Linux.
Maybe not Linux per se, but certainly learning how to write scripts and other technical stuff, to automate boring tasks or alert me of things, or writing applications to do things I need, has been a massive time saver - but also a time waster as I enjoy it, and probably spend longer on these things than the amount of time they’ve saved.
And as footnote, it’s always easier to do this stuff on Linux than Windows… plus you can stick things on a Pi so it’s cheap and quiet.
Scripting is the closest thing to magic I’ve seen in real life. Wave your hand over the script and poof, a job is done.
I automated so much at my last job I usually never “worked” more than a half hour a day. I am not a programmer, but I slowly learned enough Excel functions and VBA, then simple batch files and some AutoHotkey. Since it was only stuff for my job I needed to learn to program for, it took much less time than learning to program for any situation. Also much of your work is going to be relatively the same as many others’ work, so there is a lot of code out there you can lift from and tweak until you learn to build it from scratch.
standing ovation
Linux got me a job later on in life. Made my life a breeze honestly.
I know most people will talk about how Linux/Windows/Mac but one of the not often talked about benefits to learning an OS really well is that it can lead into a high paying job. And Linux allows you to see under the hood as deep as you want…so more likely.
🙄
😆
(I wasn’t really sure if I was going to be upvoted for that answer… Really, though. The whole culture and philosophy also influenced me. And gave me a lot over the years. I think it’s alright fulfilling the stereotype every now and then.)
My god you people are annoying.
Every single goddamn thread
A lot of things could go there i guess haha, here’s some things I’m thinking of at this moment:
- a dishwasher. I will never go back this is the best invention humans created since the wheel
- AC. Same as above it changed my life
- keybar. This is a nice tool to manage keys and some other tools in a swiss-army like format.
- a good usb-c docking station. I need to jungle between multiple laptops for work, this really helped doing that.
- Going full public transit, bike and carsharing (communauto). Less traffic, and between these options it’s rarely more difficult than a car. And muchhhh cheaper, with gas, maintenance, taxes and depreciation it’s a bit crazy how much you put towards a car. It really helps to live comfortably with my budget.
Where do you live that public transit is a viable option?
Montreal
Not OP, but in Berlin the situation is the same. Most of my daily ways are done by cargobike, as it is even faster than public transport and public transport is faster than a car.
No car/public transit was going to be my answer too. Sold my car about 9 years ago and switched to using the bus, carpool, or walking. At first it was a financial decision because I figured it would save me lots of money, and it did. I was surprised though how much more connected to the community I felt. I made friends and talked to people on my commute instead of sitting alone in the car. It also makes me feel more free to move around the city instead of just going from point A to point B and then home again.
Walking/biking is really the best for this, I feel like i live in a city with a community instead of living in disconnected “places”.
What docking station do you have?
Seconding your 5th point. Getting rid of my car (NO, autocorrect: not my cat!) massively improved my life. Even if I don’t factor in the fancy restaurant visits and weekend vacations I take with my “car budget”.
AC also changed my life. My doctor thought I was dehydrated, but I also had symptoms of over-hydration. Not only did everything about my time at home improve significantly, but I also started sleeping better than I ever had in my life.
a bit crazy how much you put towards a car
Recently these numbers are hitting over 1k usd pretty easily… i don’t know how this is sustainable longer term as most young people’s income are too low for rent and student loans as is.
How are these people supposed to get to work? I guess boomers did always say you can’t drive a house but you can sleep in a car…
Electric wheelchair. After my 2nd heart attack, it became harder and harder to do things in the world. Grocery stores were impossible unless they had scooters of their own, which were usually in use or out of service.
Now I just bring my own.
I use a wheelchair part time, and it’s unbelievable how much starting using one can help when you’re partially ambulatory. I find it funny how able bodied people use phrases like “wheelchair bound”, which perpetuates this idea of wheelchairs being like prisons, but at least for me and a few people I know, finally getting a wheelchair was hugely freeing.
Same, I hadn’t really left the house since 2018. Once a week for groceries and prescriptions and that was it.
Jesus, just being able to go to a movie theater was huge.
And do you feel like a king/queen in it?
My sister made stickers for the sides so now it says “Majestic AF”
That’s the most aliexpress wheelchair I’ve ever seen
It works great! 17 mile range, automatically folds and unfolds. Has a remote control.
Languages of the countries I lived in + English. I once again emigrated and am yet again at the start if my language learning journey, and it kind of pisses me off how difficult it yet again is. But I know how much easier my life will be once I master it.
How do you study languages? Any advice?
It’s for some reason very difficult and needs a lot of time and energy.
I’m trying right now https://www.lingq.com/en/ it’s going very slowly.
No joke, implementing automated MMO style daily quests on my smartphone harnessed my brainrot for productive means. I struggle with depression and ADHD among other things, so before l pretty much never made my bed or worked out, etc. I do all of that consistently now, and I feel all the better for it.
I’ve been looking for a way to invert that and make a number go up instead, and maybe implement gacha, flashing lights and FOMO into my daily routine to really exploit my busted psychology to its maximum.
How do you do that, is there an app?
Plenty, IFTTT for android, Shortcuts for ios.
