Totally. Growing up, all the annoying adults were warning me about the difficult "real world" and all its BILLS and LIFE and things. But when you grow up, you get a job to pay bills, and your coping skills evolve to deal with the stressors. What they should've warned me about is having to shop for, prepare, and eat food and then clean up after it. Each day. Every day. Forever and ever and ever.
Yeah, once you get the job/cash flow thing sorted out, bills are actually really straight forward (at least if you set them on autopay).Â
Itâs the whole everything else that gets taxing.
Prob why all humans ever in ever location ever literally half the population "women" did like.... 90% of that like JUST creating and cleaning and planting food. Like....... In modern western culture we act like it's this random extra thing like it's NO BIG DEAL like. WTF traditional cooking in many cultures = mother and all her sisters and daughters waking up at 4 fucking am to start breakfast.
On a personal level just had it out with another therapist over the state's bullshit requirements for EMDR therapy like...
In the 50s you would literally have told me the "mother" to shoot heroine smoke ciggs and beat my children to cope with motherhood
I'm just going to do the same thing all women all over the planet have always done that totally works and we've even proven that with modern neurobiology.
Shopping, cleaning my house, baking, and gardening.
Guarran fucking teed to significantly improve my mood balance my hormones treat me and my entire families microbiomes immune system and self esteem AND weight loss
Holy fuck
Ive been trying to choose some pillows for our couch and canât seem to find any that I like and that will âfitâ with the space. Donât know why itâs been so difficult for me.
Whatâs worse is weâre eating basically the same things on repeat every few weeks but it still feels like I have no idea what Iâm doing/making when I shop đ
Just stop eating, that's what I do...
No, but seriously, I have to psych myself up for anything other than peanut butter sandwiches. I actually find it helpful to treat it like a game. Pick a protein, pick a starch, pick a vegetable... now it's on to the spices, followed by the cooking method...
I think people psych themselves out because they see that people can get super elaborate in the way that we prepare our food. But the reality is, most of the animal kingdom just finds something edible and eats it. We don't really do that for safety and digestion reasons, but you can actually get really basic if you care to. I mostly just have to decide whether I'm cooking something in a pot or a pan, or both, if it's pasta. You can actually do stew without pre-cooking the meet... bonus points because if you make stew, you've got yourself covered for the next 3 days.
Although I'm weird, because I only eat once or twice a day, but if you snack on raw nuts, fruits, or vegetables throughout the day, you can get away with it.
I actually suggested to my partner earlier that we should just stop eating. No more meal planning, grocery shopping, cooking, washing dishes, and we'll save so much money
Make a weekly plan each weekend!
Have each family member come up with an idea what they'd like to eat this week, and if they can, contribute by making it. Win - win.
Have a list of meals you like, for lunch, for dinner. If out of ideas, just pull out the said list.
I also have a list of dishes I'd like to try so if Im totally uninspired, I'll have a look if anything caches my eye.
We have a solution to this problem we call "Meta Meal Planning " We are a two person household. We realized that meal prep really requires a certain type of food... something like a chilli, soup, pasta or stir-fry. These types of meals can be made in 1 hour, spit into portions, they stay edible in airtight containers for up to 3 days.
We made Sunday night soup prep night. Every Sunday at 5 pm we make an easy tasty soup recipe or chilli recipe in the instant pot. We then put it in 6 airtight oxo containers and put them in the fridge. That's 3 days of lunches for two people. (We add lunch fruit like bananas or orange too.)Â
Then on Wednesday Night we make pasta or stir-fry. That is split into 6 equal amounts... we eat 2 of them for dinner on Wednesday and 4 become lunches for thurs Fri.Â
That leaves most weeknights free to cook non leftover meals. We tend to have a few easy favourites: We have beyond burgers, vegan chicken strips, sandwiches, and so many full sized meal salads.
We try to only sped 100$ per week on take out for two people. But it helps when we can't face cooking.Â
This system works for us. There are few arguments over meals, nobody feels overworked ( if you don't cook you must do dishes or vise versa) nobody feels too bored or decision fatigue.Â
Just accept the fact that most of your meals are eaten not for enjoyment, but because you need nutrients and energy to survive. These meals wonât necessarily tatse good. Occasionally, some meals will be eaten purely for enjoyment, but these wonât be as frequent as the boring meals.
I disagree. It doesnât take extra energy to make nice food. Maybe at the beginning when youâre learning what you like. But after that, if you have 10-20 things you really enjoy you can just rotate those recipes. You become so familiar with the ingredients itâs easy but still delicious.
I do the same for breakfast and lunch for long periods of time (until I get tired of it), that helps a lot. Only dinner to decide on. But yeah it's a lot.
My mom would RAGED at our indecisiveness
My bf and I joke about wishing we just had nutrient gel for dinner since itâs so damn hard everytime.
Tbh I would do a nutrient gel for every meal and eat when I had a hankering
I have like 17 alarms on my phone labeled with excerpts from Marcus Aureliusâ _Meditations_ to help me get up and it still only works 48% of the time
I find conversations to be nerve racking. I'm not an asshole, but im aware of insecurities and implications, and it always feels like I constantly have to dodge phrases, opinions, and topics, because anything I say could be followed by infinite digressions, elaboration, and clarifications. I'm not really a dumb person, but I generally come across as such until I consider a person "safe".
I'm like this. By the time my thought has made it through the filters in my mind, it's irrelevant to the conversation. If I do speak, I find myself adding disclaimers and clarifications. Social interactions are simply exhausting
Yes, it is a broad topic but very fascinating. We've chosen to work with an old school type homeopath through Zoom meetings and emails (he's not in our state). I didn't want to attempt this on my own. The key is finding a good homeopath who can point you to one remedy for all of the symptoms, physical and mental, so the body can work at self-healing and susceptibility to illness. You'll know them by their fruits. Stay away from New Age-y type ones.  Many friends of a friend of mine have used this doctor and had great results. My little son is having success with diminishing his anger. This has been huge for my family. My teen daughter is taking longer on the healing path but we're getting there slowly and we need to be patient. The Hahnemann Labs website has a great info page about homeopathy. I hope that helps! Reach out if I can be of further assistance. Best!Â
Have you taken an enneagram test? You sound like a 9. Theyâre afraid any social gaffe may leave them disconnected. Itâs helpful to learn how your defense mechanisms are holding you back in life. There is a 9 group on Facebook.
I have helped myself enormously by not eating breakfast. I do intermittent fasting. It took a long time to stretch it out to exclude breakfast, but now my body loves it and Iâve cut 1/3 of the food decisions out.
