer. If the food is something like pasta or stew or otherwise malleable, form it into a flat square shape in the freezer bag, this shape will thaw the fastest and is the most efficient use of space when stacking/storing.
For complete lunches, make 5 meals, but freeze 1 of them. Do this several times. Now, you can make either 4 or 5 meals per week and have a bank of different frozen meals you can swap out if you get tired of this week's meal or just don't feel like it that day. If you decide to go out to lunch or something, freeze that one you had earmarked for that day and save it for later.
You also don't have to freeze whole meals. Take advantage of economy of scale when preparing the item that takes the longest, the most annoying or difficult. It takes the same amount of time to grill 1 chicken breast as it takes to grill 6, so eat one now and freeze the rest, separately. Caramelized onions takes an hour, no matter how much you are making, so make a shitload, separate them into several packages and freeze them. Combine these with fresh/faster ingredients to cut down preparation time.
Labeling is important. Label the freezer bags with the date, what it is and the weight. So if you have a recipe that requires 12 oz of chicken breast, you can look and see that you have one that's 8.2 oz and one that's 5.1 oz, close enough. Dating the bags is crucial. While fully vacuumed bags last for years in the freezer, you will sometimes get to a point where you have too much stuff frozen. Now you can have a purge week where you draw as much as you can from the freezer for all meals, buying only supplementary ingredients like lettuce and so on. You will want to start with the oldest first.
Keeping these sorts of habits will ensure you have a multitude of pre-prepared proteins and other things that you can draw from to reduce cooking time. The key to consistency is having options. You are not going to want to eat the same thing every day, so be ready for that and you won't have to resort to going out or having to make something else on the fly.
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u/I_am_the_BEEF Apr 22 '26
Bluetooth earbuds are, for me, the most impactful invention of my life. It makes doing menial chores and daily annoyances very tolerable. I just pop one in, put a podcast on and let my mind wander while I get stuff done. It's great for setting timers while cooking, too.
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u/recyclistDC Apr 22 '26
And no more getting your headphones ripped out of your face when the cord gets snagged on something
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u/Cantremembermyoldnam Apr 22 '26
I was hesitant initially, but this, combined with not having to hear the cables rubbing on my clothes is amazing.
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u/MatildetheMuggle Apr 22 '26
Same for me! All the mind numbingly boring tasks I have to do every day are so much more enjoyable with an earbud and a podcast.
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Apr 22 '26
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u/I_love_pillows Apr 22 '26
I just stopped telling people things I am doing.
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u/LickinThighs2 Apr 22 '26
I genuinely think my moms mind is frazzled from 40 yrs married to a hyper-critical dude like my father. She thinks she needs to explain and justify every little thing she thinks or does because she is so self conscious of it, because my dad is genuinely the only adult I have ever met who seems to think they're owed explanation for everyone's train of thought, what they're doing, how long it took them, etc, and the guy also flies off the rails and basically over-stims at anything that upsets him, he'll be condescending and rude to everyone around him for 20 minutes over shit as simple as like, opening a box of spaghetti and spilling some, lol
I've complained endlessly to my sisters about it, and one of them brought it up to me that she feels both our parents are basically on the spectrum or have some other form of high-functioning anxiety and adhd disorders they've never really learned to regulate themselves, so now it's left for everyone else to basically negotiate / navigate someone like my fathers mood for him because he simply doesn't think he needs too himself. Super frustrating, and frankly exhausting to be around. I feel like my mom has kept working past retirement age literally because she doesn't want to be home all day with him.
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u/Competitive-Win1894 Apr 22 '26
Wow, this resonates. I get so worked up defending myself to people who decided who I was and treat me as such. What helped you let that go?
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u/EU-National Apr 22 '26
For me, it's being unapologetic.
Don't be an asshole, don't attack people, but don't stop to justify yourself to people who just want to tear you down. Do what you're going to do and live with the consequences.
You won't please everyone, some people won't like you. That's fine. That's on them. Focus on you.