I’ve got a setup where all reminders with the Daily tag get set to incomplete at 1AM, and all with Weekly tagged get set up on Sunday, etc etc
Got a dishwasher after I bought my house and it is incredible.
Also got one of those fancy self-scooping litter boxes which is great.
Got my yard fenced in too after I broke my ankle/leg walking my dog and had to have surgery. Now I can just let the dogs out whenever and not have to worry about them running off or me breaking my bones.
Which litterbox did you get? A brand would be appreciated.
Not my comment, but we have a Litter Robot 3 and we love it. Cats like it as the box is always clean, filter does a good job of keeping the smells down… And its easy to repair…
I looked into litter box robots and decided to try a low-tech solution first. I got an Arm & Hammer sifting litter box for under $20.
Basically, you dump the whole litter box into an equal sized sifter, then lift the sifter and give it a little shake, then dump the waste.
I can completely clean each litter box in 10-15 seconds. It’s not fully automatic, but I have no need for a robot anymore.
Next up, doggy door.
I’m hesitant with those because I have a gang of crafty raccoons hanging around. The 3 little shits cause so many problems and I don’t wanna wake up to raccoons in my house.
Fair enough.
Corrective eye surgery
For me this meant PRK not LASIK.
My eyes were bad. Like couldn’t see something three feet from my face bad. I’m 6 feet tall, so walking without glasses was out of the question. The first night I got up to pee and didn’t have to hunt for my glasses was magical.
I’m 6 feet tall, so walking without glasses was out of the question.
Please explain.
He can’t see past 3 feet. Hes 6 feet. So when he looks down he only sees down to his waist then nothing.
Ahh, I see, so the solution is that he needs to cut bone mass off his legs until he’s 3 feet tall. Maybe eye surgery was the better option after all.
Huh. It seems obvious now you explain it, but I never thought about it that way (as a short sighted, average height woman). Thanks for clarifying.
Got rid of (most) social media. Even only reading about its toxicity makes me uncomfortable.
Same here, only LinkedIn is left and that is pretty boring so it doesn’t cost me much time to check. Sometimes there is a hint of FOMO, but in general I’m really glad I’m not comparing myself to fake happy people or being targeted by crappy ads. Also, there’s all the time I get back. I love it.
A NAS. Godsent when you’re dealing with multiple machines.
Selfhosted VPN, another godsent for bypassing network restrictions or using public wifi.
Definitely gym membership. Yes, there are plenty of exercises I can do at home or outside, but having a dedicated place that I go just to workout is nice.
Man I feel the opposite
It was so quick and simple to just do Murphs at home. I didn’t need to worry about packing gym bags, spending money, showering in public, needing to drive 10-15 minutes out and back, leaving work early or waking up at 5am to dodge a gym full of people.
Zero equipment Calisthenics are fucking golden if you don’t give a shit about getting big fat dudebro muscles, and just wanna be strong and hot.
Yeah I was doing home workouts since the pandemic until recently and they are great. My partner still does them this way, and I occasionally join in. But for me the real joy is in the long commute to and from the gym.
It’s about an hour walk there and back, and the only time I listen to my podcasts. On the way there I feel anticipation, and on the way back, elation. Fun to walk with a buddy, but really meditative alone. I find I do a lot of good mental processing during that time.
Both my library and a grocery store are nearby too, so I often bundle my trips.
Anyway home / equipment-free workouts are totally baller, I just love my gym.
Password Manager. I use Bitwarden, which is open source and free.
It’s probably the single most significant quality of life upgrade I’ve had since I started on ADHD meds 5 years ago. I wish I had started using one sooner.
Forgot this one! Using bitwarden is indeed so much easier and also more secure than tracking password. Truly makes my life easier
+1 for Bitwarden. My Dad’s password manager actually made taking care of him in the last years of his life alot easier. I essentially had to “wind down” his life (pay bills/debts, close accounts, stop subscriptions, etc), and as his memory was going it would’ve been impossible to get that information from him. With myself too though I’ve got so many dumb accounts all over the place, having a password manager is the only thing keeping me sane half the time when having to log in to everything to pay bills and such.
A spine. Got tired of doing everything for everyone, so I started setting rules. It’s shifted the energy from physical to social/emotional, but the house is cleaner.
A collection of spines does send a message.
[email protected] is leaking.
My roomba changed my life. Having one of those is essential now with 2 dogs.
Oh hell yes.
I work from home, in the basement. Getting a roomba meant I didn’t have to vacuum, but I did have to pick stuff up off the floor.
So now one 15 minute break is tidying and starting the vacuum. The next is cleaning the vacuum out and organizing dishes, while a third is doing the dishes and sometimes minor dinner prep.
My wife gets to come home to a clean house and I get to do it all on the clock so it’s done when I’m done with work. Total life changer.
TRUTH. It still gets you off your ass to make sure the floor is tidy and ready and puts me in the mood to do other general cleaning.
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A $1 backscratcher from a local pharmacy. Makes scratching my own back effortless. 10/10 investment. And way more affordable than the full-time backscratching assistant I was paying all those years.
Did you mean assistants? Or were you really surviving on just 40 hours of back scratches in a 168 hour week?
