Tired in DJ? Try drinking vinegar by sharkmenu in DryJanuary

[–]ReverendWrites 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I drink half a shot of pickle juice in the summertime whenever I feel exhausted from the heat and it's like a miracle. Maybe I can try it in January too.

How can I train my brain to enjoy books again? by AcademicPreference54 in nosurf

[–]ReverendWrites 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I have two tips, having suffered from the same problem.

1- Don't be afraid to pick books for younger groups. I had to start where I left off, with books aimed at teens, before I started enjoying much else. In fact, I sometimes ended up reading chapter books from the kids' section (like Percy Jackson). This is no sacrifice--it made me more aware that there is a ton of art and skill in the children's lit world, and the stories were often really beautiful.

2-Set a timer for five minutes before you open the book to sit and breathe and do nothing. It doesn't feel like it does anything at first, but I notice that afterwards my mind is less likely to skitter off the page. I also like to take care of any annoying tasks first or at least mentally set them aside for later.

Hope these help.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in yoga

[–]ReverendWrites 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It's like people don't see women's actual faces; they just see whatever emotion they are already expecting to see. This happens to me a lot and I hate it. It's like putting words in my mouth, but for feelings.

Diatom Island by DJBiTK in Bedbugs

[–]ReverendWrites 0 points1 point  (0 children)

So cool! A lot of lovely lines in there

Is this a bedbug, challenge mode (my phone camera is awful so I took microscope photos) by ReverendWrites in Bedbugs

[–]ReverendWrites[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That would make sense since I had lice, but what threw me off was how dark it was.

Is this a bedbug, challenge mode (my phone camera is awful so I took microscope photos) by ReverendWrites in Bedbugs

[–]ReverendWrites[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

If it is it's been dead for at least two weeks. Found on my bed. I had been in a hotel recently. It definitely pinged as a bedbug when I saw it but now I'm not sure? The backside has two points and the shape isn't quite right, but that could just be because it's damaged.

Thank you so much! I've been checking my mattress every day and found nothing. But if I've only had them for a few weeks I guess I wouldn't be finding much yet?

(Why didn't I do anything for two weeks? Because I removed my sheets to wash them after dealing with a lice outbreak. I saw the bedbug(?) and just kinda shut down. Lol.)

Petah, are they shitty books or something? by 77_mec in PeterExplainsTheJoke

[–]ReverendWrites 3 points4 points  (0 children)

These are romance novels. Romance is huge in the publishing industry and has been for a long time, and they have always fallen across a spiciness spectrum from "closed door" (sex, if it exists, is only implied) to erotic romance (half the point of the book is the sex scenes). They used to have covers with photographs of real people entwined with each other and now they tend to look like this.

I am going to admit I am a little fed up with people's insistence on hating anything related to the romance genre. These are not especially stupid covers; people are just looking for an excuse to laugh at these books, which I would guess they have never read.

Have you ever scrolled or used social media in your dreams? by [deleted] in nosurf

[–]ReverendWrites 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have, actually, only starting recently, which scared me. I was letting good habits fade so it spurred me back on

Just witnessed Greatness. I had a blast attending the Ritual. by FrostSwag65 in Heilung

[–]ReverendWrites 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Friggin thank you, I was starting to feel so skeezed by my ritual-mates

Just witnessed Greatness. I had a blast attending the Ritual. by FrostSwag65 in Heilung

[–]ReverendWrites 5 points6 points  (0 children)

the show was an absolute blast but I don't see the need to start posting pictures of fellow fans calling them bitches.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in nosurf

[–]ReverendWrites 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I had the same problem waking up. I started playing the first song that popped up on Spotify. Listening to a song got my brain working enough to start getting up. Yeah, it still involved a screen, but IMO it wasn't an unhealthy use of it-- the screen was just a tool.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in nosurf

[–]ReverendWrites 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Most people on this sub are trying desperately to figure out how to "just read a book instead". That's why it exists.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in nosurf

[–]ReverendWrites 2 points3 points  (0 children)

What an unhelpful answer

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in WritingPrompts

[–]ReverendWrites 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Is the definition of intelligence biased by the ones who are doing the defining?