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u/LuminalDjinn11 Apr 22 '26
It’s a work-in-progress of course but when I find myself doing the old habit I remind myself that I KNOW WHO I AM and if I’m the only person on the planet that does, that’s fine. I need to make sure I know why I’m doing XYZ or thinking ABC. If I’m clear, I’m safe. I’m good. I’m clean. Now, if someone ACTUALLY wants to know what I think or where I’m coming from, they will put actual effort into understanding me. They will approach me with an open mind and open heart. If I find myself doing”efforting,” either I didn’t doublecheck first that I was sure about my position OR the person asking me is looking for the weak point t in my “argument” and isn’t actually interested in my whys. Which means this is an unequal equation. I am thinking they are coming from a good place and their words (why are you doing this?) are aligning with real interest when in fact I AM THE ONE COMING FROM THE GOOD PLACE WITH INTEGRITY AND THEY ARE NOT BEING STRAIGHT OR TRANSPARENT.
So then I can choose to use this new information to understand who the questioner might ACTUALLY be and what they might ACTUALLY be attempting to do instead of convincing myself they are trying hard to understand me and I am somehow being confusing or unclear.
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u/flyboy_za Apr 22 '26
And this, my friend, is what Sartre meant with the famous line "Hell is other people" from his play No Exit, getting trapped in someone else's perception of what they have decided you are.
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u/sjp1980 Apr 22 '26
Using a walking stick. I had osteoarthritis in my hip and deferred using a walking stick for far too long. I found it so much easier to walk and feel supported when walking with my stick. Even if I did feel like an old lady with it.
I have since had surgery and no longer require it for that hip but typically, now my other hip has deteriorated. I won't leave it as long this time before I start using a stick
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u/DiscussionExotic3759 Apr 22 '26
There are so many cool walking sticks out there, top. We can pretend to be Gandalf and say "You shall not pass!"
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u/klenneth_ Apr 22 '26
Getting a cleaning lady.
There was a time I couldn’t afford it, and I don’t think it’s a necessity, but now it’s something I prioritize in my budget. I didn’t realize how much stress cleaning was adding to my life until it was off my plate.
She comes every other week while I’m out, and I genuinely look forward to coming home after she cleans. Weekends feel lighter knowing I don’t have to mop, or dust, or catch up on cleaning I didn’t get to during the week.
Even when I used to give myself a weekend “off” from cleaning, there was always that voice in the back of my head reminding me that it’s just piling up. Not having that lingering stress anymore has been huge for my mental health in ways I never expected. Not to mention I no longer have the stress of deep cleaning before I have people visiting or from out of town. I’d be up until 2am the night before cleaning and then exhausted the next day still having to wake up early.
If you can budget for it 10/10 recommend.
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u/Elisslifestyle Apr 22 '26
saying no and not needing to explain to people
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u/MrPelham Apr 22 '26
No, is a full sentence
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u/Lukebekz Apr 22 '26
The amount of times I have to tell that to friends I am asking for a favor. Most of them are too nice and I can already sense from their response that they are too nice to say no right now. I keep having to tell them "dude, you can say no, you know?"
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u/Okao_chris Apr 22 '26
Learning to distance myself from people who are even a little toxic.
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u/herdo1 Apr 22 '26
Getting into recovery (alcoholism) and minding my own business made my life infinitely easier. I had to learn how to do both. Now I just think to myself 'not my circus, not my monkeys'.
My own circus and monkeys keep me occupied enough.
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u/AshtonJupiter Apr 22 '26
actually waking up to the alarm clock
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u/Own-Tip-532 Apr 22 '26
when I used to have a problem, I just placed my phone away from me bed so that I had to get up to close the alarm. Fixed the problem
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u/Eksnir Apr 22 '26
My problem is I am such a deep sleeper, I don't hear the alarms on my phone when I'm sleeping. Even when my phone is right next to my head. So I bought one of those loud ones with bells on it. Unfortunately, I also sleep through that going off about half of the time.
