What I read: 100 ways to slightly improve your life without really trying by The Guardian Saturday magazine team. Published January 1, 2022.
Typically I avoid articles titled “X Ways to…” or “Y Ideas to…”, but for some reason I stopped when I saw this one. Maybe it’s the “slightly” part that drew me in. Self-help advice ranges from needing to exert a monumental amount of energy to rather simple actions. It’s the simple things that I find compelling nowadays because the really big exertions of effort for self-improvement seem to crash and burn shortly after launch, at least much of the time.
The article’s introduction offers a concise allure.
Whether it’s taking fruit to work (and to the bedroom!), being polite to rude strangers or taking up skinny-dipping, here’s a century of ways to make life better, with little effort involved …
Yes, the “bedroom” part grabbed me because we all know any allusion to sex sells. But apart from that, we all want to make life generally better in whatever ways we can. If we’re able to do that in tiny, simple ways, I’m not going to pass up such possibilities. So, I read the article and found it quite useful.
Here are a few of the 100 suggestions I found most interesting, but I recommend you read them all. It might seem like cheesy clickbait material, but it’s not.
2 On the fence about a purchase? Wait 72 hours before you buy it.
I already do this and recommend it. Hitting the pause button for any purchase inevitably leads to me not buying something much of the time. I’m an impulse purchase marketer’s worst nightmare. I almost never buy something upon first encountering it. Probably the only exception to that is books, but even then I’m likely to add it to a future reading list and only buy it once I’m convinced it’s a book I want.
16 Set aside 10 minutes a day to do something you really enjoy – be it reading a book or playing Halo.
The thing I enjoy more than anything is reading. Books in particular. I set aside at least 10 minutes (significantly more usually) to read every day. I also read in bed at night before sleeping. Maybe that violates some of the sleep strategies that encourage us to shut our brains down before bed, but it’s something I’ve been doing since I was a young child and it brings me joy. I’m never going to stop.
Also, this suggestion made me look up what Halo is and it reminded me that someday I want to explore gaming. I have a bunch of friends who play games together online and there’s something attractive about doing that with friends, old and new. Perhaps someday I’ll have one of those friends set me up with a game like Halo and give it a go.
19 Take a photo of the tag you are given when leaving your coat in a cloakroom.
I do this all the time. Not only do a take a photo of the coat check tag should I lose it, I also take photos when I drive and park somewhere unfamiliar. This has saved me time walking around massive parking lots looking for my car. Since I mostly rent cars (I don’t currently own one), I’m also not used to picking out “that” car from the many.
Use your phone’s camera to snap a quick photo of anything you want to remember if you don’t have time to jot down a note or if the cue to remember it is visual. I quickly send the photo from one of my email addresses to another so it doesn’t just disappear from memory among the countless photos on my phone.
27 If possible, take the stairs.
I always do this. I know some people need elevators or escalators due to mobility issues, but for those of us able to climb stairs your body will thank you if you do so.
33 Join your local library – and use it.
Just last month I renewed my local San Francisco Public Library card. Libraries are an endless source of free entertainment and knowledge.
I also hang out in libraries as a quiet place to read, write, and work. I haven’t done this much during the pandemic, but now that the landscape is looking better here in San Francisco since we’re such a highly vaccinated city, I’m comfortable going into libraries for extended periods again. Most libraries also have good public Wi-Fi available. Many libraries offer great educational events.
37 If you’re going less than a mile, walk or cycle. About half of car journeys are under two miles, yet these create more pollution than longer journeys as the engine isn’t warmed up yet.
About 12 years ago my car ended up being killed by a clumsy auto technician (long story) and I decided at that time to try going without a car for a while. I never regretted that decision. Of course, I live in a dense urban environment. I can walk most places and public transit and on-demand car services are abundant. But whenever possible I try to walk wherever I need to go. I build in the time to my schedule as needed.
As an example of a regular walk built into my schedule, my partner and I walk to the pet store a couple of times a week to buy cat food for our furry children. It’s about a 45-minute round trip walk. It makes us walk which is great exercise. It gives us 45 minutes to ourselves to chat and catch up without any other home or work distractions.
43 If you find an item of clothing you love and are certain you will wear for ever, buy three.
I take this a step further. I own 10 of the exact same black t-shirt that I wear most of the time. I have three pairs of the same jeans I rotate wearing. I buy two pairs of the same exact black sneakers I’ve been wearing for about a decade now. I keep one pair brand new in the box and when the pair I’m wearing wears out I buy another pair and start wearing the new ones. I know this sounds incredibly boring to some people, but not having to make clothing decisions every day saves me a lot of time. Your mileage may vary on this, but consider it.
Here’s an article about a guy who wears the same thing every day. I follow Matt D’Avella’s channel and he wears the same pants that he never washes (I know, sounds gross perhaps, but hear him out).
50 Learn how to floss properly.
I do this every night. Ask my dentist of 20 years. He’ll tell you that’s one of the things that’s kept my teeth and gums so healthy. If you only floss once a day, do it at night. My dentist told me that flossing at night is preferred since while you sleep mouth bacteria has a greater chance of building up. So by flossing at night you give yourself a bit of an edge in oral health.
57 Every so often, search your email for the word “unsubscribe” and then use it on as many as you can.
So helpful! Of course, don’t unsubscribe to my Substack (grin), but it’s astonishing how many email lists we sign up for or that we’re automatically added to without us realizing it. Unsubscribing from those annoying emails will give you back so much time in your life and unclog your inbox.
Here are two suggestions that run in parallel in my life.
74 Respect your youngers.
And…
98 Make a friend from a different generation.
Repeatedly we hear the directive to “respect your elders” but I’ve never bought into that alone because I think we should respect younger people just as much. This aligns with my habit of befriending people of all ages. I find hanging out and conversing with younger people adds new ideas and perspectives to my life that my older peers might not. So I mix up the ages (and types) of people I befriend and try to let them all inspire me. Also, when you respect younger people they tend to return that respect. Defaulting to assuming younger people should respect me when I don’t return that same respect seems like a crappy way to move through life.
Now, there are some things on the list that I don’t plan to apply to my life. For example…
42 Don’t have Twitter on your phone.
Nope. I love Twitter (follow me here). It’s actually my favorite social media platform. I find it a great source of news and information I can consume in tiny bites. Plus for me it’s just plain fun. So, I’ll be keeping Twitter on my phone.
I recommend you read the entire list of 100 tips. Even though I won’t follow a few of them, most of them are things I either already do or plan to give a try going forward.
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I normally don't read the articles of the type you cited but based on your recommendation, I read it and thoroughly enjoyed it. Some of the recommendations don't track for me either, but many do.