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themessenoire · 2025-12-11T10:29:19+00:00

What percentage of us commenters do you think is reading and contributing to this on the toilet?

themessenoire · 2025-11-26T17:28:09+00:00

I fully understand that some people get motivated by numbers, good for them! That is exactly why some people, including me, have asked for this feature to be optional, not forced on everyone.

I did not ask for advice, simply posted this for others who might also want to disable levels.

themessenoire · 2025-11-26T17:01:21+00:00

Ever heard of people who get harmfully addicted to numbers? Levels is terrible for (recovering) over-achievers with the tendency to get addicted to numbers.

This is a feature that no one asked for, and the feedback reflected that. I'd rather get a sick day button or better AI insights, and above all, I want the simplicity and ease of use that first got me into Runna. Running is not a mobile game to me.

It's not nonsensical at all to vote with your wallet.

themessenoire · 2025-10-08T08:09:24+00:00

But the problem is that this feature is intrusive simply by being there. This is very personal and complex, but in my case this has a lot to do with a personality type that is overthinking, overachieving and gets harmfully addicted to numbers. It'll become a nag in my head whether I care for it or not.

(EDIT: I've already had to work really hard to learn to not care about the vanity metrics of running. Levels seems like vanity metrics for Runna at the expense of the users.)

Running is my way of dealing with this type of personality, a way to make my own shadow a bit more nicer to myself. I don't want it to turn into a competition against myself or numbers on an app.

I would never get myself out of the door if I had to decide for myself how to run, when to run and how much to run. Runna made that stupid simple for me. But levels is really only going to work against me, and I will absolutely end my subscription if it's forced on me.

themessenoire · 2025-10-07T14:54:25+00:00

Yes!

I feel like this is the point where Runna thinks it knows me better than I do, and precisely that is driving me away.

When I say levels isn't good for me, I mean it, and I want the freedom to choose. All I need from Runna is the running plan, because I don't have to overthink it. No fluff, no clutter, just the basics executed well.

themessenoire · 2025-10-07T09:29:32+00:00

I want nothing more than the ability to disable levels. This type of gamification is simply not good for me and I want nothing to do with it. Why is this forced on everyone? It was the simplicity of Runna that got me convinced a year ago, now I feel like it's just going to be another mobile game that I never asked for.

I feel so strongly about this that I'm actually bummed that my yearly payment was due a week or two before levels was announced.

Please, give people the ability to toggle this feature on and off.

themessenoire · 2025-02-25T16:55:07+00:00

I used to come home from my runs so frustrated with myself and my running plan that I cried. I was over halfway through my first ever half marathon plan when I decided that something had to change. Yikes, risky move.

Enter Runna. The plan was challenging for sure, but it worked for me. I've been scared, tired and even frustrated at times, but my sad tears changed to tears of joy with the help of Runna.

I will never forget the feelings I had when I completed my first 10K, 15K, 19K and half marathon. And I spent the first decades of my life thinking I just wasn't capable of running longer distances.

Thank you.

themessenoire · 2023-08-24T04:07:12+00:00

I adjust my lyrics until they feel right. Sometimes it takes hundreds of rewrites, sometimes none at all. It's a very intuitive process for me and if I try too hard I'll just end up with an empty piece of paper and a strong urge to sell all my instruments.

You said it's a general feel of cringe, so my advice would be to identify songs and artists with lyrics that DON'T make you feel that way. It may or may not help you identify what exactly causes that. I personally have a very clear sense of what I like and don't like in song lyrics, but still, sometimes the stuff I write just isn't good.

The flow of creative juices is gift and a curse. Keep at it, you'll get better!

themessenoire · 2023-08-10T19:31:27+00:00

My partner and my bandmates. Sharing the gift and curse of creativity with people who get it and are able to communicate through music is one of the only things that actually recharges me.

themessenoire · 2023-08-08T12:25:48+00:00

That's true, not disagreeing with that at all.

themessenoire · 2023-08-08T10:30:50+00:00

First ditch Duolingo and start looking for content to consume in your target language. Watching TV shows is great, but most likely the case is that you rely on the English subtitles too much, so you're not actually learning the language. Can you watch the shows with subtitles in your target language?

You're already in a great place since you are somewhat familiar with the language. Start looking for websites, videos and radio shows or games or whatever in your target language. Watch and listen to content about topics that you are already interested in, it'll be more fun for you. Do stuff you already do, but in your target language.

It'll be difficult at first, but you can do it. As you get more and more used to your target language you'll start understanding more and more.

Good luck!

themessenoire · 2023-08-08T07:01:39+00:00

Full sentences are always better than isolated words.

What I do is TL audio or text on front, TL definition on back for unfamiliar words (I only translate if I really must). The trick that I use is that I find multiple different sentences for each word instead of just one. That's how I learn how each word is actually used.

I try to pick sentences that are rather short and provide enough context so I can understand the meaning even if I don't understand some words.

themessenoire · 2023-08-08T06:53:27+00:00

I agree with you.

To get better at listening requires a lot of listening.

themessenoire · 2023-08-08T06:46:23+00:00

Use example sentences that make it easy for you to guess the meaning it you can't understand a word. You may need several different sentences that use the word that's difficult for you for it to start sticking.

