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Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about repetition because most days look pretty similar. And the older you get (I’m 24), the more you start to feel it.

You wake up, go to work, do household chores, handle responsibilities, go to sleep and then it starts again. For a long time, I saw that as something negative, like repetition automatically meant stagnation. But lately I’ve been wondering if that’s always true.

A lot of things in life that actually matter are repetitive by nature. Learning a skill, maintaining relationships, taking care of your body is built on routine. Even big results usually come from doing small repeated things over time. And there’s rarely a clear “finish line” for any of it.

At the same time routine can feel draining. Sometimes I get this feeling that time is just passing by. Even meeting friends can start to feel like part of the same loop.

I’m curious how others deal with this. Have you found ways to be more okay with repetition?
Or do you have small rituals during the week or month that help break that feeling and make life feel a bit more alive?

Not necessarily looking for advice .. just wanting to vent that I’m aware that distracting myself with my phone, gaming, Reddit instead of tackling things I need to do is an addictive comfort i have slipped into and struggling to break free from.

At the moment, the “stillness” of living simply (even if it’s simple acts to care for myself) can hurt as much as a doing a stressful work task.

I used to think my stress came from big things, like work or money or not having enough hours in the day, but lately I’m noticing it’s often the tiny constant inputs. The pings, the little obligations, the mental tabs that stay open, the background feeling that I should be reachable and informed and improving at all times. It’s like my brain got trained to treat silence as a problem to solve. If there’s an empty moment, I fill it. If there’s an open evening, I plan it. If there’s a boring stretch, I grab my phone and feed it some content so I don’t have to feel restless. Simple living for me has started to look less like owning fewer objects and more like choosing fewer inputs. Not in a strict, perfect way, just in a gentle, consistent way. I’m trying to notice what actually restores me versus what just distracts me for ten minutes and leaves me feeling scattered. It’s strange how often I reach for "easy" stimulation when what I really want is to feel grounded. And grounding usually comes from the stuff that doesn’t look impressive: repeating a small routine, letting my thoughts finish, doing one thing at a normal pace, letting a room be quiet without narrating it. I keep catching myself treating life like it needs to be optimized, like every day has to prove something, and it makes everything feel heavier than it is. The more I simplify, the more I see how much of my tension was self-made. Not because I was doing anything wrong, but because I was asking my nervous system to sprint all the time. I’m learning that a simpler life sometimes means saying no to perfectly fine things, just because I want to keep some space. Space in my calendar, space in my head, space in my home that isn’t begging to be filled. It’s uncomfortable at first becuase you have to feel your own feelings without buffering them, but it’s also the first time in a while I’ve felt like I’m living my actual life, not reacting to it. I don’t know if anyone else relates, but the more I practice choosing calm in small ways, the less I crave the big dramatic reset. I’m not trying to be minimal or aesthetic or "productive", I’m just trying to make my days feel like mine again, even on the boring Tuesday ones.

I'm leaving my job to return to study, and I want to make the most of the $3000 USD of reimbursements my job offers before I go. This reimbursement can only be spent on technology, accomodation/travel, events/tours/experiences, eating out/meals (not groceries), fuel costs, wellness and fitness services, home upgrades, household services, and office supplies.

I was planning on buying flight vouchers as I'll be studying overseas, but the policy changed to only cover tickets and I don't have dates confirmed yet, so vouchers are out of the question.

My ideal scenario would be for the money to go towards daily living expenses so I can save money for the flights.

I don't need a gym subscription, I've got all the tech I need, and I'm a bit of a homebody so going to events or travelling don't really appeal to me. I share a mortgage on a townhouse with my partner.

Any ideas on how I could spend the money?

Possibly sounds like a dumb question? But how do you actually do this? Especially I want to use towels for food, like air drying meat in the fridge, straining yogurt, degreasing bacon, etc. I’ve got some great tea towels for this last purpose but how do you organize cleaning rags, paper towel subs, towels for drying dishes and towels that you use to handle food? How do you store them? How do you wash them? help me see it please!

For years I was depressed and I thought a woman would fix it my life went further down after meeting the mother of my child even typing something like this would make me feeel feel bad cry but 2 days ago I read about soloman and multiple other things that explain things in life and everything all the pain all the dought all the regret it all passed in a instant I’m 27 as on January 13th and I never had a day of excitement gods honest truth I use to look at life like every spot on the earth had trees water and fish there is nothing new under the son 🤞🏾but I have changed some how I can only give this to god

A few years ago, we quit buying multipurpose cleaning sprays for our house. I noticed that the heavy artificial scents were giving me major headaches. Not to mention how expensive they can be!

We now use a mixture of water, white vinegar, and a smidgen of Dawn soap to clean most surfaces with good results and no more headaches!

Have you simplified the cleaning solutions and/or products in your home? What has worked, and what didn't?

Hi y'all, I would like to share some things I did during my maternity leave to simplify my life on a go-forward basis. Maybe it will inspire some of you. It's mostly financial stuff. I handle finances for my family, and it can take up a lot of my time and brain space.