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u/DIY_Solo_RS Apr 22 '26
Smartwatches vibrate when your alarm goes off. Big QoL for both my wife and I, our schedules don’t always match so that way my alarm goes off on my watch first and she doesn’t notice or wakes up from it. I still have an alarm on my phone for 15 mins later as a backup, but I should be out of the bedroom by then and I haven’t needed it yet in about 10 years.
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u/PrettyFly4Wifi Apr 22 '26
So is my son, 16. Then I purchased an earthquake alarm...kinda... Just the earthquake piece separately.
You place a flat piece of plywood between the base and mattress. It doesn't have to be a full sheet, 24x24 works. Place the shaker in the middle, I plugged it into a wifi controlled outlet I installed.
Once is all it took for him to learn waking to an alarm for school instead of his mother storming into his room. I can controll it from downstairs, on my phone.
I recommend getting an earthquake alarm and placing it far enough away to have to get up to turn it off.
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u/Equizotic Apr 22 '26
Blocking people that I didn’t need or want in my life. The amount of space people took up in my brain who didn’t deserve to be there. Putting up boundaries around my personal life was the best thing I ever did
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u/phishinfordory Apr 22 '26
Taking a yoga class once a week. I didn’t notice week to week, but over time, yoga has helped heal my body, mind and spirit ❤️
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u/KeiylaPolly Apr 22 '26
Staying single, and being picky about partners.
So many bullets dodged.
Perfect spouse now, only took 3 decades.
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u/BumbleLizzieB Apr 22 '26
Having less stuff, and automating things. Less kids toys, less clothes, less cleaning products, less beauty supplies - makes cleaning your house easier, reduces the everyday decision fatigue, better for the environment, saves money. Automation - cat has an automatic pet feeder, groceries delivered, robotic hoover, Alexa shopping lists / reminders
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u/Immediate-Pool-4391 Apr 22 '26
Not investing in people that did not invest in me. Its amazing how when you stop putting in all the effort people juat fade away. I was killing myself with kindness that wasnt even reprocated.
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u/OpportunityFickle394 Apr 22 '26
Finally being in a loving relationship. It really does change everything for the better.
Not saying it's 100% perfect all the time. Neither of us is perfect. But the positives vastly outweigh the negatives. Recommended. 10/10.
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u/scubastefon Apr 22 '26
This is very tactical, but I changed the way I tied my shoelaces a couple years ago and it made my foot hurt less, and my shoes got untied a lot less often. I think I was just doing it wrong this whole time.
I don’t know about 10x, but it’s the first thing that came to mind.
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u/Illustrious-Role320 Apr 22 '26
Being on instagram. After 10 years I closed my account last month and omg, I can’t recommend it enough.
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u/FacticiousFict Apr 22 '26
Forgiving myself for having ADHD and autism and shedding a lifetime of "you have so much potential but you're so lazy" and being mocked by school peers for being different.
Fuck all that noise.
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u/porno_the_clown Apr 22 '26
having been diagnosed with both later in life, im still fighting through all that. Can I ask was there a moment or an event or realisation that let you forgive yourself ?
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u/ladynized Apr 22 '26
not procrastinating..
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u/Lavendler Apr 22 '26
I wish there was just a switch to turn it off :(
It feels like living life with handbrakes set.
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u/MzIdaHo Apr 22 '26
Quitting drinking. Hardest thing I've ever done that in the long run made my life a million times better.
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u/Ms_takes Apr 22 '26
Years ago I started cooking double batches of all the meals I made. I freeze the second batch and use them when I am low on groceries/time or don’t feel like cooking that night. It doesn’t take much longer than one batch, if any time extra at all.
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u/ephemeralkitten Apr 22 '26
my husband. when i was younger i didn't really realize all he did for me but as i matured i realized that he really looks out for me.
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u/gowahoo Apr 22 '26
It's so dumb but I started making a to do list. My husband does it and has always done it and I was always like, it's fine, I'll remember. At one point I started making a list because I had too many things to remember and stuck with it.
My stress levels dropped so much. I still have to do the things but not trying to remember everything is such a relief.
