Brand, thing, behavior, method, advice, mantra, etc.

I swear by Blackwing pencils.

Also, the ‘two minute rule’, which has really improved my life: “if it takes two minutes or less to do, just do it now; if it takes longer, schedule it.” I’ve got untreated attention issues and it’s very easy for me to notice something needing done, and overlook or procrastinate it because it seems inconvenient in the moment. Having a totally painless rule that forces me to acknowledge that thing I should pick up, that trash bag I should change, etc, or, to at least put on my calendar anything I mustn’t forget in the long run has been great for me.

  • Navarian@lemm.ee
    4·
    2 years ago

    uBlock Origin forever and always. I’ve recently reinstalled Windows within the last 30 days and thus have a fresh installation of my browser and uBlock Origin – I have already blocked 609,521 ads, wild.

    https://ublockorigin.com/ (Platform links at the bottom)

      • ours@lemmy.filmEnglish
        0·
        2 years ago

        Plus it’s good to support the only other major browser rendering engine maker that isn’t Google or Apple. Especially important with Google trying to shove “web DRM” down our troats recently.

    • rm_dash_r_star@lemm.ee
      0·
      2 years ago

      uBlock Origin forever and always.

      Haha, most important program on my computer. My browser is a uBO support system.

    • ieightpi@lemmy.world
      0·
      2 years ago

      I remember hearings about this few years back when AdBlock started getting shady. Haven’t looked back

    • kucing@lemmy.ml
      0·
      2 years ago

      I fucking love ublock origin. It really pains me that I cannot use it on my ipad.

      • BlitzKrieg2552@lemmy.worldEnglish
        1·
        2 years ago

        Try using Safari and an extension called “AdGuard”

        It’s not the exact same, but it’s better than nothing.

        • Synthead@lemmy.world
          0·
          2 years ago

          Apple has some insane policy where every browser on their mobile devices (iPhone and iPad) must run Safari’s Webkit browser engine. So even though desktop and Android Firefox runs Quantum (including Mac OS), it’s actually running Safari Webkit on iOS devices. The Safari Webkit engine doesn’t have the option of running add-ons, much like your Safari browser.

          Feel a little violated? I would feel that way, too. It’s just one of the many fabulous ways Apple decides which angles of freedom you’re allowed to have. If you don’t want this, vote with your wallet on your next device. Money is the only motivating factor for Apple, it seems like.

          • scytale@lemmy.world
            1·
            2 years ago

            I wonder how browsers like Orion work on IOS. You can install FF extensions like uBO and Privacy Badger on Orion.

            • kebabslob@lemmy.blahaj.zone
              0·
              2 years ago

              Oh wow I had no idea! That’s crazy! If only our legislators could recognize monopolies in tech like that. The inability to install your own desired browser without Apple seems like they have a monopoly on iOS browsers…

          • Azura@lemmy.worldEnglish
            0·
            2 years ago

            While I agree that forcing an engine is really terrible, as a browser dev you do get the ability to do things with the web view. So in theory your browser could support addons. I think. Also isn’t the EU kinda talking about this? Or am I misremembering

    • simple@lemm.eeEnglish
      0·
      2 years ago

      Amen. I occasionally use other people’s phones or laptops and browsing the internet without an adblocker is an abysmal experience. I was surprised to see how many ads YouTube is pushing now. It’s a shame they aren’t accepting any donations.

    • mog77a@lemmy.ml
      0·
      2 years ago

      600K in a month sounds about right. I have an install that’s above 13 million, which is a little over 1 year of daily usage.

      I also insta-install it when I see an ad and then remove it if it’s not my device. The modern internet is shockingly bad without adblocking.

  • NirodhaAvidya@lemmy.worldEnglish
    2·
    2 years ago

    “You are under no obligation to be the same person you were 5 minutes ago” - Alan Watts

    This one is a bit hard-won for me. You see I used to be an asshole. It was my brand. I thought “it’s just in my nature”.

    Fortunately, I was also a student of religion (mostly because I was a militant atheist. Know your enemy and all that). Studying Buddhism, I began to observe the nature of self. I found enough distance from it to see its transient nature.

    I realized being an asshole was a choice and I could just as easily choose otherwise. Soon I began to discover this was true of most character traits.

    I’m not saying you don’t have consistent patterns of behavior. I’ll hopefully always be curious and analytical. But for the most part, the way you conduct yourself and where you focus your attention is a choice.

    So, if you’re not happy with who you are maybe don’t be so attached to the idea of 'who you are". And if that seems hard, observe what you pay your attention to and try to find the distance between observation and behavior. In that gap lies the choice you make, consciously or not, to be “you”.

    • erogenouswarzone@lemmy.ml
      1·
      2 years ago

      No offense, brother, but this is a great example of my swear-by.