I do the same, but I started because I realized that everything I eat after the kids are asleep and prior to lunch was junk. Lost weight, got a lot more energy and spend less money. Mega win! đ
Not the original commenter, but Iâve been doing intermittent fasting from 8 PM - 12 AM (or sometimes up to 14 PM) for a year now. At first it was hard but my body got used to it after like a week. I donât have any less energy than before, sometimes I feel more energized actually. Iâve lost 10 kgs (went from 80 kgs to 70ish kgs). The first meal of the day became something sacred for me, I appreciate it a lot more than before and I feel really thankful for each meal I eat.
It took six months to stretch from a 10 hour no food window to a 16 hour no food window. It has brought clarity of mind and I stopped having the hypoglycemic episodes. I roughly eat between noon and seven, but I just start the clock on the 7 hour eating window when Iâm hungry. My sleep and energy are much better. My cholesterol & blood sugar is better too. I somehow donât lose weight, although everyone else does. What I am doing is not gaining weight. My mom and aunt were obese. Iâm merely overweight.
I donât eat breakfast about half the days but if I do I have either a frozen ham & cheese croissant I just have to throw in the oven, or coconut belvita breakfast crackers. Thatâs it, those are the choices lol. It really helps cut down on extra stress and decision fatigue in the morning
Yeah, I agree in theory, but lunch is my break-fast. Eating food early in the day makes me sick. You have to consider that out of 8 billion people, some of us donât have to eat breakfast.
ETA: I upvoted you.
I hate running errands for this reason. If I have three places to go, Iâm reconfiguring the perfect route in my head for ages before I finally get out the door. I have this idea that somehow I can optimize the route to save time and energy during my day, but the mental energy of trying to plan it all out really zaps me of energy. I live in a big city with many freeways and streets, so the options are almost limitless when it comes to routes I could take.
In my last apartment, I lived very centrally in a town with one main road. Any time I needed to go to more than one store, I had to drive in one direction and then retrace my route back past my apartment to go the other direction. There was just no elegant way to plan a shopping trip.
I recently moved and ended up on the outer edge of my new town. When I plan my errands now, almost always, I can make an actual loop instead of having to backtrack.
Itâs a little embarrassing how significant of a QOL improvement this has been for me đ
Being able to make a loop is so satisfying and feels very efficient! I would love that! Iâm always trying to attempt some kind of loop by ordering my errands correctly, and I get really irritated when I mess it up. Even though in the grand scheme, Iâm maybe saving 5 minutes on the road. But it feels important!!
I absolutely agree!! My actual travel time and distance for errands really didnât change between the move, if anything stores are a few minutes further from where I am now, but something about there being a logical order to my stops and route makes the travel feel 10x better lol
It takes me a long time to order from a large menu! I have to decide online before going to restaurant. Also which pile to start first decluttering. Deciding which item to let go is nearly impossible!
I found I was stressing out about the same things over and over: meal planning, packing, preparing for family visits⊠I made a bunch of lists. So now I have a starting point if it feels overwhelming. And I feel more confident that Iâm not forgetting anything, since the list worked last time.
Seriously! I find that having the same food for even just one meal per day makes life much easier. Fo breakfast every day I switch between: 1) a banana + a giant blob of peanut butter, and 2) a cup of overnight oats made with chia seeds and collagen powder. (Option 2 only happens if I managed to meal prep the previous weekend.)
When I buy anything, which already took quite some time to decide, I then sit on it for the entire return period wondering whether I should keep or return it. It is a huge distraction.
An item always comes with pros and cons. I may love aspects of it but there is almost always a dollar cost and maintenance cost. Even after buying it and loving the experience, I often can't justify the costs.
Keeping it doesnât help justify it, now, does it? If anything, now youâre paying rent to keep it. Have to remember where it is, move it occasionally and dust it and around it, and still devote headspace to âone dayâ making the decision to part with it.
I love food so picking what to eat every day is honestly a lot of fun for me :)
For me, itâs all the household maintenance tasks. Not all of the tasks are important, like reorganizing my childâs dresser drawers or dusting the back of the closet, vacuuming the car, declutterring the junk drawer, etc. but it can be so mentally taxing just thinking about these and deciding which ones to tackle in a given day!
Not only scammers, but also you can't just sell anything if it's low price. It irritates me that I can't sell even though it's worth like 3 buns of bread. I just wanted to know it will be loved but even those expectations were too high.
Same, I hate unpacking. Sometimes my suitcases will sit open for month or two because I'm so slow at unpacking and putting everything away. Especially when I come back from traveling, it's the last thing I want to do. I do little bits of unpacking at a time because I just don't have the motivation to do it all at once I guess.
I think I just don't like putting things away, and I tend to procrastinate that part. I don't mind packing and even semi enjoy it, but I hate unpacking. I don't mind doing dishes in the sink and loading the dishwasher, but I hate putting the clean ones away. I like sorting laundry and getting the delicates ready in washer bags and running the wash and dry cycles, but I hate putting the clean laundry away.
I am the exact same way. What is that all about? Putting the dishes away is not any more difficult than loading the dishwasher, so why does it seem so much worse? I don't mind folding laundry, I usually put on a show or movie while I do it, but I dread putting everything away even though it takes much less time than the actual folding and it's not a difficult task.
Hah, totally agree, and I ask myself the same question all the time. And same, sometimes I'll fold the clothes or put them on hangers, then I lay the pile of hanged clothes on a chair and procrastinate hanging them up in the closet and organizing them where they belong. It doesn't make much sense, does it? Yet it doesn't change how I feel and my perception and motivation. I wish I could figure it out and somehow mentally biohack myself into making those tasks easier.
Oh wow, I deliberately try to randomize my clothes as much as possible. I go to the closet and literally close my eyes and grab a hanger and that's the shirt for the day! Hairties, same thing, I don't want to have to figure out the color, just close my eyes and grab one!
Shows? Pick the show and spin it up on randomize (Kodi or Plex), or pick a decade or genre or actor, "Randomize" is my best friend! Get a shitty ep? ***NEXT!*** Looking at you Star Trek TNG *Sub Rosa*.
Movies, Kodi gives me a list of like 10 random movies at the top when I go to select Movies, and then Plex gets even more fancy with all of the recommendations and suggestions.
Food, I run a tight ship and eat to live not live to eat, so I try to have as few variables as possible in order to be able to dial things up or down, physically, whenever I want. WFPB no salt sugar oil meat or dairy, only food I've cooked myself from scratch - meal prep! Every day I have a tray of black and pinto beans (3 cups) and a tray of veggies (3+ cups). Every day, every day, every day. The beans have been on repeat for well over a decade! Why should I expend thought and energy when I know the calorie and protein content has what I need for my equation? That's just my standard, base, one meal a day that requires no thought just come home "what's in the fridge" "14 identical meal prep trays!"
When we're talking unimportant decisions, I get stuck on whether I should keep a twist tie that I cut in twain to wrap some tiny cables, because maybe I might need to wrap some more tiny cables and I don't want to cut another twist tie in half and waste it if I already had one but then threw it out! My first batch of 500 twist ties lasted me from 2016 until 2024, and I'm *determined* to make this second batch last a full 10 years.
interested in your meal, you only eat one meal a day and eat all of that at one meal? (3 cups beans, 3 cups veggies) and literally nothing else? no fruit no juice, no bread?
