Low-effort ways to improve life

Apart from the obvious things such healthy eating, exercise, etc., what small but relatively high yield things can I do to improve my wellbeing? For example, not sleeping with phone in the same room.

Other suggestions welcome.

Treat yourself and have a w*** 

thanks, that’s a definite small but relatively high yield improvement.

A more serious response – control how much and where you get your news from 

Learn to say “no” at work.

Always look for the positives in a situation

Dont use social media.
If social media were a real physical place it would be a mental hospital full of attention seeking narcissists all shouting at the top of their voices 24/7/365

I recommend Michael Mosley’s ‘just one thing’ podcast on BBC Sounds.  15 minute episodes, each focussed on one small beneficial change you can make and the science underpinning it.  Loads of subjects have been covered from coffee, cold water swimming, dancing, putting your phone down, the benefits of house plants and many more. Worth a listen imho

I’ve put all my social media feeds into a folder on the phone and turned off the notifications on all of them. I wasn’t a high user by any measure, but even that change has seen my use of them decrease as it’s now just a little bit harder to open them.

control how much and where you get your news from

This is a very good one, I used to listen to Today almost religiously. Now I scan a couple of websites with my morning coffee and listen to podcasts on the way to work. I’m noticeably less anxious

Go for a walk, doesn’t have to be long but just getting outside briefly can really help

Dont use social media.

And yet here you are…

Review the notification settings on your phone. Lots of apps just send them to make sure you don’t forget about them. Of those that are left, many can be put into scheduled summary (it’s an Apple thing, I’m guessing there’s an Android equivalent?) so you just see them all later in the day.

Do less (unless you feeling like doing more, in which case, do more.) Spend your extra time sleeping.

Control social media. + news sources

This.  It’s amazing how much time you have left if you don’t spend it doomscrolling.  Yes I understand the irony but so far today I’ve done two hours guitar practice, painted a door and sharpened an axe (this is STW after all)  and am about to head out now if it would only stop pissing down.   News is just awful at the moment and you shouldn’t ignore it but neither should you let what you can’t control overwhelm you

Have a beer with a pal or two in a pub (non alcoholic versions are available).  Give yourself time away from things that need to be done

…closes computer

The getting outside piece is the biggest one for me, doesn’t need to be a bike ride, just a walk (we also have a dog, so forces me out !). 

I’m just back at my desk after a 2k swim at local gym, with the added benefit that there is a 25m outdoor pool, so fresh air and exercise 🙂  ..plus, it was raining, and I had the pool to myself for 75 of my 80 lengths.

On sleep:

I aim to be in bed on week nights between 10-10.30pm and get a good eight hours The difference in overall well being is pretty tremendous. If you can manage not to have the phone, or read for a bit before that helps massively as well.

Take up a new hobby

Don’t drink crap coffee. Seriously. If you drink coffee, buy good stuff and savour the one or two cups you have a day. 

I’ll also add taking a walk or going for a pootle on a bike. It doesn’t have to be far, but seeing something different than the four walls of an office is lovely and, at this time of year, the colours make it even better.

The getting outside piece is the biggest one for me

This is what I was gonna say. Time in nature.

And stay in touch with your pals.

For example, not sleeping with phone in the same room.

No real benefit, unless you couldn’t resist using it?

Get outdoors. Into nature. And move.

Learn to do jobs there and then, not later. Particularly mundane things like housework and life admin.

I’m trying to break myself out of doom-scrolling, partly by reading on my phone instead. So instead of opening insta, I open the kindle app instead.

Other suggestions welcome.

Be selective about what social events you go to.

Over the last couple of years we’ve cut out quite a few friends who required ‘effort’ to have a good time with. At mid 50s we’ve got no time for wasting time!

Since I’ve pretty much full time working from home, I take a proper break at lunchtime, put some tunes on in the kitchen and take some time to prepare something really nice to eat that evening. I’ve got a venison pie-filling slow cooking at the moment. It smells ace!

In a bit, as its such a nice day, I’m going to have a wander down to the pub with Mrs Binners for a creme de menthe or a sweet sherry

#binningatlife

An online to-do list app.

I use the free version of Todoist which updates across my phone and laptop/internet/chrome/whatever and it really adds so much value.

Apart from actually constructively planning things it also means that whenever a random thought or obligation just pops into your head on the bus or queuing for a coffee or whatever you can immediately just tap it into your phone as a reminder and mentally move-on, knowing that you won’t forget.

