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Learn how to take care of yourself first. That includes: * learning to cook and prepare your own food. * learn proper sleeping habits and make a routine that

Learn how to take care of yourself first. That includes: * learning to cook and prepare your own food. * learn proper sleeping habits and make a routine that feels comfortable. * learn to exercise - pick an activity and do it consistently with some goals in mind. * learn to budget money and manage expenses. * learn to groom yourself and maintain a regular cleanliness routine * learn to entertain yourself alone - without the internet (ex. reading a book, telling a story, etc) * learn how devices you own work and how to troubleshoot/repair them (ex. fridge, ac, oven, car) The general theme I have is that "the things you own, end up owning you", if you are not accountable for them. Start with the things you can't get rid of like your body and then question everything else you introduce into your life to eliminate clutter. Examples: - if you don't know how to prepare food your diet depends on what restaurants offer and you have little control over ingredients, portion size, calorie intake... - if you pass out in front of the tv and wake up on the couch it is unlikely that you will feel motivated in the morning. Likely you will pick up McDonald's breakfast on the way to work cause you are running late. - if you give up on exercising your body you will quickly feel powerless when you have to move something heavy.

jjice 6y ago
Definitely a good, broad list that can apply to everyone. I feel like the last two are especially relevant today in a world where the internet dominates my generation and we're in a culture that replaces instead of repairs. I am definitely guilty of failing on your second to last bullet, and I should work on that.
- oldsklgdfth 6y ago
  I used to have a similar list of things to do daily on my whiteboard. These are items that I can easily stray from and have to remind myself to come back to and reinforce. In my personal experience, these things have a much great impact on my well-being and quality of life and they are within my control. In contrast with ideal of how I think society/world should be. If you become accountable to the things that are within your control (ie. thoughts and actions) you will quickly notice that trying to control things beyond that is futile and a source of frustration.
- Cthulhu_ 6y ago
  Re: replace instead of repair, one issue is that replacement parts for e.g. electronics can end up being more expensive than a new and updated replacement (with factory warranty). I've tried to fix a deep fryer I got for free, the switch was broken but it was a pretty generic flip switch with a light in it, the local electronics shop had a replacement for like €2 or so. That didn't fix it though, I suspect there's a temperature safety somewhere inside that isn't working right anymore. So far I've had it filled, warmed up, tried out, turned off, cleaned, opened up, etc four or five times already without having fixed it. It'll be €40 to buy a new one. It's probably fixable, or I could probably replace only the heating unit, but just the heating unit (that is compatible with this one) is likely impossible to get and no cheaper than a new one. But that's just one example. I for one am interested in seeing products that cost more but that are of provable higher quality and repairability. There's some youtube channels that disassemble electric tools and point out at all the small or big things that make it good or bad / cheap, things like the kind of plastic used, bushings vs bearings, open vs closed bearings, etc.
pknerd 6y ago
Amazing points. Thanks!
oftenwrong 6y ago
It's a bit bewildering how many people (mostly men) there are around that cannot cook properly. They have lived their entire life depending on others to eat something decent. Learning to cook is often cited as a way to impress and woo others, but the primary beneficiary is oneself. Being able to cook well is freeing. It's easy to practice because you have to eat anyway. When you end up with leftover ingredients, come up with a way to use that in a different meal. Repeat every day, and soon you will be a master. I can almost always improvise a good meal for a group with no recipes, using only ingredients at hand.
- diehunde 6y ago
  I disagree. Some people cut their own hair or build their own furniture and would say everyone needs to know how to do that stuff instead of depending on and paying someone else. There's a reason cooking is also a profession, and there's nothing wrong with depending on them. People who like to cook don't seem to understand that others (like me) just hate cooking and have zero interest in learning since it wouldn't bring me any benefits. I can order healthy food, I'm not overspending, and I can eat stuff that would be a pain in the ass to cook at home. On the other hand, I also hate exercising, but it brings health and mental benefits that are undeniable. In summary, just like I don't want to cut my own hair or building my own furniture, I have no problem paying a professional to prepare my food.
  - cweagans 6y ago
    People don't _require_ furniture or a haircut (i.e. you can survive without them). Everyone _needs_ to eat. Opting out of knowing how to take care of your own basic needs just because you can currently pay someone else to do it seems very shortsighted.
    - diehunde 6y ago
      Fair enough. So assuming you need a house to survive, do you need to know how to build one? If your toilet breaks, do you know how to fix it? Again, some people would argue that calling "the guy" is always shortsighted and wasteful because you can do it by yourself. Cooking is no different. Maybe a couple of decades ago, but not today.
kryogen1c 6y ago
> learning to cook and prepare your own food. > learn to budget money and manage expenses. if you've never done this before, i very, very strongly suggest you look at how much eating out is costing you. my wife and i are saving literally thousands of dollars a month.
- born_on_sega 6y ago
  How do you managed budget and food?
  - joshstrange 6y ago
    Not who you are replying to but I recently (2.5 months ago) started using YNAB again and have fallen in love with it. The last time I tried it was when it was desktop software but their newer web-based version with transaction import/sync is a game changer for me. As for food I can't really help there. I ended up writing my own app to manage/track expiration dates for what I have but that's barely the tip of the ice-burg. I hope to integrate with my recipe app (Paprika) to work on meal-planning and picking recipes I like while trying to use up the stuff that will go bad first.
    - abnercoimbre 6y ago
      Used YNAB a lot to develop discipline, then switched to Lunch Money [0]. It's being worked on by a solopreneur; she's awesome. The app is, I think, a natural evolution for the YNABer who got the discipline and now doesn't need to track every single dollar all the time. [0] https://lunchmoney.app https://lunchmoney.app
      - jnfr 6y ago
        Thank you for the shoutout, and that's wonderful to hear! :D
  - kryogen1c 6y ago
    this is a very un-HN answer, and i wish i had something sexier for you, but: Excel. we look at statements from our various accounts, enter into a data tab, then group expenses into categories: house (elec, water, cable, etc), food, vehicles (gas, tolls, oil, loan, etc) fun (spotify, netflix, etc). as the saying goes, you cant manage what you dont measure.
decasteve 6y ago
These seem obvious and fundamental yet devalued by school in terms of preparing kids for the “real world”. This disconnect only seems to be getting worse from my perspective.
- oldsklgdfth 6y ago
  My mom was very involved in our education and used to say “education starts at home”. I feel like this mindset is not shared in today’s society to our detriment.
antb123 6y ago
++ pick up a social hobby that you enjoy doing with others ++ Learn to meditate ++ Creativity is fostered by learning deep and wide. Learn something outside of computers... etc
bitKong 6y ago
Ha, paramount, this is important above all for a healthy mind and soul to be productive