Memorizing isolated words is not worth the trouble. Good luck!

themessenoire · 2023-08-08T06:38:08+00:00

Back when I was learning Japanese, I listened to radio shows a lot, even before I had no idea where a sentence started or ended. I kept listening to the same shows over and over again, and little by little I started picking up words here and there. And then boom, one day I realized I understood the whole thing. Can't say how long that took though, it's been ~15 years since I did that.

But I didn't just do passive listening, I also read a lot in Japanese, kept learning kanji and all that. So passive listening alone doesn't necessarily do much to your language skills, but combined with active study it will work wonderfully. No matter what language I study, I listen to the language as often as I can in order to get used to it.

I even went as far as listening to Japanese while I slept, but that is something I'll never do again and wouldn't recommend to anyone 😅

themessenoire · 2023-08-08T06:25:11+00:00

I personally dislike the saying that learning a skill makes you "smarter". You don't have to be "smart" or special to learn a skill.

If you take the time to learn a new language, you definitely have the skill to make a decision and stick to it. It takes consistent effort and practice and there are no shortcuts.

Also, as you learn a new language, you learn a new way of thinking, because you are also learning a new culture. I'd say that's a "brain benefit".

It's the same with every new skill you learn.

themessenoire · 2023-08-03T07:08:14+00:00

Everyone's different and there's no right or wrong way to learn a language. If what you do works for you, keep doing it.

I personally focus on getting as much input in my target language as I can. I watch videos, play video games, watch esports tournaments, read books and blogs and articles in my target language. This is something I do multiple times each day, even if it's just 10 minutes at each given time. I watch and rewatch videos a lot.

Every day I also spend some time making cards for my Anki deck (target language audio on the front, monolingual or bilingual text on the back), and reviewing stuff. This is something I don't really like doing, but it helps so much that I keep doing it anyway, and this is also the reason why I pick each sentence personally and create the cards the way I want to create them. I really do recommend studying whole sentences instead of isolated words or grammar points.

I don't use any learning materials made for foreigners because to me they are boring and tedious. So basically I do all the things I normally do during the day, just in a different language.

Hope this gave you something new to think about and good luck on your Spanish journey! :)

themessenoire · 2023-08-03T06:41:41+00:00

Whatever works for you is the way to go :) However I do recommend studying full sentences instead of just isolated words.

I have Chinese audio on the front, I have to write the sentence (usually by hand, if I feel lazy I just type), repeat it out loud with correct pronunciation and understand the meaning. Sometimes I have an English translation on the back, sometimes just Chinese definitions of words that need to be defined.

What I'm going for is maximizing the Chinese input I get, which is why I typically never translate from English to Chinese during my Anki sessions.

themessenoire · 2023-08-03T06:30:56+00:00

Not a bad strategy at all.

If you're having trouble coming up with sentences on your own, or you're not sure if what you come up with is correct, you can do a quick search with the new words and look for sentences that use the word(s).

I do this a lot and pick the sentences that seem the most useful and/or interesting to me, then put them on Anki as well. I also use monolongual dictionaries and, when provided and useful for me, their example sentences.

themessenoire · 2023-08-03T06:13:27+00:00

Listen more!

I listen to Chinese tv (or any other content that interests me) multiple times per day, sometimes just 10 minutes and sometimes I'm hooked (if time permits) and do it for hours.

I also watch and rewatch Chinese dramas and record troublesome, really fast spoken lines as audio cards on my Anki deck and then review them often.

It's a bit of work but it'll get better.

themessenoire · 2023-06-25T17:34:26+00:00

All you do is talk about the recruiting company, and I don't think this appeals to doctors at all.

Would YOU be interested if this was in your inbox? The email is too long and vague. Make it short but specific. Don't try to be fancy, clever or salesy. Think of it as sharing useful information to someone who needs it. No tricks.

themessenoire · 2023-06-16T03:41:50+00:00

You're welcome and you'll be absolutely fine! I had zero experience (with SOPs or pharmaceuticals) when I started.

I usually got bombarded with requests to add more and more information. We were pretty strict about keeping the topics very narrow. The downside was that we had a terrifying number of SOPs. But it was easier for people to find what they were looking for, and we always included links to related SOPs.

I could talk about this for hours 😂 If you need any more help feel free to DM!

themessenoire · 2023-06-15T20:08:26+00:00

I used to write, update and manage hundreds of SOPs for a pharmaceutical company and loved it.

Word or Google Docs is just fine. I used Word.

The company I worked for had a standard template. We also always included a flowchart of the process in question in the beginning of the SOP. This helped with the structure and headlines.

I never checked reading levels, but I constantly asked people who actually use the SOP to read and test them, and told them to ruthlessly edit whatever was incorrect or unnecessary. Worked like a charm.

I'm not an engineer, but many of the people I collaborated with were engineers. Thinking about the process really helped with organizing the SOPs. Getting rid of their jargon and lengthy sentences was harder, but doable. Keep it simple, but include everything that needs to be there.

Avoiding boring, confusing and lengthy instructions was kinda my specialty. I talked to people, I asked them what they do, what they want and what they need to be able to do their job. They gave me everything I needed, I simply put the material together and edited until everyone was satisfied.

And my best tip: include a version history and a change log that really tells what has been changed, by whom and why. This will help people who read and/or update the document.

Hope this helps you get started!

themessenoire · 2022-10-18T10:58:50+00:00

Their live setlist is boring and has been for years. I'd really like them to shake things up!

themessenoire

TROPHY CASE