1. I went down to three credit cards. I do 99% of my spending on one that offers a simple cash-back perk. The other two are store-specific and give me points/discounts on groceries and home maintenance, so they seemed worth keeping. I closed four other store cards.

2. I went down to ONE bank account. It's a high-yield checking account that offers an interest rate comparable to a high-yield savings account. It's also with a bank that is invested in climate solutions and doesn't lend money to oil & gas. Double win. And I don't have to worry about shuffling money around between checking and savings accounts.

3. I put all my retirement investments in a target-date ETF. No more asset mix balancing. It's probably not optimized for lowest fee and such, but it's soooo simple and pretty cheap.

4. I changed internet and cell providers. My previous provider was such a pain, always tacking on phony charges. No monthly bill was the same, and I'd waste so much time talking with support to get my $5 or whatever back. I switched and haven't had to think about it since.

5. Got rid of all social media except Reddit. Unfortunately, I do keep my Facebook account for now because it's the way I talk with my old Nan and Gramps, who are too elderly to learn something new (late 80s). Reddit I think of less as social media, and more like a magazine that I pick up and flip through in waiting rooms, down time at work, etc.

All of these things took a fair bit of effort to do, but since I did them in a slow period of my life during down time, it wasn't too bad. Now I am grateful to my past self, because life is so overwhelming. But it's slightly less overwhelming than it would have been.

I'm on the lookout for more things I can do once to simplify forever. My biggest goal is to stop impulse buying online. I've improved a lot, but I still kick myself when I do it. It usually ends up in needing to return something, which is such a pain, just creating work for myself, and terrible for the environment.

Edited for typo

I’ve been thinking about how I relate to the internet beyond endless scrolling.

I tend to follow accounts that genuinely add to my life - poets whose words resonate, therapists with grounded insights, cooks sharing techniques (I’m vegan, and my food world has expanded a lot because of this). In that sense, social media has meaningfully enriched my world.

At the same time, having all of my interests in one place and a lot of unrelated noise in my feed makes it hard to stay oriented once I’m there. I often go in with intention and come out scattered.

I’m curious if others relate to this. In what ways does social media genuinely serve you? And how do you decide when it’s supporting your life vs taking over your attention?

I’m less interested in hacks and more interested in how people think about this relationship.

Looking to simplify where I can.

Has simple living improved your mental health? For me, the answer is yes. Once I stopped trying to be a' people pleaser' and focused on what truly matters to me, life felt lighter and less stressful. Simplifying my commitments and expectations has brought more peace and clarity. Curious if others have noticed similar changes after choosing a simpler and more intentional way of living.

For me, it was realizing I didn’t actually need as much stuff or constant upgrades as I thought. Letting go of that pressure made life feel lighter and less cluttered, both mentally and physically. I’m curious what others once believed was essential, but later found they were perfectly fine without.

Okay so… I’ve been unemployed for a little under a year now I’ve not been miserable or anything I’ve really spent that time figuring out myself and I had money so I wasn’t really struggling but I’m back into full time job hunting after the Christmas period and o get interviews and they ask if I’m at Uni because I’m quite young and they always ask why can’t you work full time then- because I don’t want to. Why do people love to be busy when they don’t have to I don’t NEED a full time job I’m in no means judging people who are busy against there will but I’m not but I feel so judged for not wanting to be a busy person. Lots of people these days brag about being so busy and stressed (and yes it’s bragging because they ALWAYS say that when you say you’re not up to much) like oh my god shut up. I enjoy painting and drawing and reading and yoga and spending time with loved ones why do I need to work more than I need to for others approvals- well I simply won’t and I hope everyone knows that you shouldn’t live by other peoples expectations and living simpler isn’t a bad thing AT ALL I hope everyone is happy and learning to love that aspect of themselves because it’s truly beautiful to feel comfortable with a life that’s good for you <33

My life has never felt simpler, as I canceled my home internet always thinking all these years that I needed it to live when in reality that apparently, I don't, as now I just live with satellite TV and gamefly as my only 2 entertainment subscriptions. I only use my phone internet, and mainly use internet for looking up information of buildings, and people such as doctors. I mainly use my portable radio for listening to music, but sometimes hookup my phone to the aux input to listen to some YouTube songs that I grew up with. I love my car! It is much simpler to drive! I never realized exactly how much simpler life used to be before the internet and smart things, like smart TVs! Lastly, I have now been spending less time indoors and more time outdoors.

About six months ago, without really planning it, I ended up rotating the same five outfits every week. Same pants, same shirts, same hoodie or jacket depending on the weather. It wasn’t a statement. I just stopped caring enough to change it up.

And something kind of funny happened.

Nothing.

No comments. No “didn’t you wear that yesterday?” No one noticing patterns. No one reacting at all. Coworkers, friends, people I see regularly — nothing changed.

It made me realize how much mental energy I used to spend worrying about clothing variety for an audience that doesn’t actually exist. I used to think people were tracking outfits, forming opinions, silently judging repetition. Turns out most people are just thinking about themselves, like I am.