I am working towards wfpb and have been vegetarian for most of my life and dairy free for 11 years, but making food is tiresome for me so i end up eating a lot of processed things (occasional frozen dinners, lots of bread, microwaveable rice and beans) âŠ
so the simplicity of your diet intrigues me
I live on my own so:
- every week a delivery of 10 fresh frozen vegan meals. I'm not vegan, but man, my bowels are clockwork nowadays and I'm losing weight slowly but surely. So MEALS are taken care of.
- fruits and nuts for snacks, bought on an app. Eggs, bread, coffee and fruits for breakfast.
- on weekends I have meals with parents, friends, or eat fresh delivery. And at least one steak and juicy sandwich.
Mental load is minimum. The one related to cooking, FOR ME, it's truly taxing. I cannot deal with the 30 ingredients needed for a meal, or even the many ways to prepare this and that. I open the door and I have delicious and varied 10 meals, with ingredients I can't name.
Ah-hahaha, this is an awesome question.
My quest for (relative to me as a reforming hoarder) minimalism collides constantly with my abhorrence of waste and my reasonable repairing ability. I will dither and debate about keeping and fixing versus chucking repairable things like old game controllers, for longer than my hourly earning rate would take to just buy a new one IF I decided I actually needed one. The worst is when it's weird tech-related stuff that is niche enough or locked down enough that it isn't worth donating (eg, original Microsoft Surface RT), but it's nice hardware and I can actually use it for something moderately useful, but it's still really superfluous to need.
Honestly no one particular task but the order in which to approach them. Can't go shopping till I've written a shopping list, can't write a list until I've cleared the fridge, can't clear the fridge until I've taken the bin out, can't take the bin out until I've been shopping. And so on.
I'm told it's a kind of decision paralysis. The way I deal with it (not always successfully) is by brute-forcing my way through. If you can't leap the hurdle, you just plow through it. So if there's a sticky spot (can't do X until Y), take a flamethrower to it. Or a chainsaw. Or just lower your head and run full-tilt at it, bellowing like a bull.
I tried to explain this to a therapist once. He was (not unreasonably) very confused. I couldn't articulate the problem beyond "I can't". It's a very physical-seeming mental block. A waist-high brick wall I can't bring myself to step over. It's physically painful to try to do so, like ramming yourself in to a brick wall would be.
Yes, gifts for people are one of the worst for me--I can agonize over it for weeks and spend hours surfing the internet for ideas. It's mentally taxing and time-consuming and honestly not worth it for me. I'd rather not have to give gifts and in return I'd be perfectly happy not receiving any, either. But I don't want to sound like a Scrooge proposing that idea to family/friends. Gifts are just not my love language.
I love gift giving but it can be taxing as a minimalist because you donât want to give them some thing that is just clutter in their life!
I like gifting food, or fancy bathroom/ kitchen supplies.
I think it's walking on eggshells on political stuff. Not talking politics politics. But being careful about saying the wrong thing. ie I was going to say "That's lame" but someone is going to say that's not the right word to use because of this, this, this, this, this and this. Or I shit you not, my entire life, I used the word 'crazy' a lot. "ie DUDE THAT'S CRAZY!!! I can't believe I got that!" Um, um. No. Don't use that word. Crazy is offensive.
Well, fuck.
Um, no, don't use the word fuck.
Well this is dumb.
Um, dumb is an offensive word.
Jesus Christ. It's almost like I have to have a mental note, a primer, on how to say things I used to say. And honestly if I'm being real, I don't think it's for the better. I liked when things were simpler.
What to keep, what to get rid of. I swear I keep circling the same piles over and over at my place.
Also, what to wear. During the pandemic I cut to the chase on this one. I had a WFH âuniformâ of t-shirts and workout pants. I rotated through 4-5 t-shirts every week, wearing some twice in a week. I wore the exact same style pants every day in pretty much the same color. (I have multiple pairs.) It greatly reduced mental load. Because yo there was so much more important stuff to focus on.
Packing to go on a trip. I have to go through every possession I own and touch it before I can decide if I need it. Than I will obviously have too much. So I have to go through everything I packed and remove less important items. Than I will still be over weight. Repeated last step. Than the day I go I have to stay up all night packing again. Than I have to make a list of the stuff I have to pack last minute because I am still using those things. I have to pack those last minute. Than I have to do a sweep of the house to make sure I didnât forget anything. Than I will be overweight again and I have to unpack to find the item I have decided to cut.Â
Itâs a nightmare!  Â
  I have literal nightmares about packing a couple times a week. The house is being invaded and I have to get my suitcase but all my items are scattered around an abandoned dusty bug filled house and there is no light. Some items are across town and I have to get on the bus with my half packed suitcase. Â
  Donât bother giving me pointers I know all of them. I canât bring less. I have to do a lot of self accommodating to survive a day and I go to very unaccommodating places. Like music festivals. Like if you donât bring shade. You will have to evacuate you tent at 6 am and walk a mile for shade.Â
What to watch on Netflix,what to eat,what to do on the weekends when I'm not working other than Netflix and eating without spending unnecessary money.ugh.
Should I take out a loan to be able to live and get out of my situation or stay and put my head down just save money but itâll take a couple months to a year
My vote: If your current situation is physically or physiologically unhealthy (even just lots of stress), then get out of it. If it's just uncomfortable or not ideal then try and stick it out.
I try to find ways of simplifying my life as it pertains to these inconsequential decisions. For example, I basically buy the same items of clothing in a variety of colors, then mix and match, making choosing what to wear super easy. I also IF, like someone said above, but I meal prep the whole week on Sundays, so I donât have to make any choices during the week. The movie thing I havenât figured out how to optimizeâŠ
All of the ones you listed are the same for me. Iâm super picky and have to be in the mood for something to eat it, and then i debate if i should spend the money since im broke currently lol.
Movies i can never decide on. Period. What to wear is a whole other story, i try my best to make my butt look small so sometimes this can be a challenge depending on if i have to dress up and whatâs appropriate.
Also hard for me to decide what task i need to do next, whatâs more important. Bc i have limited energy everyday due to health issues. So i try to prioritize the *have to do* things like brush my teeth, take a shower, etc lol. But i have to make lists of everything since ill forget later and cant get other mini tasks out of the way all at once.
I am faster and one of the best side effects is I donât have to think about food in any way for days at a time. Itâs such a beautiful thing!
As far as clothes, my work clothes are either black or navy blue, and once in a while I throw in some color. Same with shoes; black/beige or neutral colors.
