For example, I 3d printed a box over my outlet to protect my cables from my bed pushing against it. In addition, my cables never fall to the floor so they’re much easier to grab.
I bought 20 pairs of identical socks.Now every sock matches and makes putting away laundry easier.
Until the first few break down and you need to buy new ones, just to realize they are different from the ones you have by now (or discontinued outright).
Bold of you to assume that folk care if their socks match
I did this too :D I used to have 20 pairs of non-identical black socks, which made matching hard and it felt wrong to wear socks of slightly different type or size. Much easier now
I keep getting socks for Christmas though, which I never wear cause they’d mess up the simplicity
Lol that’s funny and and annoying in a good way…
Labelled bag clips on all the stuff in the freezer. When something runs out, the clip goes onto a bit of string, hanging from the bottom of a cupboard. Instant freezer shopping list.
Edit to note: The only weakness is that you only add things to your shopping list when they run out. The workaround is to have 2 bags of everything, though this wouldn’t suit everyone.
Basically a system where the clips act as Kanban-cards. Simple and effective!
oooooh this is a good one
I write everything in my freezer down on a list with a in/out side. Once the two sides equalize I cross the line off. I also record the date on the freezer bags and the list so I eat the older stuff first.
Helps keep track and makes shopping easy.
Overstock.
Buy two bottles of cleaner. One in the kitchen, one in the bathroom. Tool box lives in the garage, but I have spares in the kitchen drawer. Trash can in every room. Extra shoelaces sitting on the shoe rack. It doesn’t take up a lot of space and it makes life much easier when you don’t have to look for something.
Extra shoelaces? I don’t remember ever needing extra shoelaces ever in my life.
This is such a generational thing. My parents and grandparents would get shoes and have them resoled periodically. With a little care, a pair of shoes were expected to last decades. You used to see shoe repair shops in every neighborhood. I can’t remember the last time I brought a pair of shoes that could be resoled.
Shoes that can be resoled are way, way more expensive than shoes that can’t be. (See also Sam Vimes’ “boots” theory of socioeconomic unfairness)
I’m currently wearing a pair of boots manufactured in 1982. They where my grandfather’s. I’ll have them repaired for as long as I can find a cobbler to do it. New laces on occasion and shoe polish every few months.
IIRC most cobblers will work on Birkenstocks.
The day when you will,you’ll see that this is really smart.
My work boots typically go through 2-3 sets of laces over their lifespan.
You sound like someone who has never lived in a small space.
Started distancing myself from friends who become political extremists and life is much calmer
Unless all you did was talk about politics, how does it actually affect a relationship (unless they say something actually atrocious)?
In my experience with these types of people, they more and more frequently shift conversation to them wanting their beliefs validated, because normal people have stopped engaging with them.
Can understand now. If everything someone’s wants to talk is politics then really is not that fun to be around.
I have a friend who was a classic Catholic libertarian in college–he held some views on trans rights, abortion, and economic justice that I find deeply disagreeable. It made conversations a little tricky because there were a whole set of topics I couldn’t bring up unless I wanted to wade into a debate immediately; sometimes I did, but often I just wanted to hang out and chill and that was hampered.
It took him exactly one year of being out of college and working a real job to realize that his economic views were fucked, and the whole rest of it unraveled from there. He’s now a staunch leftist, and it’s way, way easier to hang out with him.
That’s not, however, to say it’s not worth having friends you disagree with. We remained friends because we were able to disagree productively, and I feel I understand my own political views far better for all those long nights discussing them. Still, it was a friendship that took unusual effort to maintain.
When I was in college I had zero knowledge of how to cook so I relied on what my mom packed me and takeaways.
I decided to learn how to make basic stuff, like pasta, eggs, baked potatoes, etc and it saved me tons of money.
I’m not a good cook by a long shot but I can feed myself and to this day I enjoy some quality time in the kitchen.
This also makes you good dating material, for anyone out there who could use the advice 😉
Try and find a cheap deal for a meal service like hellofresh or blue apron or any other service. I didn’t want to, but my spouse did. I’ve learned some good techniques and used ingredients I would not normally use. Don’t sign up long term, just get a box or two or whatever and cancel. Once you’ve learned your lesson you can extrapolate that.