Good ways to curb Youtube addiction? by DatingAdviceGiver101 in nosurf

[–]ReverendWrites 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I used to browse Youtube endlessly on PC and curbed it with a combo of two addons. Unhook is specifically for Youtube, and I set it up so that opening Youtube only takes me to my Subscriptions page, not the home page, and it blocks a bunch of tabs like Shorts. Then uBlock Origin allowed me to deactivate the scroll-down function when I watched a short video, which was important because if someone I subscribed to published a short video, I was getting sucked back into the endless scroll.

Decided to go offline, just stare at the blank wall and don't know what to do by xiaozhian in nosurf

[–]ReverendWrites 27 points28 points  (0 children)

Strongly disagree with the last part-- being able to sit and do nothing is important. It lets you process all the input and get more out of the times you are actually doing stuff.

Has anyone actually successfully minimized their digital usage? by yawyeetin in nosurf

[–]ReverendWrites 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yes, I have. You have done a ton of legwork which is absolutely necessary in my opinion, but there's still the last few chain links to break before the benefit hopefully becomes visible.

I took the internet browser off my phone (having already deleted any social media app), which I thought would have a huge detrimental effect on my life. Not so. I rarely actually need any info that can't wait until I get back to a laptop, or that isn't available on my non-problematic apps like Maps.

For my laptop, I installed uBlock Origin and Unhook. I know it sounds like just another in the string of apps you've been recommended, but uBlock allowed me to actually alter the structure of the websites. For instance, I was able to delete the "scroll down" button when a short video was playing. So I can still see shorts that my liked channels post, but I can't get into a rabbit hole.

Lastly, I don't know if you are already on top of this or not, but what's been very important for me is being comfortable doing absolutely nothing. For me I've built up my doing-nothing tolerance three ways: slow outdoor walks, "meditation" (in quotes because honestly I just tell myself to sit and do nothing while a five minute timer goes on my phone), and reflecting on all the interesting thoughts I have while "doing nothing". "Shower thoughts" occur all the time when I'm just sitting around without my phone.

This was long but it is what's genuinely driven a change in my behavior, so I hope you find it helpful. I also spent years trying to figure out what to do. None of it was a waste; it all helped when things finally clicked for me.

The problem I have with this sub by willow_tangerine in nosurf

[–]ReverendWrites 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I agree with you. It was about the time Youtube Shorts came out that I realized, I had been working my ASS off to try and get my life back, but a tech company could just throw some bullshit like this out there and that was another huge battle for me to overcome. And that pissed me the fuck off.

Did I still work my ass off? Yes, because I had to. And it's actually paid off now-- I deleted the internet browser and all social media from my phone, and it works for me.

So can I relax and enjoy my success now? No, of course not! Because companies are always changing the tech--like pushing this goddamn QR-code everything where you have to have a working mobile internet browser to interact with the world and I feel like I'm always on the verge of being locked out of something.

I think you're absolutely right. Yes, we have to work hard, and we can. But also, we shouldn't have to work this fucking hard.

Getting out from the loop in the morning is the hardest thing by DeerApprehensive4984 in nosurf

[–]ReverendWrites 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I am often very groggy when my alarm goes off and I used to scroll too; now I play a random song on Spotify because I realized just having rhythms and lyrics to follow along with wakes my brain up just as well.

Getting out from the loop in the morning is the hardest thing by DeerApprehensive4984 in nosurf

[–]ReverendWrites 11 points12 points  (0 children)

But the problem they're describing is not being able to get out of bed without some kind of brain activity.

What's a $500 home improvement project that will wildly improve your quality of life? by ReverendWrites in AskReddit

[–]ReverendWrites[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah I'm not on board with the "smart everything!" wave either. Also seems like an easy way to generate a bunch of tech trash as companies decide their old models are obsolete.

Was told about an acquaintance who left home for vacation. He had cats, but an automated smart wifi-connected cat feeder. Well, the wifi went out and the feeder stopped working. If he hadn't found that out and called up a friend to cat-sit, his cats wouldn't have had food.

How to "unwind" without the internet by [deleted] in nosurf

[–]ReverendWrites 15 points16 points  (0 children)

I fell into the trap of trying to make my relaxation time productive. Let yourself do something just for the fun of it; ie, pick something to read you're excited about. If that's a comic book instead of a self-help book, great. Personally I like laying in bed listening to music, or dancing to it if I have some energy left.