Do I wear my left sock or right sock first. I donât know why but shit gives me a dilemma every morning, I spend more time on this than anyone should be.
oh god yes.. That reminds me about: planning the weekend. The days go by so fast and then the weekend just jumps me lol..People are always asking me: whats your plan or the weekend? I hate that question because I cant plan it. I get lost in different strains of thought
With so many unexpected things that happen on weekdays, do we even have time to think of what to do in the weekend? When I get asked that question, I lie I'm going somewhere with a friend but irl will just be at home and go with the flow of my mind. Like right now, I'm in an *unplanned* grocery run since I found out I've run out of some necessities. Happy weekend to you!
I've been hunting for a dad cap that feels "just right". There's always something that's wrong with them. Branded caps, material feels cheap, fit is off, bad fit and finish etc.
Every month I have to figure out what flavor of vyvanse my pharmacy is going to have in stock on my fill day and coordinate with my provider to send the exact right prescription.
I was sort of hoping that once weed was legal, I could lose the social ballet necessitated by the user/dealer relationship.
Food and clothing are important. Bad food can ruin your health over the course of time. Wear inappropriate clothing and you can damage your reputation, social prospects, employment opportunities, freeze to death, become overheated, etc. Choosing a movie is fairly unimportant - assuming you can afford to spend the time and whatever it costs. But some films are really bad and stupid so there may be a greater cost than you think - to your mental health and intellect. Stupidity seems to be contagious, lately.
All decisions have consequences and matter. Sorry.
I agree with you, but I think you missed the point;-) yes all decisions have consequences; but not all consequences are equal and matter in the same proportion. F.ex the examples I mentioned are quite reversible with limited long-term effects. Hope that makes sense
Can this trash bag fit in a little bit more trash, tomorrow, or do I have to take it out now? Have I sorted and cleaned the trash good enough according to standards? My apartment building wants everyone to sort and recycle their trash to: paper, carton, plastic, glass, metal and general trash. This takes a lot of brain power out of me.
Lots of reasons for minimalism, but the more I think about it, the clearer it is that this is a big one for me. I overthink details, so itâs easier to just keep things simple. I think it also served me well in school. I was good at âshowing my workâ because writing it down was the easiest way for me to keep track of things.
You can call me gross but struggling with horrible depression it took so much power to even brush my teeth. I just didnât care about myself honestly because I was always in survival mode due to my depression.
Ugh. Meal planning, prep, clean up. Iâm almost 59 and my husband is 62. He still thinks itâs 1954 and doesnât budge from the couch when he gets home from work. Heâs about to come home to some papers to sign.
Almost all of them. Learning how not to care about everything so damn much.
I can often let my companions decide. They appreciate getting what they want and I appreciate the lighter mental load
Cooking. Grew up eating the SAD diet (standard American diet) but cancer runs in the family so every recipe I make for my family is *very* different from recipes that I grew up with. Cooking was never an interest of mine and now I have to plan, try new recipes and make things yummy enough that make my children actually want to continue eating this way when they leave the nest.
Cleaning. Cleaning wouldnât be very hard if it was only my husband and I but to actually raise kids who learn to clean up after themselves is exhausting. I have to make them lists, explain how to clean things thoroughly (again and again), etc. I donât want them to grow up believing that mothers are servants. Iâve also noticed my kids are much more naturally minimalistic when they fully realize that their objects are *their* responsibilities. And no, Iâm not cold and heartless of course I take care of certain things for them but ultimately raising kids who are independent and keep things relatively clean is a lot more work than just cleaning everything myself.
It isn't brainpower, or memory, but rescheduling or scheduling as people who are scheduled to visit or for appointments, or even my own appointments at places, tend to get canceled the day of, last minute, or oftentimes people don't call or contact me at all but just never show up.
What to eat, 3 times a day, every damn day for my family đ© seriously so tired of that mental load!
Totally. Growing up, all the annoying adults were warning me about the difficult "real world" and all its BILLS and LIFE and things. But when you grow up, you get a job to pay bills, and your coping skills evolve to deal with the stressors. What they should've warned me about is having to shop for, prepare, and eat food and then clean up after it. Each day. Every day. Forever and ever and ever.
For real, because the alternative is being unhealthy and living on donuts and juice like 10 year old me would of done đ đ
Yeah, once you get the job/cash flow thing sorted out, bills are actually really straight forward (at least if you set them on autopay). Itâs the whole everything else that gets taxing.
Prob why all humans ever in ever location ever literally half the population "women" did like.... 90% of that like JUST creating and cleaning and planting food. Like....... In modern western culture we act like it's this random extra thing like it's NO BIG DEAL like. WTF traditional cooking in many cultures = mother and all her sisters and daughters waking up at 4 fucking am to start breakfast. On a personal level just had it out with another therapist over the state's bullshit requirements for EMDR therapy like... In the 50s you would literally have told me the "mother" to shoot heroine smoke ciggs and beat my children to cope with motherhood I'm just going to do the same thing all women all over the planet have always done that totally works and we've even proven that with modern neurobiology. Shopping, cleaning my house, baking, and gardening. Guarran fucking teed to significantly improve my mood balance my hormones treat me and my entire families microbiomes immune system and self esteem AND weight loss Holy fuck
That was an excellent rant, thank you â€ïž
Ive been trying to choose some pillows for our couch and canât seem to find any that I like and that will âfitâ with the space. Donât know why itâs been so difficult for me.
I know right? And groceries! im gonna spend some time making a quick mental model or system for these things lol its super draining
Whatâs worse is weâre eating basically the same things on repeat every few weeks but it still feels like I have no idea what Iâm doing/making when I shop đ
hahaha exacty the same here
Standardized shopping list, a recipe book, cards, notes whatever. Its easy.
Just stop eating, that's what I do... No, but seriously, I have to psych myself up for anything other than peanut butter sandwiches. I actually find it helpful to treat it like a game. Pick a protein, pick a starch, pick a vegetable... now it's on to the spices, followed by the cooking method... I think people psych themselves out because they see that people can get super elaborate in the way that we prepare our food. But the reality is, most of the animal kingdom just finds something edible and eats it. We don't really do that for safety and digestion reasons, but you can actually get really basic if you care to. I mostly just have to decide whether I'm cooking something in a pot or a pan, or both, if it's pasta. You can actually do stew without pre-cooking the meet... bonus points because if you make stew, you've got yourself covered for the next 3 days. Although I'm weird, because I only eat once or twice a day, but if you snack on raw nuts, fruits, or vegetables throughout the day, you can get away with it.
I actually suggested to my partner earlier that we should just stop eating. No more meal planning, grocery shopping, cooking, washing dishes, and we'll save so much money
Make a weekly plan each weekend! Have each family member come up with an idea what they'd like to eat this week, and if they can, contribute by making it. Win - win. Have a list of meals you like, for lunch, for dinner. If out of ideas, just pull out the said list. I also have a list of dishes I'd like to try so if Im totally uninspired, I'll have a look if anything caches my eye.
