An early night is not a waste of an evening, it's an investment in the next day.
If you're scrolling on your phone, go spend 5 minutes tidying something up, unload the dishwasher, put some tools away instead. Phones are designed to keep you engaged, once you've put it down and done something, you'll probably find something far more productive to do.
For years I have had one phone for work and personal use.
I’ve recently bought a personal phone and taken everything other than work based apps off the work phone and vice versa.
Being able to turn emails off at the end of the day and not take calls on weekends or evenings has been unbelievably good for me.
GIVING = do kind things for others
RELATING = connect with people
EXERCISING = taking care of your body
AWARENESS = living life mindfully
TRYING OUT = keep learning new things
DIRECTION = have goals to look forward to
RESILIENCE = find ways to bounce back
EMOTIONS = look for what’s good
ACCEPTANCE = be comfortable with who you are
MEANING = be part of something bigger
https://actionforhappiness.org/10-keys
Cake and crisps
Get a dog. Other than marrying MrsRNP it's the best thing I've done.
I love the awe-inspiring scenery it's opened up to me in my quest to give him the most fulfilled life I can. I've had some of my life's most tranquil and relaxing moments when out with Bert.
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Smile and laugh more. It enhances mood and makes other people wonder what you're up to. Double-win.
Loads of great suggestions here. I especially agree with the ‘go outside’ stuff.
What’s your favourite food? Coffee? Butter? Bread? Biscuits? Sausages? Next time you’re shopping rather than buy your usual version get a really expensive type. It doesn’t really cost that much more, and you’ll love it.
I leave for work 10 minutes early. Each day I stop somewhere pretty and have a coffee from my flask, just taking it all in. I often do this on the way home as well. It helps that I cycle along a good route, but even if you’re driving through town there must be a park or something.
What’s your favourite food? ... Next time you’re shopping rather than buy your usual version get a really expensive type.
Or try and make it yourself?
Don't get stressed about the stuff you can't control, e.g. the weather.
Meet with those less fortunate and help. Ideally not with money.
Each day I stop somewhere pretty and have a coffee from my flask, just taking it all in
Nice idea :). We rush too mutch. I try (when I'm working) to take a longer commute home via a park rather than going directly as I like seeing people outside being happy
The clue is in the title.
We rush too much.
This. Have a think about ancient times when the Chinese spent decades learning the art of writing, or the Greeks lifetimes on philosophy. In our age we want everything and we want it Now, and its very damaging.
Just Live rather than forcing life, let things happen.
Lob a friendly smile at a random stranger. They will reciprocate as a reflex and probably do the same to someone else. Who knows where it will end up? Somewhere along the way, someone who really, really needs that acknowledgement that they exist might be on the receiving end. As low effort/high reward as it gets.
Just stop, shut your eyes, focus on your breath, focus inwards, and otherwise do nothing.
5 ways to wellbeing is a great, simple thing to pick up on.
https://www.mind.org.uk/workplace/mental-health-at-work/five-ways-to-wellbeing/
each month, ensure you spend less than you earn.
Have something challenging to work towards (could be anything from a big jigsaw to leaning rocket surgery)
spend time in big majestic landscapes & take time to soak them in.
read before bed / don’t scroll social media
get plenty sleep.
spend more on making memories than stuff
restore something beautiful
Leaving my phone in another room or even at home is liberating. But certainly disengaging from news websites/twitter/social media is a sure fire way to improve things. limit it to one session a day
work in the garden, chop firewood, have a bonfire, cook baked potatos in the embers. This makes me happy
Maybe youll marry, maybe you wont.
Dont sweat the small stuff
But trust me on the sunscreen
If your a middle lane drinker then give up alcohol! Will make a massive difference.
Also I've not been on the socials for over 8 years and it's best thing I've done for myself.
Agree re work Phone and personal phone. One of my most positive changes though it does result in many people questioning if I am a drug dealer! Turn off notifications of emails etc as well. The tiny little counter of how many unread emails used to stress me out. I'll be looking for that scheduling of notifications too.
I regularly leave work phone at home at weekends now and have even started going out without personal phone too.
Get a dog, get outside, smile at people and talk to people.
Must book my volunteer day from work to do some volunteering as well.
Liking the idea of that 15 minute podcast, would fit perfectly into my day.
Learn an instrument instead of watching TV or phone scrolling. After picking guitar up in lock down, I can't imagine life without it. Instant stress relief, and positive vibes when I pick it up.
I want to put in a good word for social media, the ability to connect with both like-minded and diverse people (who are not always geographically accessible) can be greatly life-enhancing. Doomscrolling though stupid click-bait on FB doesn't fall into this category, of course. But cultivating an interesting set of people to follow (may be local friends on strava, thought-provoking people on xitter/mastodon/whatever) is worthwhile.
Getting outside and doing anything is usually a good idea, though if that means cycling to and from work in dark windy pissing rain day after day it does get a bit wearing eventually (IME). On that topic, cycling to work is an obvious change that many could probably make with a small effort, though hopefully people on this forum have already considered that.
Getting a dog is a dramatic change and I don't think it can sensibly be recommended as a "low-effort way..."
As a general rule in life go for quality rather than quantity.
Go and camp/bivvy/bothy in a nice place close to home now and again even if it’s only for one night.
When riding/walking/paddling/running, etc. check you aren’t still thinking of the stuff you went on the ride/walk, etc to get away from. If you are… focus on what you are doing and the place/experience… enjoy the moment.
Only visit and participate in the STW bike forum, not the chat forum.