jjice 6y ago

Definitely a good, broad list that can apply to everyone. I feel like the last two are especially relevant today in a world where the internet dominates my generation and we're in a culture that replaces instead of repairs. I am definitely guilty of failing on your second to last bullet, and I should work on that.

oldsklgdfth 6y ago
I used to have a similar list of things to do daily on my whiteboard. These are items that I can easily stray from and have to remind myself to come back to and reinforce. In my personal experience, these things have a much great impact on my well-being and quality of life and they are within my control. In contrast with ideal of how I think society/world should be. If you become accountable to the things that are within your control (ie. thoughts and actions) you will quickly notice that trying to control things beyond that is futile and a source of frustration.
Cthulhu_ 6y ago
Re: replace instead of repair, one issue is that replacement parts for e.g. electronics can end up being more expensive than a new and updated replacement (with factory warranty). I've tried to fix a deep fryer I got for free, the switch was broken but it was a pretty generic flip switch with a light in it, the local electronics shop had a replacement for like €2 or so. That didn't fix it though, I suspect there's a temperature safety somewhere inside that isn't working right anymore. So far I've had it filled, warmed up, tried out, turned off, cleaned, opened up, etc four or five times already without having fixed it. It'll be €40 to buy a new one. It's probably fixable, or I could probably replace only the heating unit, but just the heating unit (that is compatible with this one) is likely impossible to get and no cheaper than a new one. But that's just one example. I for one am interested in seeing products that cost more but that are of provable higher quality and repairability. There's some youtube channels that disassemble electric tools and point out at all the small or big things that make it good or bad / cheap, things like the kind of plastic used, bushings vs bearings, open vs closed bearings, etc.