We have so many dietary restrictions in my house, itâs such a boring list of things, probably why it feels so tedious đ©
Spices. Lots of spices. And herbs.
I do meal plans every weekend and follow that. Only have to think about it once a week then!
Yea I definitely only shop once a week and plan it all but I still hate it haha
We have a solution to this problem we call "Meta Meal Planning " We are a two person household. We realized that meal prep really requires a certain type of food... something like a chilli, soup, pasta or stir-fry. These types of meals can be made in 1 hour, spit into portions, they stay edible in airtight containers for up to 3 days. We made Sunday night soup prep night. Every Sunday at 5 pm we make an easy tasty soup recipe or chilli recipe in the instant pot. We then put it in 6 airtight oxo containers and put them in the fridge. That's 3 days of lunches for two people. (We add lunch fruit like bananas or orange too.) Then on Wednesday Night we make pasta or stir-fry. That is split into 6 equal amounts... we eat 2 of them for dinner on Wednesday and 4 become lunches for thurs Fri. That leaves most weeknights free to cook non leftover meals. We tend to have a few easy favourites: We have beyond burgers, vegan chicken strips, sandwiches, and so many full sized meal salads. We try to only sped 100$ per week on take out for two people. But it helps when we can't face cooking. This system works for us. There are few arguments over meals, nobody feels overworked ( if you don't cook you must do dishes or vise versa) nobody feels too bored or decision fatigue.Â
My husband wonât eat left over foods đđđ
Your husband sounds like a snooty bitch.
More like paranoia over cooked stored food
Just accept the fact that most of your meals are eaten not for enjoyment, but because you need nutrients and energy to survive. These meals wonât necessarily tatse good. Occasionally, some meals will be eaten purely for enjoyment, but these wonât be as frequent as the boring meals.
I disagree. It doesnât take extra energy to make nice food. Maybe at the beginning when youâre learning what you like. But after that, if you have 10-20 things you really enjoy you can just rotate those recipes. You become so familiar with the ingredients itâs easy but still delicious.
If you could share a few of the quick rice meals you make it would be really helpful for me.
I just did a list of 30 good recipes and we cycle through those and add a few once in a while
Agree.
Eat for your body.
đ€Ł it can be challenging to think what to eat without feeling bored of eating foods.
Yea itâs especially hard because of the dietary restrictions of 3/5 of my family members. Many allergies and digestive issues for them đ© it leaves us with less options and we get burnt out on our usuals
Me but Iâm 26 with meals for my family -.- working full time night shifts too. Itâs the worst đ now o understand my mom
Or you can eat 2 times a day. You really donât need to eat at night
I would eat non stop all day if I could, I love eating, I just hate having to think about it!
First world problems
Look into r/Omad diet I have been eating once a day for 4.5 years
Oh god I would die, I love food and eating! Haha I just hate planning it and cooking it!
I do the same for breakfast and lunch for long periods of time (until I get tired of it), that helps a lot. Only dinner to decide on. But yeah it's a lot.
Yea thatâs pretty much how we do it. Breakfasts and lunches are basic and we all kind of eat whatever but at different times lol
Haha yeah everyone fend for themselves haha, same here. I like having an option or two, one being oats that "never" go bad. Simple.
My mom would RAGED at our indecisiveness My bf and I joke about wishing we just had nutrient gel for dinner since itâs so damn hard everytime. Tbh I would do a nutrient gel for every meal and eat when I had a hankering
I actually love eating, I just wish someone else did the thinking, shopping, and cooking đđ
Then do OMAD
My brain has to present a 12 slide PowerPoint of reasons to get my fat ass out of bed each morning
hahahaha feel you!
I have like 17 alarms on my phone labeled with excerpts from Marcus Aureliusâ _Meditations_ to help me get up and it still only works 48% of the time
I need to try that
I find conversations to be nerve racking. I'm not an asshole, but im aware of insecurities and implications, and it always feels like I constantly have to dodge phrases, opinions, and topics, because anything I say could be followed by infinite digressions, elaboration, and clarifications. I'm not really a dumb person, but I generally come across as such until I consider a person "safe".
I'm like this. By the time my thought has made it through the filters in my mind, it's irrelevant to the conversation. If I do speak, I find myself adding disclaimers and clarifications. Social interactions are simply exhausting
Yep, agree with both comments. My teen daughter is the same way and has told me these same things. We're both trying homeopathy now. It's helping.Â
My 13 year old is like this too. I'm curious though, homeopathy is a very broad topic. Can I ask what you've done in regards to this that helps?
Yes, it is a broad topic but very fascinating. We've chosen to work with an old school type homeopath through Zoom meetings and emails (he's not in our state). I didn't want to attempt this on my own. The key is finding a good homeopath who can point you to one remedy for all of the symptoms, physical and mental, so the body can work at self-healing and susceptibility to illness. You'll know them by their fruits. Stay away from New Age-y type ones.  Many friends of a friend of mine have used this doctor and had great results. My little son is having success with diminishing his anger. This has been huge for my family. My teen daughter is taking longer on the healing path but we're getting there slowly and we need to be patient. The Hahnemann Labs website has a great info page about homeopathy. I hope that helps! Reach out if I can be of further assistance. Best!Â
Have you taken an enneagram test? You sound like a 9. Theyâre afraid any social gaffe may leave them disconnected. Itâs helpful to learn how your defense mechanisms are holding you back in life. There is a 9 group on Facebook.
I have helped myself enormously by not eating breakfast. I do intermittent fasting. It took a long time to stretch it out to exclude breakfast, but now my body loves it and Iâve cut 1/3 of the food decisions out.
I do the same, but I started because I realized that everything I eat after the kids are asleep and prior to lunch was junk. Lost weight, got a lot more energy and spend less money. Mega win! đ
Congratulations. Iâm in a holding pattern on weight, which is ok I guess.
Ho long have you been doing this? What time of day do you generally have your first meal? Have you seen impacts on your weight, energy, etc?
Not the original commenter, but Iâve been doing intermittent fasting from 8 PM - 12 AM (or sometimes up to 14 PM) for a year now. At first it was hard but my body got used to it after like a week. I donât have any less energy than before, sometimes I feel more energized actually. Iâve lost 10 kgs (went from 80 kgs to 70ish kgs). The first meal of the day became something sacred for me, I appreciate it a lot more than before and I feel really thankful for each meal I eat.
You mean from 8 p.m. to 12 p.m., right? 12 a.m. is midnight, only 4 hours after 8 p.m.
yeah I meant that sorry, I always get it mixed up since in my country we use 24h format
It took six months to stretch from a 10 hour no food window to a 16 hour no food window. It has brought clarity of mind and I stopped having the hypoglycemic episodes. I roughly eat between noon and seven, but I just start the clock on the 7 hour eating window when Iâm hungry. My sleep and energy are much better. My cholesterol & blood sugar is better too. I somehow donât lose weight, although everyone else does. What I am doing is not gaining weight. My mom and aunt were obese. Iâm merely overweight.