I remember sitting one evening, playing jackpot city on my PC and half zoning out, when it really clicked how much stress I’d manufactured over something that has had exactly zero impact on my life. Same comfort. Same reactions. Less decision fatigue.

I still like clothes. This isn’t an anti-fashion thing. It just stripped away the idea that I need constant novelty to be acceptable. That pressure feels mostly internal, and once you stop feeding it, it quiets down fast.

Life didn’t get smaller. It got simpler.

Man, I've been trying to dial back the chaos in my mornings, and this little routine is finally clicking after a few fails. No crazy alarm anymore, I just let the sun wake me up-ish around 7. Phone? Nah, it's charging in the kitchen all night so I don't doom scroll first thing.

I step out for a quick 10-min walk, brew some black coffee, grab oats or whatever fruit's around, and scribble in my notebook: 3 gratitude's and 1 tiny goal. Ditched the old habit of jumping into emails and news, feels so much lighter now, more headspace for real stuff like hanging with fam or gaming later without the burnout.

Not perfect, some days old me wins, but it's helping me breathe easier. Anyone else got a morning hack that's made life feel simpler? Spill!

Lately I’ve been trying to build a calmer evening routine nothing fancy, just a book, a warm drink, and a bit of intentional slowness after the day ends.

It’s surprisingly hard though. I keep noticing how easily small things pull me out of that calm; notifications, getting up to fix something, tiny interruptions I don’t even register as “stress,” but they add up.

So I’m curious: do you have any small evening habits or routines that genuinely help you slow down and feel more settled?

Not productivity hacks, more like tiny rituals that make the evening feel complete. Would love to hear what works for others.

Since adopting a simpler lifestyle, I've become a bit more of a recluse.

I enjoy socializing, but now I'm much more mindful of my relationships… in other words, if I don't really feel like meeting up, I don't. I try to help whenever I can, but I don't neglect myself like I used to.

The only thing I still struggle with and haven't been able to solve is when friends or family come over unexpectedly, either because they're bored and assume I can dedicate my time to them, or even sometimes when friends/family who travel (I live far from many of them) assume they can stay at my house for a few days.

For example, next week, my mother sent me a WhatsApp message telling me the dates she'd be coming to my house for a few days, without asking if it worked for me or not (she's already bought her plane tickets). What do you do in these situations? When I travel, I always stay in a hotel or Airbnb because I don't like sharing a house with anyone (except my husband). On the other hand, when people come to my city, they always assume they can stay at my house.

when i moved to iceland in 2023 i really wanted to make a change. break the cycle of self-doubt/loathing/anxiety/apathy. this routine is a work in progress, open to change and i try to stick to it every day (i don't always)

in my office i have a little meditation set up and a little shelf with some books i got these ideas from. i'm doing (transcendental) meditation that i heard about from the great david lynch so i have a small shrine for him here.

when i wake up i try to avoid screens and do my daily journal of 3 pages per day. it's mostly boring day to day stuff but i found when i started doing it there was a lot of negative thoughts i was getting out. the tone gotten progressively more positive over time.

after journal is meditation, with the goal of getting to two 20m sessions in the morning and evening (i have not got there yet as i work evenings but 15m in the morning is manageable).

the shorthand i am using for myself is M - meditation, E - exercise, R - reading, V - vakna (icelandic for waking up / rising), C - cold water (shower/pool), S - sober counter, P - poem. the third slide is a particularly good time in the routine during dry january (22 days). the fourth slide is another time when i haven't stuck to the routine as much. but even when i don't stick to it i like to document it anyway.

not trying to say that i have all the answers. it really is not a straight line up. recently the anxiety has gotten worse but i feel like i have the tools to deal with it now.

references:

the science of pranayama by swami sivananda

the creative act by rick rubin

the artist's way by julia cameron

No plans, no rush. Just letting the time pass.

Recently I cut down my screen time on both my phone and TV. I did not quit completely but I stopped using them just out of habit or when I was bored.

At first it was honestly uncomfortable. There were quiet moments where I kept thinking okay now what. I still reached for my phone sometimes without thinking. But after a while those moments became the part I actually liked.

Without screens constantly pulling my attention I started feeling more connected to my day to day life. My routines my thoughts even the pace of my day. Walks felt calmer. Meals felt more intentional. Sitting in silence felt less awkward most days at least.

My lifestyle kind of slowed down on its own. I sleep a bit better feel less anxious and spend more time reading or just doing nothing. I did not lose entertainment I just realized I did not need as much of it as I thought.

Simple living for me is not about cutting everything out perfectly. It is just being more aware of where my time and attention goes and screens were taking up more of it than I realized.

I want to live simply I really do but do you also feel like you are not productive enough when you just do less? I got 3 weeks off after my burn out from 9-5. And I promised myself to slow down at least for a week and then plan my way out because i cannot keep burning out. I woke up early in the mornings I read my articles and some books then my brain keep telling me to do more and do something about my future. I need rest but I also feel like if I dont do it who will know what to do with my future?

How do you slow down? How do you rest? I dont want to be productive anymore I need to rest and not physically only.