NullEmotion's recent activity
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Comment on How do you keep your life organized? in ~life
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Comment on Where’s the beef? Middle-aged, American men ate all of it in ~food
NullEmotion Link ParentI come from a country where meat is consumed as an important part of our diet so I have to laugh everytime I read americans saying men eat more meat because of a "macho" culture. I personally am...I come from a country where meat is consumed as an important part of our diet so I have to laugh everytime I read americans saying men eat more meat because of a "macho" culture. I personally am "forced" to be a (mostly) carnivore because the only way to stop my IBS and inflamation symptoms is to eat almost no carbs.
However in my n=1 experience I have known and dated many women that over time reduced their meat intake because they got tired of it. They didn't particularly care about veganism, animal rights or climate change, they just reduced their intake because they lost their appetite for meat. Maybe there's some biological reason this happens.
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Comment on Hi, how are you? Mental health support and discussion thread (October 2023) in ~health.mental
NullEmotion Link ParentCongrats for being on the way to recovery! I hope soon your panic attacks will just be a thing of the past. Just a suggestion if you don't mind, since you haven't talked about it. Do not forget to...Congrats for being on the way to recovery! I hope soon your panic attacks will just be a thing of the past.
Just a suggestion if you don't mind, since you haven't talked about it. Do not forget to go to therapy. While medication helps, it's no good on its own. I had a friend that had a similar situation: panic attacks in late teens/early twenties, got lost in a mental health system that is more worried about giving medication than therapy, started getting better but then got much worse, and now in his 30s he is on several antidepressants and can't even leave the house to be a functioning human being.
I have no doubt you are strong enough to make it, but please don't understimate how hard it can be at times, and the negative effects that long term medication use cause in your brain. Antidepressants are mostly (if not only) useful when coupled with therapy!
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Comment on Why games are too big in ~games
NullEmotion LinkDisclaimer: My opinion probably isn't valid since I am not a "gamer" (I can barely manage to play for 2-4 hours a week tops), I like a really small subset of games (roguelikes) and the only big...Disclaimer: My opinion probably isn't valid since I am not a "gamer" (I can barely manage to play for 2-4 hours a week tops), I like a really small subset of games (roguelikes) and the only big AAA game that has managed to make me addicted is Fallout 4. My brother gifted me a Xbox Series X that I rarely turn on and is nothing more than a dedicated FO4 machine. To make matters even worse, I haven't played BG3 nor do I intend to.
But I actually believe it's a great time for games. There are great games that are not graphical masterpieces such as Dwarf Fortress or Rimworld that are huge when it comes to gameplay. Other games have neither great graphics or complex gameplay, yet are still incredibly addictive, such as Slay the Spire, Stardew Valley, Brotato or FTL.
I am not a AAA gamer, but, even after watching the video, I fail to see how BG3 setting a new standard is really harmful. If you don't have a huge budget, it's okay to focus on "cheaper but more time consuming" things such as gameplay and balance instead of graphics or huge maps, you can make a great game and earn a lot of money without pandering to the "top of the line GPU gamer" anyway.
The problem comes when big studios make a graphically intensive game, terribly optimised, and "huge" (as in maps) with little to no gameplay mechanics. And on top of that, adding a lot of DLCs and micro transactions. So I am okay with BG3 trying to push the "big budget" studios to do better.
That is a very broad question because your needs may be quite different mine. I work as a dentist so most of my life is already scheduled and the only thing that I have to plan on my own is studying for my master's degree. I also have ADHD which requires some pretty extreme things sometimes. I will try however to write a short list of things I do that I think will be useful under any circumstance:
My whole philosophy to do things is based in the concept of workflows: most of the things we do daily are repetitive. There may be some variations each time, no patient or mouth is exactly the same and neither is every function you have to code or stories you want to write. However, there are usually many similarities and some clear guidelines you can follow. Whatever it is in your day to day life that you want to become better at doing, the most important thing is finding out a routine or a workflow you can apply to get reliable results. A workflow may just be a plan, a checklist or a flowchart. Here are some examples:
Diagnosing my patients is the same every time: While every case is different, I always follow the same routine, ask the same questions, look at the same things and plan treatments and appointments in the same order. The first time I see a patient I write a full treatment plan in order and with the amount of time I think I need every day to execute the treatment. That means that I don't have to rely on memory to know what comes next or that if I need to refer a patient to another professional, they know where to find the treatment plan and instantly know what comes next. If I ever forget to write, which happens from time to time, it's utter chaos.
If I am told I have to do something, I write it down immediately. I've been living with myself long enough to know that I can't rely on my memory even if my life depends on it. I always have a piece of paper and a pen on me, or my Apple Watch or my iPhone. I either write a note or a reminder. If it's something that has to be done later that day, I will immediately set up an alarm. If not, every night I check all notes, reminders and pieces of paper. If it's something I have to do soon, I will schedule it right then: I will create a reminder not just with the date, but the time I expect to do the thing too so my smartwatch rings and reminds me of what I have to do. I also have the Reminders widget in my Home Screen set for "Today" so I can see at a glance what I have scheduled to do that day. If it's some cool idea that I thought about, I will set a calendar date for the first Saturday of the next month with the idea and link it to a note if I need to expand on it. If it's an interesting book, I have a note in Apple Notes with all the books I want to write with a short summary, who recommended it and why I want to read it. I want to make it very clear: I write a reminder for even the most simple things. For example, I took a dental model of a patient that I have to move to another practice. Not only did I put it in my bag that I always carry with me, I also set a reminder so my watch tells me first thing in the morning when I am at that other practice that I have to take out the model from my bag and do whatever I need with it, just in case I reach into my bag and I don't see it or remember to take it out. I prefer to look stupid always writing notes and reminders than forget to do things.
Studying or reading scientific articles is also the same every time: I load the PDF of the article or book (or print the website in PDF) to MarginNote 3 (it's just the app I use), I create a mind map with the idea and how different concepts relate to each other and I either add it to Obsidian if it's information I want to categorise about a topic, add it to Anki if it's a fact I want to memorise or change any workflow in my daily practice if it's something new or different I want to start doing. If I don't take useful notes and do something immediately with it, I may as well have read absolutely nothing.
If it's something I have to do every day, be it sleep, read, play games, eat, exercise or whatever. I block part of my day to do it. I prefer to do things every day rather than every other day: I have found that if I work out just 3 times a week, I am more likely to skip a workout that if I work out 5 times a week. If I have two huge study blocks of time per week, it's harder for me to do it than studying a little bit every day. I even clean the house a little every day. This may sound inefficient because it is, but it's the only strategy I have found to stick to doing things and develop habits. Doing things (almost) every day is likely to clog up your schedule so I am okay replacing some habits with others: cardio with weight lifting, playing games instead of reading... or even giving up some things temporary, like reading or playing games in favour of practicing dental waxing so I learn faster.
If it's a big project (i.e. reading a huge reference book), I create small sub-tasks for it (i.e. dividing a book by chapters) and I set up both a time to read it everyday and a deadline (if there isn't one).
If I come by a book or article I really really want or need to read, I schedule a time to do it.
Every morning I check the daily reminders and the things I have to do and evaluate if it's even possible to do them when I planned to do. If it isn't I immediately reschedule it.
So to sum up, my secret to do things is just scheduling them as soon as possible. I schedule even the most little things. There are reminders to wash my car and motorcycle, monthly reminders to check tyre pressure, reminders every 6 month to check spare tire pressure, weekly reminder to deep clean a certain room of the house. Reminders to send mails, read mails, read certain scientific articles, go grocery shopping...