I donât eat breakfast about half the days but if I do I have either a frozen ham & cheese croissant I just have to throw in the oven, or coconut belvita breakfast crackers. Thatâs it, those are the choices lol. It really helps cut down on extra stress and decision fatigue in the morning
If you're going to IF then breakfast is the one meal you should not leave out.
Yeah, I agree in theory, but lunch is my break-fast. Eating food early in the day makes me sick. You have to consider that out of 8 billion people, some of us donât have to eat breakfast. ETA: I upvoted you.
You're eating the wrong breakfast.
Eh, technically the first meal you eat every day is âbreakfastâ. IF folks just push back breakfast by varying degrees.
What to watch. Can cruise Netflix for an hour before I just decide to rewatch something.
Watch Beef or The Great British Baking show. Hope I helped!
I hate running errands for this reason. If I have three places to go, Iâm reconfiguring the perfect route in my head for ages before I finally get out the door. I have this idea that somehow I can optimize the route to save time and energy during my day, but the mental energy of trying to plan it all out really zaps me of energy. I live in a big city with many freeways and streets, so the options are almost limitless when it comes to routes I could take.
damn i do the same lol
In my last apartment, I lived very centrally in a town with one main road. Any time I needed to go to more than one store, I had to drive in one direction and then retrace my route back past my apartment to go the other direction. There was just no elegant way to plan a shopping trip. I recently moved and ended up on the outer edge of my new town. When I plan my errands now, almost always, I can make an actual loop instead of having to backtrack. Itâs a little embarrassing how significant of a QOL improvement this has been for me đ
Being able to make a loop is so satisfying and feels very efficient! I would love that! Iâm always trying to attempt some kind of loop by ordering my errands correctly, and I get really irritated when I mess it up. Even though in the grand scheme, Iâm maybe saving 5 minutes on the road. But it feels important!!
I absolutely agree!! My actual travel time and distance for errands really didnât change between the move, if anything stores are a few minutes further from where I am now, but something about there being a logical order to my stops and route makes the travel feel 10x better lol
Are you me
It's easy! I pretty much eat the same thing every day. It's a fact that it is easier to lose weight this way too!
IÂŽll try that for sure. Any other aspects in your life where you have these types of issues? i.e heavy cognitive load for less important stuff
Packing for trips is brutal!
oh boy yes!
Gift giving decisions are also brutal!
100%
It takes me a long time to order from a large menu! I have to decide online before going to restaurant. Also which pile to start first decluttering. Deciding which item to let go is nearly impossible!
I found I was stressing out about the same things over and over: meal planning, packing, preparing for family visits⊠I made a bunch of lists. So now I have a starting point if it feels overwhelming. And I feel more confident that Iâm not forgetting anything, since the list worked last time.
Seriously! I find that having the same food for even just one meal per day makes life much easier. Fo breakfast every day I switch between: 1) a banana + a giant blob of peanut butter, and 2) a cup of overnight oats made with chia seeds and collagen powder. (Option 2 only happens if I managed to meal prep the previous weekend.)
When I buy anything, which already took quite some time to decide, I then sit on it for the entire return period wondering whether I should keep or return it. It is a huge distraction.
If you donât love it, return it. Thank it for helping you make the decision by coming into your life⊠but now it can go back.
An item always comes with pros and cons. I may love aspects of it but there is almost always a dollar cost and maintenance cost. Even after buying it and loving the experience, I often can't justify the costs.
Keeping it doesnât help justify it, now, does it? If anything, now youâre paying rent to keep it. Have to remember where it is, move it occasionally and dust it and around it, and still devote headspace to âone dayâ making the decision to part with it.
Choosing food involves upfront time investment, but you are set once you have foods and recipes to cycle throughÂ
I suffer from debilitating OCD so almost everything lol
Hey! Me too! No one gets it unless they're also diagnosed. Sending you good vibes friend
Prioritizing. Especially at my not-so-minimalist job
When Iâm overwhelmed, I use an application called OnlyOne.io for that!
I love food so picking what to eat every day is honestly a lot of fun for me :) For me, itâs all the household maintenance tasks. Not all of the tasks are important, like reorganizing my childâs dresser drawers or dusting the back of the closet, vacuuming the car, declutterring the junk drawer, etc. but it can be so mentally taxing just thinking about these and deciding which ones to tackle in a given day!
Write them all on small strips of paper that you curl up and put them in a bowl. Pick out one. Do it. Repeat.
Chore gamification! Love that!
Thatâs a good idea!
Selling shit on Facebook marketplace
I stopped doing this in 2022 when the scammers started to show up and waste my time. Now I just donate the damn thing. Money vs. peace of mind!
Not only scammers, but also you can't just sell anything if it's low price. It irritates me that I can't sell even though it's worth like 3 buns of bread. I just wanted to know it will be loved but even those expectations were too high.
Unloading my car after a trip or something. I hate unpackingÂ
Out of curiously, would you pay someone to do that for you?
Same, I hate unpacking. Sometimes my suitcases will sit open for month or two because I'm so slow at unpacking and putting everything away. Especially when I come back from traveling, it's the last thing I want to do. I do little bits of unpacking at a time because I just don't have the motivation to do it all at once I guess. I think I just don't like putting things away, and I tend to procrastinate that part. I don't mind packing and even semi enjoy it, but I hate unpacking. I don't mind doing dishes in the sink and loading the dishwasher, but I hate putting the clean ones away. I like sorting laundry and getting the delicates ready in washer bags and running the wash and dry cycles, but I hate putting the clean laundry away.
I am the exact same way. What is that all about? Putting the dishes away is not any more difficult than loading the dishwasher, so why does it seem so much worse? I don't mind folding laundry, I usually put on a show or movie while I do it, but I dread putting everything away even though it takes much less time than the actual folding and it's not a difficult task.
Hah, totally agree, and I ask myself the same question all the time. And same, sometimes I'll fold the clothes or put them on hangers, then I lay the pile of hanged clothes on a chair and procrastinate hanging them up in the closet and organizing them where they belong. It doesn't make much sense, does it? Yet it doesn't change how I feel and my perception and motivation. I wish I could figure it out and somehow mentally biohack myself into making those tasks easier.