pknerd 6y ago

Amazing points. Thanks!

oftenwrong 6y ago

It's a bit bewildering how many people (mostly men) there are around that cannot cook properly. They have lived their entire life depending on others to eat something decent. Learning to cook is often cited as a way to impress and woo others, but the primary beneficiary is oneself. Being able to cook well is freeing. It's easy to practice because you have to eat anyway. When you end up with leftover ingredients, come up with a way to use that in a different meal. Repeat every day, and soon you will be a master. I can almost always improvise a good meal for a group with no recipes, using only ingredients at hand.

diehunde 6y ago
I disagree. Some people cut their own hair or build their own furniture and would say everyone needs to know how to do that stuff instead of depending on and paying someone else. There's a reason cooking is also a profession, and there's nothing wrong with depending on them. People who like to cook don't seem to understand that others (like me) just hate cooking and have zero interest in learning since it wouldn't bring me any benefits. I can order healthy food, I'm not overspending, and I can eat stuff that would be a pain in the ass to cook at home. On the other hand, I also hate exercising, but it brings health and mental benefits that are undeniable. In summary, just like I don't want to cut my own hair or building my own furniture, I have no problem paying a professional to prepare my food.
- cweagans 6y ago
  People don't _require_ furniture or a haircut (i.e. you can survive without them). Everyone _needs_ to eat. Opting out of knowing how to take care of your own basic needs just because you can currently pay someone else to do it seems very shortsighted.
  - diehunde 6y ago
    Fair enough. So assuming you need a house to survive, do you need to know how to build one? If your toilet breaks, do you know how to fix it? Again, some people would argue that calling "the guy" is always shortsighted and wasteful because you can do it by yourself. Cooking is no different. Maybe a couple of decades ago, but not today.

kryogen1c 6y ago

> learning to cook and prepare your own food. > learn to budget money and manage expenses. if you've never done this before, i very, very strongly suggest you look at how much eating out is costing you. my wife and i are saving literally thousands of dollars a month.

born_on_sega 6y ago
How do you managed budget and food?
- joshstrange 6y ago
  Not who you are replying to but I recently (2.5 months ago) started using YNAB again and have fallen in love with it. The last time I tried it was when it was desktop software but their newer web-based version with transaction import/sync is a game changer for me. As for food I can't really help there. I ended up writing my own app to manage/track expiration dates for what I have but that's barely the tip of the ice-burg. I hope to integrate with my recipe app (Paprika) to work on meal-planning and picking recipes I like while trying to use up the stuff that will go bad first.
  - abnercoimbre 6y ago
    Used YNAB a lot to develop discipline, then switched to Lunch Money [0]. It's being worked on by a solopreneur; she's awesome. The app is, I think, a natural evolution for the YNABer who got the discipline and now doesn't need to track every single dollar all the time. [0] https://lunchmoney.app https://lunchmoney.app
    - jnfr 6y ago
      Thank you for the shoutout, and that's wonderful to hear! :D
- kryogen1c 6y ago
  this is a very un-HN answer, and i wish i had something sexier for you, but: Excel. we look at statements from our various accounts, enter into a data tab, then group expenses into categories: house (elec, water, cable, etc), food, vehicles (gas, tolls, oil, loan, etc) fun (spotify, netflix, etc). as the saying goes, you cant manage what you dont measure.

decasteve 6y ago

These seem obvious and fundamental yet devalued by school in terms of preparing kids for the “real world”. This disconnect only seems to be getting worse from my perspective.

oldsklgdfth 6y ago
My mom was very involved in our education and used to say “education starts at home”. I feel like this mindset is not shared in today’s society to our detriment.

antb123 6y ago

++ pick up a social hobby that you enjoy doing with others ++ Learn to meditate ++ Creativity is fostered by learning deep and wide. Learn something outside of computers... etc

bitKong 6y ago

Ha, paramount, this is important above all for a healthy mind and soul to be productive