This article isn't so much a write up, but rather a loose collection of practices and tools I've discovered that helped improve my life in one aspect or more.
It is by no means comprehensive, but perhaps these same things will improve yours too.
Anki is a flashcard program that handles most of the labour for you. There's a bit of a learning curve, but if you're like me and you have poor retention, then this program will absolutely help you.
You either create your own flashcards, or use pre-made decks. Then you simply study them. No having to compartmentalise pieces of paper, carry stacks, or deciding when a card is no longer needed.
Anki just does that for you.
I initially used it to build my Japanese vocabulary, but practically speaking, you can use this for anything. Acquaintance names, birthdays, phone numbers, or just random trivia. You name it.
Spaced repetition is known as the best strategy to long-term memory, and Anki is the means to it.
Assume the lie-down position, and in addition to sleeping with your head on a pillow, place another pillow underneath your knees. Such so that your legs are raised up to a roughly 35° angle. This position is generally more optimal for your posture.
Your head pillow should ideally only be supporting your neck, otherwise your head and shoulders are hunching forward, which is not a natural state for your neck.
In the long term, this will promote healthy posture and may alleviate back problems, if you have any.
That means ALL of your social media.
Some people may be obligated to run a company/representative account as part of their job, which is the only exception.
But for everyone else, social media is at best, a time-waster and at worst, will make your life miserable.
You might think social media is useful, but this is largely just an illusion.
If you consume an excessive amount of pornography, you should look to stop, or at least reduce your usage.
Excessive pornography use has become a massive issue in the modern world, leading many people into addictions - often without realising it. This happens from a lack of understanding about the implications of what porn does to us physiologically. I suggest you learn more about it.
In relation to our mental well-being, advertisements prove to worsen our lifestyle simply by being exposed to them.
See also:The internet is actually very easy to deal with.
Install the uBlock Origin extension for your browser. This is a content blocker that uses filter lists to determine what gets blocked. I cover more on this in my Browser Tips article.
For ads on proprietary software/hardware, (Music Streaming, Live TV, Free-to-Play Games, etc) either get a paid ad-free subscription, stop using it altogether, or block internet access so it can't connect to ad networks. Blocking internet access can be done using a firewall.
Best case scenario, there is a superior FOSS alternative waiting to be found.
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As for ads in the real world (Billboards, bus stops, etc.), these are difficult to get away from. You may avoid going places where such billboards are, but this could compromise your current lifestyle. Living out somewhere rural will defeat such advertisement.
At the very least, these ads are not nearly as intrusive as the others.
Meditation is regarded as very spiritual, but really, it simply means to live and feel in the present moment, and not think about the past or the future. You may be surprised to hear that playing a sport like boxing is technically a form of meditation. In this case though, I'm talking about meditation where you sit still and clear your mind. It has helped me immensely to stay in the present moment, particularly when my head feels overwhelmed.
I initially went though a commercialised route to learn, but plenty of free resources exist that are just as effective. It's a small learning curve.
I suggest you meditate at least once a day. Anytime of the day (apart from bedtime) is fine.
Reading can help expand your knowledge and understanding, and if nothing else, it can be a great conversation topic.
An E-reader is a good compromise if you dislike physical books and/or glaring screens. Personally, I enjoy educational books, non-fiction and manga.
I usually workout more than I exercise. Gyms are an option for everyone, but beware of long-term contracts. Buying your own equipment would be cheaper and better long term, but not everyone has the money or space for that.
If you're nervous, I recommend going with a friend, or paying for an instructor for your first couple weeks. They will show you the ropes. And unless you intend to undergo a strict regime, you can get along just fine by self-teaching and a little bit of persistence. Everyone is going to say one thing is better than the other. So take everyone's advice with mild scepticism.
That being said, here's my starting-out advice:
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I think simple background music is nice while I'm doing anything, or nothing. That is, music that doesn't scream presence. No lyrics, ear-worms, epic chords, etc.
Genres like Lo-fi, Jazz or Classical can be considered background music. Incidentally, it can also colour an otherwise mundane room.
There is so much information and content on the internet that it is impossible to keep up.
More content is being made every minute than you'll probably ever see.