      Don’t write a “wall of text.” Even if a reader is interested, it’s hard to read the whole thing.

      Separate your wall into smaller sections, use bullet points (esp at work) if it helps.

      Use small sentences. Forget what they told you about keeping similar ideas in one paragraph. You’re not Salinger, and no one is expecting you to be.

      This is a digital age, and our job as not-salinger is to convey information.

      • NirodhaAvidya@lemmy.worldEnglish
        2·
        2 years ago

        • No offense taken

        • These are salient points

        • I edited my post

        • I hope it’s easier to digest now

        • Thank you for the constructive criticism

  • RBWells@lemmy.world
    1·
    2 years ago

    CeraVe unscented lotion punches way above it’s class. Cheap enough to use as body lotion, good enough to use as face lotion. Apparently even the unimaginably rich Bryan Johnson, who does nothing but take care of his body and spends thousands a month on it, still uses this drugstore lotion because there really isn’t much better at any price.

    • EssentialCoffeeEnglish
      0·
      2 years ago

      Would recommend. I stopped using it because it never played nicely with my sunscreen, but if you’re looking for an inexpensive face moisturizer, CeraVe’s moisturizing lotion is really good.

  • Lorax@lemmy.ca
    1·
    2 years ago

    Random list but I am told I am a unpaid ambassador for:

    • Vitamix
    • Zero inbox for work
    • Stoic mindfulness / negative visualizations / Momento Mori
    • Birkenstocks , even if they went a bit downhill
    • Star Trek
    • Chimes peanut butter ginger candy
    • Tea…in general
    • Merino wool socks
    • Lemmy
  • kryllic@programming.dev
    1·
    2 years ago

    Don’t skimp on anything that separates you from the ground: shoes, tires, mattress, etc. Your body will thank you later

  • Squids@sopuli.xyzEnglish
    1·
    2 years ago

    I see your blackwings and I raise you my mechanical contestant - the uniball kuru toga. The rotating lead gimmick actually works pretty well and the elite has just such a nice weight to it because the barrel is this nice knurled metal thing (I think the advance upgrade is also metal, but I don’t have that one to compare)

    Speaking of uniball, while I’m normally a fountain pen adherent, my go to non-fountain pen is the uniball eye. Such a surprisingly nice pen for the price, and while it’s not exactly the same, because it’s a liquid ink roller ball it’s still much nicer to write with because you don’t have to apply pressure to make it write.

    • theDodosConundrum@lemm.ee
      0·
      2 years ago

      Oh I’ve been curious about mechanical pencils with rotating lead! The rotation mechanism activates whenever you lift the tip up off the page right? Do you think it would still benefit folks who mostly write in cursive?

      • BEZORP@kbin.social
        2·
        2 years ago

        They’re neat (I’ve only tried Uni’s), though imho I prefer the manual control of a regular mech/pencil when writing in cursive, because then I can choose when to rotate the lead (ie by rotating the entire pencils).

        If you’re used to writing with pencils you don’t even think about it anymore. It’s as natural as dotting an i.

      • Squids@sopuli.xyzEnglish
        1·
        2 years ago

        It behaves closer to a regular mechanical pencil for cursive, but there is some difference. Ngl I use mine for maths and numbers and diagrammes so I don’t run into that issue a lot

  • thorbot@lemmy.world
    1·
    2 years ago

    Your two minute rule is a lot like my rule where if I think of something I just do it now, or never do it at all! I don’t quantify the time it takes which can be problematic but it helps still.

    I swear by Mitsubishi 9850 HB pencils. They are incredible.

    • BromSwolligans@lemmy.worldOP
      0·
      2 years ago

      I’m a pretentious black wing purist but I love writing the cold too much to resist a good recommendation. Might have to order a pack!

      • thorbot@lemmy.world
        1·
        2 years ago

        I write sheet music, doodle and diary a TON and I’ve been through the gauntlet of pencils. They are the absolute best I’ve ever tried

  • TrismegistusMx@lemmy.world
    1·
    2 years ago

    Don’t ever, for any reason, do anything to anyone for any reason ever, no matter what, no matter where, or who, or who you are with, or where you are going, or where you’ve been… ever, for any reason whatsoever…

  • JimBeann@feddit.de
    1·
    2 years ago

    A few years ago I read a post about self improvement where someone wrote about the concept of no-zero-days to form habits. It basically means you just need to do something meaningful every day to make it count, even if it’s something very small. Read one page in a book - no zero day, do 10k steps - no zero day…

    Of all the things I read and tried in the past to change my behavior, get more active, learn new things etc, this by far worked the best for me and basically changed my life.

    Right now I have 18 different habits I’m tracking on my phone. Things like reading, learning Spanish, doing chores, solving a puzzle on lichess, taking a cold shower, learning something about world affairs/history, taking care of my finances, meditating etc…

    I don’t need to do all of them, one is enough. But because they require so little effort I quickly started to do more and developed habits I don’t need to force myself to do.