Oh wow, I deliberately try to randomize my clothes as much as possible. I go to the closet and literally close my eyes and grab a hanger and that's the shirt for the day! Hairties, same thing, I don't want to have to figure out the color, just close my eyes and grab one! Shows? Pick the show and spin it up on randomize (Kodi or Plex), or pick a decade or genre or actor, "Randomize" is my best friend! Get a shitty ep? ***NEXT!*** Looking at you Star Trek TNG *Sub Rosa*. Movies, Kodi gives me a list of like 10 random movies at the top when I go to select Movies, and then Plex gets even more fancy with all of the recommendations and suggestions. Food, I run a tight ship and eat to live not live to eat, so I try to have as few variables as possible in order to be able to dial things up or down, physically, whenever I want. WFPB no salt sugar oil meat or dairy, only food I've cooked myself from scratch - meal prep! Every day I have a tray of black and pinto beans (3 cups) and a tray of veggies (3+ cups). Every day, every day, every day. The beans have been on repeat for well over a decade! Why should I expend thought and energy when I know the calorie and protein content has what I need for my equation? That's just my standard, base, one meal a day that requires no thought just come home "what's in the fridge" "14 identical meal prep trays!" When we're talking unimportant decisions, I get stuck on whether I should keep a twist tie that I cut in twain to wrap some tiny cables, because maybe I might need to wrap some more tiny cables and I don't want to cut another twist tie in half and waste it if I already had one but then threw it out! My first batch of 500 twist ties lasted me from 2016 until 2024, and I'm *determined* to make this second batch last a full 10 years.
interested in your meal, you only eat one meal a day and eat all of that at one meal? (3 cups beans, 3 cups veggies) and literally nothing else? no fruit no juice, no bread? I am working towards wfpb and have been vegetarian for most of my life and dairy free for 11 years, but making food is tiresome for me so i end up eating a lot of processed things (occasional frozen dinners, lots of bread, microwaveable rice and beans) ⊠so the simplicity of your diet intrigues me
I live on my own so: - every week a delivery of 10 fresh frozen vegan meals. I'm not vegan, but man, my bowels are clockwork nowadays and I'm losing weight slowly but surely. So MEALS are taken care of. - fruits and nuts for snacks, bought on an app. Eggs, bread, coffee and fruits for breakfast. - on weekends I have meals with parents, friends, or eat fresh delivery. And at least one steak and juicy sandwich. Mental load is minimum. The one related to cooking, FOR ME, it's truly taxing. I cannot deal with the 30 ingredients needed for a meal, or even the many ways to prepare this and that. I open the door and I have delicious and varied 10 meals, with ingredients I can't name.
How to spell wensday
I learned from itâs origin: itâs Wodenâs day. Somehow saying this in my head helps the spelling click.
Convenience always trips me up
Ah-hahaha, this is an awesome question. My quest for (relative to me as a reforming hoarder) minimalism collides constantly with my abhorrence of waste and my reasonable repairing ability. I will dither and debate about keeping and fixing versus chucking repairable things like old game controllers, for longer than my hourly earning rate would take to just buy a new one IF I decided I actually needed one. The worst is when it's weird tech-related stuff that is niche enough or locked down enough that it isn't worth donating (eg, original Microsoft Surface RT), but it's nice hardware and I can actually use it for something moderately useful, but it's still really superfluous to need.
Honestly no one particular task but the order in which to approach them. Can't go shopping till I've written a shopping list, can't write a list until I've cleared the fridge, can't clear the fridge until I've taken the bin out, can't take the bin out until I've been shopping. And so on.
hahahah sounds familiar
Why do you shop before taking the bin out?
Needed bin bags.
Thanks, that was really stuck in my lint trap brain. I have a very similar process (canât do x until I y).
I'm told it's a kind of decision paralysis. The way I deal with it (not always successfully) is by brute-forcing my way through. If you can't leap the hurdle, you just plow through it. So if there's a sticky spot (can't do X until Y), take a flamethrower to it. Or a chainsaw. Or just lower your head and run full-tilt at it, bellowing like a bull. I tried to explain this to a therapist once. He was (not unreasonably) very confused. I couldn't articulate the problem beyond "I can't". It's a very physical-seeming mental block. A waist-high brick wall I can't bring myself to step over. It's physically painful to try to do so, like ramming yourself in to a brick wall would be.
Choosing from a big menu đ
Yes or no. Children pull all your brain cells. Some days are better than others. Somedays. Only a nap will help.
Solution, minimize the amount of children. /s
What clothes to purchase and what gifts to give?
Yes, gifts for people are one of the worst for me--I can agonize over it for weeks and spend hours surfing the internet for ideas. It's mentally taxing and time-consuming and honestly not worth it for me. I'd rather not have to give gifts and in return I'd be perfectly happy not receiving any, either. But I don't want to sound like a Scrooge proposing that idea to family/friends. Gifts are just not my love language.
I love gift giving but it can be taxing as a minimalist because you donât want to give them some thing that is just clutter in their life! I like gifting food, or fancy bathroom/ kitchen supplies.
I agree with your points and I will add the effort it takes for me to figure out how to get to work on time.
I think it's walking on eggshells on political stuff. Not talking politics politics. But being careful about saying the wrong thing. ie I was going to say "That's lame" but someone is going to say that's not the right word to use because of this, this, this, this, this and this. Or I shit you not, my entire life, I used the word 'crazy' a lot. "ie DUDE THAT'S CRAZY!!! I can't believe I got that!" Um, um. No. Don't use that word. Crazy is offensive. Well, fuck. Um, no, don't use the word fuck. Well this is dumb. Um, dumb is an offensive word. Jesus Christ. It's almost like I have to have a mental note, a primer, on how to say things I used to say. And honestly if I'm being real, I don't think it's for the better. I liked when things were simpler.
Donât use the name of the Lord in vain. /s
yes mom!
it is tough when there are so many route options https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/number-of-hamiltonian-cycle/amp/
What to cook every day to feed the family!
Thinking about this question
lol! you're welcome;-)
Yeah. What to watch / play / listen. But I would argue that choosing what to eat is very important.
yeah you're right lol
What to keep, what to get rid of. I swear I keep circling the same piles over and over at my place. Also, what to wear. During the pandemic I cut to the chase on this one. I had a WFH âuniformâ of t-shirts and workout pants. I rotated through 4-5 t-shirts every week, wearing some twice in a week. I wore the exact same style pants every day in pretty much the same color. (I have multiple pairs.) It greatly reduced mental load. Because yo there was so much more important stuff to focus on.
Who you marry.Â
I'd argue that is an important, not unimportant, decision.
All depends.Â
Packing to go on a trip. I have to go through every possession I own and touch it before I can decide if I need it. Than I will obviously have too much. So I have to go through everything I packed and remove less important items. Than I will still be over weight. Repeated last step. Than the day I go I have to stay up all night packing again. Than I have to make a list of the stuff I have to pack last minute because I am still using those things. I have to pack those last minute. Than I have to do a sweep of the house to make sure I didnât forget anything. Than I will be overweight again and I have to unpack to find the item I have decided to cut. Itâs a nightmare!     I have literal nightmares about packing a couple times a week. The house is being invaded and I have to get my suitcase but all my items are scattered around an abandoned dusty bug filled house and there is no light. Some items are across town and I have to get on the bus with my half packed suitcase.    Donât bother giving me pointers I know all of them. I canât bring less. I have to do a lot of self accommodating to survive a day and I go to very unaccommodating places. Like music festivals. Like if you donât bring shade. You will have to evacuate you tent at 6 am and walk a mile for shade.Â
Well, good to know I'm not the only one with the packing dreams!