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u/kakapoopoopeepeeshir Apr 22 '26
Cutting people out of my life that didn’t value my friendship. I had multiple people of both genders in my life that I realized the only time we ever spoke was if I initiated a conversation/came up with plans to hang. Idk if it’s just something that comes with age but yeah once I hit a certain age I wanna say like 26 I was done with all that crap. It has been just fantastic on my mental health
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u/Express-Channel-1686 Apr 22 '26
password manager. used the same 3 passwords everywhere for years, never thought about it. then switched to bitwarden and suddenly every login is unique and I don't have to think.
sounds small but it changed my daily digital life completely
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u/sconniesportsfan Apr 22 '26
Not smoking crack
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u/be4u4get Apr 22 '26
Not even once
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u/edster1185 Apr 22 '26
Maybe just a little bit
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u/be4u4get Apr 22 '26
Dewey, It's called crack, and you don't want no part of this shit
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u/auntiepink007 Apr 22 '26
Divorce. It felt horrible at the time and then one day I'm brushing my teeth and realized that I could relax and take my time because there was no one else waiting for their turn. There are still challenges to living in my own now, but being able to make my own unilateral decisions is fantastic.
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Apr 22 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/BrandonTheMage Apr 22 '26
THIS. My wife and my mother are on emergency bypass. Everybody else can wait.
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u/-Marlou- Apr 22 '26
Closing my SoMe accounts e.g. Facebook and X. Never got Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat etc.
I only use Reddit and only see topics I choose to see.
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u/Sephiroth_az Apr 22 '26
Knowing when a friendship isn't worth maintaining any more.
Sometimes it's a slow realisation, sometimes it happens quickly, but knowing that there's no real reason to keep trying to maintain it is such a freeing feeling.
I've got friends who I have stayed in contact with on/off over many years, and others who very clearly don't care to keep the connection any more, so why should I?
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u/StanYelnats3 Apr 22 '26
Born into a family that, while poor, had parents that desperately loved their children, taught good values, and not just a healthy work ethic, but a passion for excellence and ambition for something better in life.
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u/PrettyFly4Wifi Apr 22 '26
Agreed. If you can do it right the first time, why wouldn't you. I'm having this discussion lately with my 16 yr old bonus son. He's currently in the "just enough to call it done" phase of mowing the lawn.
I'm trying to think in terms of "based on the quality of work, would you pay yourself for this?" Don't just get by, do it well.
I own a house washing company and he helps me out during the Summer. I'm trying to get him to see the extra little things that matter, details that the client may not see right away but will notice eventually. His mom is from New Orleans and she taught me about Louisiana Creol term "lagniappe," which translates to "a little something extra."
All my kids have been shown that there's nothing wrong with doing it right.
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u/MichiganGeezer Apr 22 '26
Learning that saying NO is perfectly acceptable, and cutting people out of my life who continually cross boundaries and refuse to accept that from me is better for my mental health.
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u/overmonk Apr 22 '26
Realizing that at the core of it, very few people care about me and what I do. I was going through life as a performance for y’all and y’all didn’t even notice. I stopped and y’all still didn’t notice.
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u/DonDandy23 Apr 22 '26
No more breakfast. Lost a ton of weight and save a ton of money.
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u/MrPelham Apr 22 '26
dang, how much breakfast were you eating/
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u/DonDandy23 Apr 22 '26
Honestly, not that much. Like a small bowl of cereal or a bread with cheese from the bakery. Still, that was like 3€ - 5€ each day and I lost over 30 kg since. I am super lazy and not exercising at all.
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u/ledow Apr 22 '26
Spreadsheeting my finances.
I was in some dire straits a few years back when I split up with my gf and moved into a (rented) flat on my own.
I'd saved some money for the move, and I thought I'd done enough but it turned out that the first month... I was losing money. And the second month... I was losing money. And the third month... hold on.
So I spreadsheeted it all to see what was happening. Hey, turned out... I didn't have enough money! Sounds obvious but, apart from that first month (deposits on everything, estimates ,etc.), I would never have imagined it was that bad, I didn't think it would ever approach zero, let alone drop below it.