What @SSS says. My life is so much more pleasant without social media, the news and without the television. 

…..oh and choose wisely who you spend your time with and what you do with your time. 

Be lucky

+1 on Michael Moseley’s podcast on BBC Sounds. Some many ideas on there that a few must hit a chord.

I’m currently doing standing on one leg a few times a day for a minute. There’s one of his podcasts on there about it’s benefits.

Win the lottery

Organise your pen drawer.

One really good coffee in the morning – then lay off the caffeine

One really good coffee in the morning – then lay off the caffeine

Was going to say this. Until about 2 months ago I was in the “more is more!” camp with my coffee – 1 kg of beans used to last 2 weeks maybe.

Now I hold off for my coffee until about 10 or 11am to stop it impacting my natural cortisol rhythm. I then have a coffee, maybe 2. And I’m done with caffeine before 12. I sleep better, my mood is more stable, I piss less. Importantly, I am less tired – the thing I was drinking all the coffee to stave off.

Try not to be self centred 😜

Don’t drop litter

Pick up litter dropped by someone else

Volunteer 

What @SSS says. My life is so much more pleasant without social media, the news and without the television.

… posted with no trace of irony on social media.

As soon as you see any thread descending into an argument between the usual crew scroll up and hit the overview button.

Do something for someone else.

Volunteer yourself to help somebody else. Could be a neighbour, a friend or even a total stranger.

Being kind costs nothing yet brings you great rewards.

Try it.

If there’s something you are meaning to do, don’t let the size of the job overwhelm you, just start it and do step 1.

He says, still needing to see if the lounge floor is glued down or not, but not knowing which bit of grotty laminate to lift to see. But I DID buy a new TV this week, so now the rest of the lounge work HAS to be done, right ….

There is a mental change I’ve made when driving, I expect people to do the dumbest thing, so they if they do, well I expected it, if they don’t I’m pleasantly surprised. I still get tweaked occasionally though.

Two things.

1) Short-term. Do something constructive every day. It doesn’t have to be big. Walk round the block. Ring the dentist. Oil that squeaky door. Shove the hoover around. Make soup. Ring a mate you haven’t spoken with in months (because gods know, one day you might not be able to any more).

Between my mum inconsiderately dying recently and my partner deciding she wants to turn our home into a work-from-home childminding service I’m staring down the barrel of a monumental amount of Stuff That Has To Be Done and my mental health was built on sand to start with. It’s the ‘how do you eat an elephant?’ trope, the only way I get through the day is by ticking something off each day even if it’s only firing an email to someone telling them to get ****ed.

2) Longer term. Consider the mantra, “this benefits me how?”

All the whining above about social media &c., that’s a problem of their own making. Exercise some quality control. You don’t have to “friend” everyone you’ve ever met, let alone have ever even heard of. I used to have Facebook contacts who were people I went to school with. They didn’t give me the steam off their piss when I was at school, we probably spoke four words two of which were them telling me to smeg off. Yet now we’re suddenly somehow “friends,” but they still haven’t spoken to me post-friending and I’m getting stressed out about their illiterate right-wing bullshit? Well, an obvious solution presents itself.

Mobile phones are exactly the same. Why do you carry a phone, for your benefit or for everyone else’s? Are they paying off your contract? Ever have a conversation where someone grills you as to why you didn’t answer their call earlier? **** that, they can get in the sea. I was making soup. The cat was on my knee and I couldn’t reach the phone. It was otherwise inconvenient, WTF business is it of yours to demand I drop everything to talk to you anyway? Only a sociopath would do that face-to-face, approach someone who was clearly busy and go “Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey!” and then get pissy when they ignore you.

People are the same. Relationships are the same. Friendships are the same. Family is the same. Life is the same, you only get one crack at that one. If something is a net deficit then address that. I spent far too long in the company of toxic assholes out of some misplaced sense of loyalty or guilt, this is a lesson which took me far too long to learn and my life is exponentially better for realising it. **** ’em, they’ll get over it, you just aren’t that important. Take control of this shit. Take control of your shit. The world will keep turning I promise, and you’ll feel better for it.

Here endeth the sermon according to St. Cougar.

“For example, not sleeping with phone in the same room.”
No real benefit, unless you couldn’t resist using it?

I’d sleep for longer without my alarm, thats for sure. Not sure thats a good solution financially for me though.

Only do chores when your wife/girlfriend can see you doing them