- Watching YouTube videos on my computer. (I’ve blocked the website for several days now, and my mental health has never been better. Turns out I don’t need second-hand political or business reviews, I don’t need those “self-discipline” videos that only make me feel self-disciplined.)
- Keeping social media apps on my phone. (Especially those with recommendation pages. Since I deleted them, my daily screen time has dropped from three hours to less than one. Can you imagine the feeling when the world becomes quiet and peaceful?)
- Checking Mastodon regularly. (I have been a heavy user for years and always have a fear of missing out. Now I only check it once every few days. To my surprise, the fewer times I check, the more meaningful some posts feel. It helps separate what truly matters from noise.)
- Eating while watching videos. (I’ve realized that when I do that, I’m not really eating. It’s more like consuming content, with food just being background noise.)
- Romanticizing or criticizing the roads I didn’t take. (There are three types of things in life: good, bad, and irrelevant. Realizing that some people and narratives belong to the third type brings huge relief, which frees me from maintaining unnecessary relationships, saying things just to please others, and pretending that “we’ll meet someday”. I’m out of that game now.)
- Fearing deconstruction. (Now I finally realize that deconstructing isn’t cynicism, it’s the first step toward building something better.)
- Ignoring the consequences of behavior. (I’m becoming more conscious of how actions ripple through others. Check this article in The New Yorker about data centers that train AI by Stephen Witt.)
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