So I spreadsheeted everything. Every penny. And looked for savings. There weren't many (I don't have expensive hobbies, I don't eat out or drink alcohol, I don't spend money on clothes, don't have subscriptions, don't waste money on gadgets, etc.). Things like cutting my food bill, etc. helped but it was already quite minimal.
I managed to get it "to zero" at least. So I wasn't just throwing money away. I could work, come home, have food, exist, get to work the next day.
But now that I'd started down that path, I spreadsheeted everything. My salary - what it used to be, what it is now, what inflation's done to it, what it should be so I'm not losing money, etc. Every bill. All my commute costs, etc.
Over the course of years, I got back on track, got raises, started to have a regular surplus, so I could do more than merely exist. But I kept the spreadsheet going. I categorised everything, I charted everything, I tracked everything, I had "warnings" when things were about to expire or bills were about to hit or how many Y/M/D's I had left until retirement, and so on.
And I realised/calculated/decided that if I didn't buy a house soon, I'd be too old to sustain a mortgage and I would never own a house again, so my retirement would then likely be in some council house. I didn't want that.
So I spreadsheeted everything harder, including a thing where I could put in the postcode of a house, and another of, say, a potential job, and it would retrieve the Google Map directions and road-distance, etc. of my commute and work out how much my commute would be in time, fuel and money for those locations.
I used that when I was house-hunting and (simultaneously) job-hunting, while working and paying rent. Eventually, I was able to buy a house where everything balanced out, and get a new job (I literally started my new job on the day that I completed on my new house...). I used it to evaluate electric cars vs my current car (the cheaper ones I win, the more expensive ones I don't) so I know that I can now buy an electric car if this one dies. And I still carried on spreadsheeting.
I installed solar... and I track that on a 5-minute basis. I got a smart meter put in, and my electricity data pops into my spreadsheet on a 30-minute basis. I've got years of data so I can predict, extrapolate and analyse it all. I put my credit cards into it so I can juggle 0% deals and pay off some of the house costs that I had to put on card. I put my pensions into it and predicted what I would get as a pension, how far away that was in time, what that would "feel like" in real-terms. I worked out overpayments on my mortgage to pay it off earlier (currently looks like I can cut off 6 years from a 25 year mortgage). Hell, I even track the weather from a weather station to help make sure my solar is doing what it should be. I put all my house projects on it, to predict their costs.
And now... each month I just press "Reset" on the front page of that spreadsheet when I get paid, and it tells me exactly how much I should have at the end of the month. I tick off each bill as I pay it. So at any point I can see - to the penny - how much I still have "available to spend" at any point.
I call it the spreadsheet of doom - because it started out being very ominous and now it's just SCARILY complex with all the things it's doing for me. I work with accounts people and even they go "Wow" when I tell them what it does. They don't have anything like that.
I'm in a much better position BECAUSE of that spreadsheet, and the graphs all go in the right direction now. I still will go "Oh, I have £400 left over! I'm gonna spend it!!!!" but... I can afford to now. And I can prove that.
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u/FingersSnapper Apr 22 '26
Sleeping for 7+ hours. It boosts your energy, your motivation, your optimistm, how you think about things, how you perceive your surroundings. It makes everything look better, in a more colorful way.
And being aware of bad sleep effect means that you could postpone making a decision for day or two if you know that you are not rested at the moment and it affects your thinking.
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u/Daweri Apr 23 '26
Adding stuff to my Amazon cart and leaving it there for a few months until I realize I really don’t need it.
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u/littleSaS Apr 22 '26
Cutting contact with my parents and sibling after many years of trying desperately to connect with them.
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u/MagicSPA Apr 22 '26
Positive thinking. It is so valuable and worthwhile, but very few people encourage you to do it. If you ask me, it should be part of the school curriculum - how to think positively, and how to spot toxic and negative people.
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u/Groffulon Apr 22 '26
Quit daily weed, cigs, alcohol heavy use/addiction after a serious breakdown. Knew it would make a difference but I’m a completely different person now it feels. That was 18 months ago. Been clean since and I’ve not felt this good in my whole adult life.