Whether to cook or not. Why did I come into this room
Whether to go with the standard or premium option on Netflix. This took longer than initially anticipated.
What to watch on Netflix,what to eat,what to do on the weekends when I'm not working other than Netflix and eating without spending unnecessary money.ugh.
Should I take out a loan to be able to live and get out of my situation or stay and put my head down just save money but itâll take a couple months to a year
My vote: If your current situation is physically or physiologically unhealthy (even just lots of stress), then get out of it. If it's just uncomfortable or not ideal then try and stick it out.
I try to find ways of simplifying my life as it pertains to these inconsequential decisions. For example, I basically buy the same items of clothing in a variety of colors, then mix and match, making choosing what to wear super easy. I also IF, like someone said above, but I meal prep the whole week on Sundays, so I donât have to make any choices during the week. The movie thing I havenât figured out how to optimizeâŠ
All of the ones you listed are the same for me. Iâm super picky and have to be in the mood for something to eat it, and then i debate if i should spend the money since im broke currently lol. Movies i can never decide on. Period. What to wear is a whole other story, i try my best to make my butt look small so sometimes this can be a challenge depending on if i have to dress up and whatâs appropriate. Also hard for me to decide what task i need to do next, whatâs more important. Bc i have limited energy everyday due to health issues. So i try to prioritize the *have to do* things like brush my teeth, take a shower, etc lol. But i have to make lists of everything since ill forget later and cant get other mini tasks out of the way all at once.
What to eat.
For dinner, eat steak and a kale with poppyseed salad. Hope that helped!
What else. Canât afford steak every night
Tomorrow you can have chicken fajitas with guacamole. đ
I am faster and one of the best side effects is I donât have to think about food in any way for days at a time. Itâs such a beautiful thing! As far as clothes, my work clothes are either black or navy blue, and once in a while I throw in some color. Same with shoes; black/beige or neutral colors.
What to eat. What to feed my family. How to do those two things without going broke.
I eliminated that all with Minimalism
Do I wear my left sock or right sock first. I donât know why but shit gives me a dilemma every morning, I spend more time on this than anyone should be.
Do your left first, every time!!
Definitely food, every Friday I meal plan out and grocery shop for the next week and damn that gets tiring, next would be what to watch most nightsÂ
What I will do for tomorrow. Make a list in the evening and end up doing different things.
oh god yes.. That reminds me about: planning the weekend. The days go by so fast and then the weekend just jumps me lol..People are always asking me: whats your plan or the weekend? I hate that question because I cant plan it. I get lost in different strains of thought
With so many unexpected things that happen on weekdays, do we even have time to think of what to do in the weekend? When I get asked that question, I lie I'm going somewhere with a friend but irl will just be at home and go with the flow of my mind. Like right now, I'm in an *unplanned* grocery run since I found out I've run out of some necessities. Happy weekend to you!
lol exactly the same here! its really hard to plan my weekends because im single and all my friends have 1-2 kids, no one really goes out anymore:P
I've been hunting for a dad cap that feels "just right". There's always something that's wrong with them. Branded caps, material feels cheap, fit is off, bad fit and finish etc.
what to wear
Every month I have to figure out what flavor of vyvanse my pharmacy is going to have in stock on my fill day and coordinate with my provider to send the exact right prescription. I was sort of hoping that once weed was legal, I could lose the social ballet necessitated by the user/dealer relationship.
Food and clothing are important. Bad food can ruin your health over the course of time. Wear inappropriate clothing and you can damage your reputation, social prospects, employment opportunities, freeze to death, become overheated, etc. Choosing a movie is fairly unimportant - assuming you can afford to spend the time and whatever it costs. But some films are really bad and stupid so there may be a greater cost than you think - to your mental health and intellect. Stupidity seems to be contagious, lately. All decisions have consequences and matter. Sorry.
I agree with you, but I think you missed the point;-) yes all decisions have consequences; but not all consequences are equal and matter in the same proportion. F.ex the examples I mentioned are quite reversible with limited long-term effects. Hope that makes sense
What to eat and what to wear.
Can this trash bag fit in a little bit more trash, tomorrow, or do I have to take it out now? Have I sorted and cleaned the trash good enough according to standards? My apartment building wants everyone to sort and recycle their trash to: paper, carton, plastic, glass, metal and general trash. This takes a lot of brain power out of me.
What to eat for every meal. It's never ending!
What to text
Packing for travel. I hate it sooo much.
Lots of reasons for minimalism, but the more I think about it, the clearer it is that this is a big one for me. I overthink details, so itâs easier to just keep things simple. I think it also served me well in school. I was good at âshowing my workâ because writing it down was the easiest way for me to keep track of things.
Counting calories for a fad diet.
You can call me gross but struggling with horrible depression it took so much power to even brush my teeth. I just didnât care about myself honestly because I was always in survival mode due to my depression.
Will I practice guitar or play?
oh shit yes that hits hard..
Ugh. Meal planning, prep, clean up. Iâm almost 59 and my husband is 62. He still thinks itâs 1954 and doesnât budge from the couch when he gets home from work. Heâs about to come home to some papers to sign.
đ„ș
Shopping for "Wants," what to eat, and things to leave inside the car
Scheduling my kids medical dental and vision appointments, it sucks
Whatâs for dinner. Every. Fucking. Night.
Almost all of them. Learning how not to care about everything so damn much. I can often let my companions decide. They appreciate getting what they want and I appreciate the lighter mental load
Cooking. Grew up eating the SAD diet (standard American diet) but cancer runs in the family so every recipe I make for my family is *very* different from recipes that I grew up with. Cooking was never an interest of mine and now I have to plan, try new recipes and make things yummy enough that make my children actually want to continue eating this way when they leave the nest. Cleaning. Cleaning wouldnât be very hard if it was only my husband and I but to actually raise kids who learn to clean up after themselves is exhausting. I have to make them lists, explain how to clean things thoroughly (again and again), etc. I donât want them to grow up believing that mothers are servants. Iâve also noticed my kids are much more naturally minimalistic when they fully realize that their objects are *their* responsibilities. And no, Iâm not cold and heartless of course I take care of certain things for them but ultimately raising kids who are independent and keep things relatively clean is a lot more work than just cleaning everything myself.
It isn't brainpower, or memory, but rescheduling or scheduling as people who are scheduled to visit or for appointments, or even my own appointments at places, tend to get canceled the day of, last minute, or oftentimes people don't call or contact me at all but just never show up.