After 30 plus years of only doing the odd thing on my cars, buying new and paying others to work on them. I sold my newish L200 and bought an old VW thats in good shape, but needs some mechanical work and started working on it myself. Almost a year in and I bloody love it! I have rebuilt the whole front end, all the brakes and lots of other smaller tasks.
My point it, whether is Airfix kits or woodturning, just doing something really different than your day job is such a release (well it has for me), my hobby has saved us a fortune, plus we go camping and load it up and go mtbing. Off to the Alps in the new year 🙂
Don’t drink crap coffee
I came here to say this. For me, these have also worked:
Work from home if you can. Switching to being 100% home based in 2017 has had the biggest impact on my quality of life. I was spending 45 minutes x 2 each day OF MY OWN TIME getting to the office. that's 7.5 hours of my own time back each week - the equivalent of a whole working day. Crucially, you have to claim this time as your own, and not work those extra hours.
Hellofresh. I know some people hate it, but for me, this has a hugely disproportionate impact on my quality of life. It doesn't cost any more (I have tested it) and it effectively means that you are eating good and varied meals every night with ZERO effort on your part. It's also made me realize that I actually really enjoy cooking/prepping the meals - it was the menu planning/shopping that I didn't like. Like I said, I know some people really don't like it, but for me I'd put this right up with working-from-home in terms of impact.
Limit your news consumption, and be choosy where you get it from.
My main thing is taking on little projects which improve your life in small ways. These have a direct benefit once they are done, but while you are doing them also make you feel like you are improving things for yourself, and so (for me at least) have a benefit greater than the sum of their parts. Some of my mini-projects have included:
Refurbish/upgrade old coffee machine and grinder (see above) that I bought for pennies off of marketplace.
Upgrade kitchen knife set to individual Japanese ones (with all the research that entails)
Buy whetstones and learn to sharpen above
Build home media server thing (my first foray into computer nerdery) for streaming music etc
Some of these took place over a few weeks, others (coffee machine) took much longer - but it's as much about having a little "tinkering" project. I think it makes me feel like I'm achieving something tangible whilst otherwise "running to stay still" with the everyday stuff.
I think a very wise man once said ‘Every day, once a day, give yourself a present. Don’t wait for it, don’t plan it, just do it’.
Work from home if you can.<br /><br />
well it depends on the individual. Even as a non social introvert, sitting in the same room with the same laptop day in day out mentally fatigues and bores me. I find it much more mentality stimulating to split my time to home / office / customer office / trade shows. <br /><br />
So on that note, if you work from home change it up if you can - change rooms, work from a free hotel bar/lobby, library or something from time to time perhaps.
Just to be slightly contrary, I found going back into the office has helped me no end - proper break between home and work.
Obviously a very personal choice, but i need people around me to work and focus better. Trying to make working at home work for me was killing my mood and productivity.
So sometimes going against the flow works for an individual.
Helped by discovering that i can commute door to desk by train in 30 minutes, rather than up to an hour by car.
I'm generally happy and positive but have found extra happiness and felt more satisfied with life this year through regular, short calisthenic sessions, so I say try doing a bodypart each day (well most days).
And after a 4 weeks of good behavoir boozewise followed by a week back on it, its now clear that I feel way better with less booze. I have no doubt this in large part due to better quality sleep.
Newswise, listening to podcasts with a more global outlook has made me realise that the UK isn't as bad as we make it out to be in comparison to everywhere else. Or more truthfully, the worlds a shitshow but I can't change it so I aren't going to worry about it.
batfink<br />Work from home if you can. Switching to being 100% home based in 2017 has had the biggest impact on my quality of life. I was spending 45 minutes x 2 each day OF MY OWN TIME getting to the office. that’s 7.5 hours of my own time back each week – the equivalent of a whole working day. Crucially, you have to claim this time as your own, and not work those extra hours.
Interesting to read the comments re working from home - I thought this would be a huge improvement for me (now only go into the office two days per week) and to start with it was. But unlike batfink I now seem to find I'm just working longer hours - with no train to catch it just means I keep on working. Just dont seem to have the discipline I need.
Might be for another thread but interested to see how people make working from home work best.
Slacking off makes you feel more anxious, not more relaxed
Love it.
Change It.
Leave It.
Applies to almost anything in life and you end up with stuff you love, things that you can improve and have left all the crap behind
small change here that just came to me whilst opening a tin of tuna.....
splash the cash out on a kuhn rikon tin-opener. no more false economy £1 seized up sh1tty old openers that either hurt your fingers when opening cos theyre that stiff or dont work at all. just a few quid more on the 'luxury' of smoooooth tin opening with no sharp edges. you know you want to.....
Sleep with a heavy blanket or duvet over you
We recently bought a wool duvet and it has quite a bit of weight to it, far more than the duvet it replaced and I have since been sleeping better and deeper than I have for years.
This in turn has resulted in me feeling much less tired (if at all) in the morning, less irritable and zero anxiety.
You can also buy weighted blankets that are supposed to work really well. A couple of the mental health specialists I work with recommend them
Gratitude !!
Practice Gratitude ..... it's blooming ace and super easy.
Before you drift off tonight have a little think about ....
I’m grateful for three things I hear, see, touch, taste, smell...
I’m grateful for these three family members or friends....
I’m grateful for these three things in my home.
I'm grateful for these three things I've done.
Then tomorrow morning the real kicker....
Before you get up, be grateful for things you will do later today*. Be grateful for the people you will see later today. Be grateful for things you might have later today.
*This one is a game changer.... As well as being grateful for the good things, be grateful for that boring chore you know you have to do. When it comes to it, you'll get it done sooooo easy.
Good luck, have fun.
Thanks all.
Consensus settling no quitting social media and STW!