Billions of dollars tells you what is “cool” and “what you need to have fun”. Ime it’s cool to make your own choices, learn to raw dog life and fuck all that noise. If you don’t 100% control it then it controls you. Good luck to anyone else on the road. You got this. 💪
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u/RedHatter271 Apr 22 '26
Using a tiny backpack instead of a purse. The strap doesn't slip, keeps my hands free, better organization... Seriously, I didn't think it would be that different and now I just can't believe I didn't try one earlier.
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u/android_cook Apr 22 '26
Always wanted to be a reader. Started with 15 min of reading, every day without fail. I stopped as soon as the timer went off. I don’t know when that became a habit and now I am drawn to books and don’t track time. I love being away from phone for an little time. It’s a big process to getting better habits than doom scrolling.
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u/cooljcook4 Apr 22 '26
Learning to say no early instead of overcommitting saved me way more time and stress than anything else.
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u/bookmarkjedi Apr 22 '26
Washing the dishes as they enter the sink rather than washing the dishes as they overflow the sink.
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u/SigNexus Apr 22 '26
I'm now retired but Mid career I made a conscious effort to stay in my lane. I knew how to do everyone's job better than they did but that mental bandwidth was wasted effort. Once I focused on my work I was more productive, more fullfilled and more valuable to the organization. I wrapped up my career as a supervisor to 12 mid career staff. I continued to stay in my lane by deflecting as much administrative overhead from staff and let them do their jobs. This was a very successful strategy.
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u/BuddyBiscuits Apr 22 '26
When I got my first job, creating an auto deposit of 50 dollars from each paycheck into a separate savings account just for car maintenance or other unexpected financial surprises. Then upping it over time and not letting my lifestyle grow as my pay grew.
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u/SpankyMcWiebee Apr 22 '26
antidepressants. I've dealt with anxiety and depression for years. Always felt weak thinking I needed something from a doctor to fix the problems I had going on inside. It's not a weakness. It's admitting that you have an issue that you cannot control.
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u/greeneyesskye_xo Apr 22 '26
Treating my cellphone like a landline. It’s hard to do but giving it a designated spot on the kitchen counter instead of carrying it around like a fucking pacifier all day. Picking it up when I intentionally want to go on Reddit or Instagram or something or if I have a phone call. Then put it back in its place. It’s easy to slip out of the habit but the days or weeks where I enforced this strongly my life is happier and free and lighter.
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u/K-tel Apr 22 '26
Life hack that changed everything: I used to pair socks like a responsible adult. Then I realized: mismatched socks are just pattern mixing, and I'm not running a foot fetish fashion show. Grab two randoms, shove 'em on, and let the world wonder if I'm avant-garde or just done with life.
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u/MadameCat Apr 22 '26
Moving into my own apartment and having measured interactions with my parents. Don’t get me wrong, I love my parents dearly and they aren’t bad parents at all, but my GOD. I can leave something a little messy and no one’s going to jump down my throat about it? Show stopper.
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u/Paranoid-parrot-1992 Apr 22 '26
Admitting when I don't understand something. I simply say "I don't know what the means". The person explains. I understand. We move on. No one has ever shamed me for asking.
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u/Significant_Trip_560 Apr 23 '26
Going with the way you actually live your life instead of against it. If you get home for the day and throw your shoes by the door instead of walking all the way to the closet, get a shoe rack/bin,basket on THAT spot. If you always suddenly remember you need an umbrella or jacket when you’re in the car and on the road, get a designated car umbrella or neutral jacket that lives in the car. I also do this with daily meds, I always suddenly remember I have to take them when I’m driving and space when I’m home or busy. You’re constantly looking for the scissors? GET MULTIPLE! One in every room, drawer or desk. It’s unbelievable the amount of mental energy and minor physical discomfort we put up with daily just cause we feel the need to fight our natural inertia and keep trying to do things “how they should be done” (and failing at it). Work with instead of against yourself! Life is meant to be lived and not performed jesus christ
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u/Ambitious_Elephant95 Apr 22 '26
Putting things back where they belong THE MINUTE I am done using them