When going on vacations abroad, we bring a power strip from home. With it, you’ll only need a single international converter to power multiple devices.
I do this as well, but add in a 10 port USB charger and some USB cables so I can charge all my devices.
That sounds like its gonna explode XD
I learned to tie some knots. The canadian jam knot and the constrictor basically replaced zip ties for me
This reminds me of a r/coolguides post on many different knots. I should find that one and start practicing.
Edit: I just found this website. It shows animated knots.
Deleting my social media accounts, migrating from yahoo/google mail, using a password manager, using an ad blocker, frequent backups, all kinds of scripting automations for work, Plex, home automation, learning to fix stuff around the house by myself (some plumbing, some electrical, whatever is safe and easier - it’s hard to come by a good, available specialist these days).
In my experience, most of that is the opposite of making your life “easier,” but instead makes your life better in other ways at the expense of ease.
I mean a lot of the suggestions are do some work ahead of time to make everyday easier which is what I see now. maybe not the backups but that is more about reducing major grief in your life so ill allow it (but not op but love making pop culture references).
I leave a roll of trash bags in the bottom of the trash bin, so it’s where I need it when I need it - instead of taking up place elsewhere or getting lost. I do this for all trash bins. In the kitchen, at the toilets, at work, in the garage etc.
Also, with all the different sorting these days, I’ve decided not to sort the plastic, paper, glass etc. at the source, but just use one big container for all the clean stuff. When it’s full, I’ll take it out and sort it at the actual trashcan outside which is the place where it actually needs sorting. There’s no need to keep 5 or more different trash containers under the kitchen sink to be emptied separately.
I leave a roll of trash bags in the bottom of the trash bin
That seems like it would work real well until one of the bags leaks gross stuff all over it.
We do this for work trash but not for home trash
I stopped listening to news radio in the morning. Music is the way to go to start the day.
Eliminated Google, Microsoft, Apple, Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, and all of the affiliate companies and services for the mentioned ones, from my life. Now all I have is Linux based and self-hosted. My life’s toxicity levels dropped to pretty much nothing since then.
What do you use for search?
I have my own self-hosted instances of Ecosia, Searx and Whoogle.
I started doing things immediately when I see that they need to be done to look out for Future Me. It sucked at first, but it’s a habit now. I haven’t been putting things off as much as I used to. Future Me always appreciates it.
future me! fuck that guy! sic.
Buy multiple chargers and charging cables for my devices. One on my nightstand, one on my desk, one in the living room and one in my work bag.
If it’s relatively cheap, buy multiples and spread them around so you’ll never have to look for it.
Just did this recently as well. This is the way.
You can also buy USB C adapters if you have multiple different devices but don’t want to carry around multiple cables.
Get a bag of those as well if you think that helps! Make your life easier.
I prefer that minimalism
I don’t buy personal electronics, phone cases, or other items in black if I have the option. Not quite as rigorously I’ve stopped buying black or dark clothing where possible. Decades of buying everything in black or darker shades as the default and at some point I realized it’s pretty damn bland and makes everything harder to find if lost.
I’m the opposite, I started buying everything in black. Makes choices easy and I don’t have to worry about matching colours or whatever lol
That was my logic too. Wait until you’ve been doing it for decades.
(In all seriousness it’s totally a personal preference, but I’m glad I stopped.)
I buy all my electronics in black, because they can last decades and still look fine. Most white or colored stuff become yellowish with time.
I’ve done the same with a lot of “easy to lose” things; I’ll go for white or other bright colors so it’s easier to spot and harder to misplace or forget. I lost my water bottle the other day because it was nighttime and the bottle is black.
That’s actually a great example - my water bottle is so bright i looks like it should burn you if you touch it - and for exactly that reason. 😁
I travel with a work toolbox, among my stuff are drill bits and taps. I used to keep them all loose in a small container, and whenever I had to both drill a hole and tap it, I had to find the tap and then fish around for the correct but. Now I tie them together with elastic bands, so whenever I pick up a tap it has the correct bit attached.