    Now I have a 1500+ day streak on Duolingo and do 2-5 minutes of Spanish lessons every day. For more than 4 freaking years. This eventually ended up in visiting a language school in Spain last summer. One of my best vacations ever.

    I read almost daily and found interest in new genres. I get enough exercise at least a few times a week. I educated myself about finances and now I don’t live paycheck to paycheck, paid off my debt and started to save something.

    I later read about this concept in the book Atomic Habits and found variations of it in songs like Little Acorns by the White Stripes. In the end it’s about breaking things up into small, easy pieces so you don’t get overwhelmed or give up before you even start.

    If anyone asks me what I swear by it’s this. It’s like magic.

      • JimBeann@feddit.de
        0·
        2 years ago

        Good point. I guess I have a lot of stuff I can get rid of, donate, sell. I’ll focus on that in the future

    • CloverSi@lemmy.comfysnug.space
      0·
      2 years ago

      Little Acorns! That was my first exposure to this concept. Could you tell me a little more about your experience starting out, and what sort of systems you use to help? Or point me in the direction of a post for further reading (would you recommend Atomic Habits?)? I’m overdue for a big change in my life and I’ve been thinking about how to approach things as someone terrible at following through, so this has me interested. I’m not quite sure where to start though.

      • JimBeann@feddit.de
        0·
        2 years ago

        I think the reason why it worked so well for me from the beginning is because I really focused on the no-zero aspect. Make that your goal. You say you are ready for a big change. Break that up into the tiniest pieces. Be like the squirrel. If you haven’t already, make today a no-zero. If reading is something you want your future self doing regularly, grab a book and read one page. Done. If you want to be more educated look something up on wikipedia that you heard on the news but have no concept of (today for me that was austerity). Done. I guess that’s the secret. 0.01 is not zero. It’s not the big change you have in mind but it’s easy and doable. And over time these things become part of your identity. In a few weeks you are someone who reads regularly. Or someone who eats healthy stuff regularly. It’s not something you dream about it’s already who you are, no matter how much it is. Start with a few tiny things so you have different options to make it a no-zero and make sure to check at least one of them every day. Extend that pool of habits over time if you find new areas you want to improve on.

        It was also very helpful for me (at least for some habits) to not focus on certain actions but be a little more open. The 18 things I’m tracking in the app right now are represented by emojis. The house emoji means I do something in the household. Making my bed, doing the laundry, whatever. The credit card emoji means it’s about my finances. Putting some money to the side, investing in an ETF, reading something about budgeting… it gives me more options to check off that item and extends my habits over time.

        And I think it’s important to be kind to yourself. I have a few things I aim for but don’t check off a lot. Like writing a journal. I don’t feel bad about it. I can come back to it later when other things have become more automatic. I still improve in other areas and that’s fine.

        What I quickly stopped doing is tracking the ‘negative habits’ I see regularly in these apps. Like not watching netflix, not smoking, not eating junk food. In my opinion it’s way better to focus on the positives and more importantly it’s much easier. If I take a cold shower in the morning or do my Spanish lesson then that’s done. I’m already at no-zero and can focus on other things which is very rewarding.

        Yes, I can recommend the book. It goes more into detail about how habits are formed and about tactics how you can make it easier to develop them.

        But don’t wait for the book. Do the 0.01 today. One acorn at a time. Be like the squirrel.

        • CloverSi@lemmy.comfysnug.space
          0·
          2 years ago

          Thank you. I really appreciate you taking the time to go into detail for me.

          It’s not something you dream about it’s already who you are, no matter how much it is.

          I like this a lot. I’ll be getting that book - but today’s my first official no-zero day. Thanks again, wish me luck in gathering these acorns.

      • JimBeann@feddit.de
        0·
        2 years ago

        Thanks, I’ll check that out. Currently I’m using the app Loop Habit Tracker which is not perfect but has widgets for every single habit which I can check off directly on my home screen

  • featured@lemmy.ml
    1·
    2 years ago

    Sugar alternatives like allulose and monkfruit have been making my life so much better recently. A little more pricey than sugar, but so much better for you and allows me to keep enjoying a sweet cup of tea in the morning without any of the downsides

  • DirigibleProtein@aussie.zone
    1·
    2 years ago

    The philosophy of Bill S Preston, Esquire, and Ted “Theodore” Logan:

    “Be excellent to each other”

    It’s really not that difficult to do the right thing, be an upstanding citizen, and contribute to a decent society.

    • Squids@sopuli.xyzEnglish
      1·
      2 years ago

      It’s also better for your hands if you do a lot of writing! You’re not constantly applying pressure like you are with a ballpoint so your hands don’t get as tired