Trying to keep up requires an absurd amount of effort that will drain you. People who frequent social media are most susceptible to this habit.
Fortunately the solution here is simple. Get off the internet. You don't need to know everything. Chill out. I'm the type of guy who's usually out of the loop, and you know what? Life is just fine. I learn about what I want to learn about and that's it. Don't surf for the sake of it.
See Also:
If you don't have a hobby, start looking for one.
One with productivity is ideal. Most importantly, it should be something you enjoy.
Here's a list of productive hobbies you could try:
Of course, this is by no means comprehensive. Perhaps there's something niche you already enjoy. Sports and martial arts are especially good since they involve exercise. You'd be killing two birds with one stone.
As a side note, if you opt to learn martial arts, don't go to a generic "kid-friendly" venue. You will not learn anything useful. I learnt this the hard way when I did "Taekwondo" as a kid. Restraint punches and kicks, learning useless "patterns" and fancy roundhouse kicks. Half the time was literally spent playing games. This was ultimately just setting me up to screw myself over when an adversary comes.
It's simple. Fight or flight. Want me to tell you how to deal with a guy holding a knife? Run. You know how to run, right? If you can get away, it's guaranteed survival without a scratch. On the flip-side, an entitled idiot would probably approach them and attempt a cool axe kick, and then get stabbed.
Now if running isn't an option, then some good martial arts techniques can serve you well. Popular Filipino martial arts like Kali are considered good. Best case scenario, you disarm or immobilise them within seconds and they give up. Leaving scratch-free is unlikely in these scenarios.
See Also:
Getting back to the main topic, if you don't like any of the hobbies you try, that's fine. The point is, soon enough, you will find something that sticks to you. If you no longer enjoy an existing hobby, that's fine. You do not have to keep pursuing it. Having hobbies (new or old) will also add character to your frame as a social individual.
Ambidexterity is the ability to use both the left and right hand as well as each other.
The simplest and least intrusive way to build ambidexterity is to brush your teeth with your non-dominant hand. Depending on how often you brush, you will learn to work with both hands more efficiently.
AutoEQ is a project that creates equalisation profiles to overlay on the factory sound profile of headphones. The goal is to match the default profile of headphones as close as possible to the Harman Target Curve, which is a "frequency response standard" guideline for headphones.
Basically, it can make your headphones sound as neutral as possible, as opposed to "punchy" or "vibrant". To non-audiophiles, that might sound boring, but having a neutral sound profile is actually the best for an optimal listening experience.
See also:
Do you ever listen to a song and think that certain sounds feel much louder than others, like a constant muddy bass, or a sharp, piercing sound? This is usually the result of an unbalanced profile (or poor mastering on the artist's end), and it is essentially what AutoEQ aims to correct.
In practice, it is effective in its precision. Best case scenario, it can make commercial headphones sound like professional studio monitors. I use the Sony WH-1000XM4 headphones, which in the audiophile community, are notoriously known for its incredibly muddy and generally terrible sound profile.
With AutoEq applied, these go from barely acceptable sound quality, to some of the best I've heard in headphones. Everything - particularly the mid frequencies, sound far clearer.
You can find an illustration on the process and result here.
Applying this to your devices might be tricky depending on what you use. Windows and Android seem to have the simplest solutions. See the Usage section for more info.
The consensus seems to be that DeepL gives better results than all its competitors, including Google. I can only speak for Japanese to English translations, but DeepL's results are impressive.
That being said, translation engines still have a way to go before they can be considered reliable for native level stuff, but it's still acceptable for when you're in a pinch. I now understand why my old French teacher hated us using Google translate years ago.
Privacy is not a tool or a privilege. It is an instinctual practice. One that you and I are intimately familiar with.
However, privacy in the digital space is an entirely different monster. Any invasive practices always happen behind digital curtains. Ones that we cannot see or sense. This general lack of understanding, combined with the convenience of tech, is the reason why data mining companies have been able to thrive so much.
There is a lot to cover in this topic, and there is no way I can summarise it here, but these websites are good places to start:
You should be made aware that digital privacy is a massive rabbit hole. Many cult-like groups live here and these same people will advocate an all-or-nothing ideology, which isn't productive. Privacy exists on a spectrum, and many take this to an unnecessary extreme when there's little to no benefit.
Unless you're hiding from a powerful adversary, applying the 80/20 rule will be sufficient.
Privacy forums are often cult-like as well. Technical advice / troubleshooting should be the only reasons you even consider using them.
See also:
Technical issues are inevitable. Sometimes these issues are trivial, and other times they can lead to corruption of your very important data.
Let me keep this concise with the 3-2-1 Rule:
This setup is ideal because it accounts for the wide array of scenarios leading to loss of your information.
One important additional note is that you should encrypt your backups. This will allow peace of mind that even if an adversary got their hands on your backup, they wouldn't be able to access it. Mac users can use Time Machine with MacOS's built-in encryption software. Windows users can use BitLocker.
See also:
Chances are you either use the same few passwords for all your accounts, or you rely on Google, Apple or another company to store your passwords.
The former is a disaster waiting to happen. The latter is marginally better, but you are royally screwed if you lose access to your Google/Apple account.
Use a dedicated program to store all of your online accounts.
I will recommend two:
Change all of your online account passwords to ones created by your password manager's generator. Make them as long and as complex as websites allow.
As for your master password, which is the only password you'll need to remember, I would opt for a passphrase instead.
Complex 1-word passwords using all kinds of characters, such as "B@n@nA1", are actually very weak.
Opting for a simple, funny passphrase using a mere single special character, such as "imaddictedtobig+hardbananas", is magnitudes stronger. Ironically, most will find this passphrase is even easier to remember than any password.
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I wish I could keep this concise, but nutrition is both complex and essential.
Your diet is the most fundamentally important aspect of your life. What you eat will quite literally decide whether the future life you live will be a pleasant one, or a painful hell.
Romanticisation aside, this is a tricky topic to handle. Each and every human responds differently to food - sometimes in drastic ways, such as allergies. It is unreasonable to assume a one-size-fits-all approach.
In addition, it is easy to derail progress if you follow poor advice. Many diets exist out there that end up being more restrictive than nourishing - such as a low-fat diet, which is counter-productive. The best thing I can say is to research as much as possible, from as many decent sources as possible. At the end of the day, only you know what diet works for you.
With that in mind, here are some universal key points that I think everyone should consider:
I believe that getting your nutrients from wholly unprocessed foods exclusively is best. Nutrient supplements are only useful if you can't get sufficient nutrients from food.
Processed foods are generally always poor. Superficial ingredients such as preservatives or flavourings are always added to these foods. These ingredients are almost always foreign matter to the human body, and whether adverse reactions will occur due to long-term consumption of such ingredients, is anyone's guess.
I suppose one could research on all of these ingredients, but that would take a lot of effort, and not everyone has the time for that. Opting for organic, unprocessed foods is a simple solution that will sidestep the majority of this mess from the get-go.
Good quality food will always be more expensive than corner-cut alternatives. If you don't have much money to work with, you'll need to be smart about the foods you buy. For instance, I used to eat a lot of milk chocolate products. Thanks to dates, I managed to kill two birds with one stone by finding an unprocessed, sweet food that satiates my craving just as effectively.
As for drinks, water makes this simple. I can only think that soft drinks, energy drinks and generally any commercial drink will only leave one worse off in the long term.
Coffee, milk and herbal tea all contain many beneficial properties and can actually be made exceptions to this rule of thumb. But even these have adverse reactions on some people. Experiment for yourself to see what works and what doesn't.
Nowadays, it seems that many health-oriented corporations have been able to profit greatly from selling commercial products that, while solve the symptoms of an issue, may not necessarily target a problem at its roots. At the end of the day, their biggest interest usually lies in profit.
It's pretty common for corporations to sponsor scientists and researchers to gather information for said corporations' interests.
This can easily spiral down to potentially misleading information - whether that's the promotion of superficial, commercial products, or discouragement of actual remedies. These are some reasons to why I dislike advertisements in general.
It seems the best route forward is to look towards independent researchers for answers. It is far more likely that the works of independent researchers are not filtered by third parties, and we will understand exactly who's perspective it is coming from.
Here are some researches I've found that at the time of writing this, are independent researchers.