Ask HN: What addition or change would improve your quality of life? - whitepoplar
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kohanz
I recently stopped working from home and moved into a co-working space out of
necessity (rambunctious children at home). However, I don't want to talk about
the change in setting, but part of this is that I added a walking commute to
my day. About 20 minutes of brisk walking each way. It feels _great_. It's
built-in exercise and it also serves as a great transition between home and
work-life. As I'm heading to work (as a freelancer), I'm usually listening to
podcasts and getting into the work mindset. As I'm walking home, it's either
podcast or music and getting into the helpful father/husband mindset. Big
positive change for me thus far, especially as someone who typically enjoys
exercise, but has difficulty making time for it between work and kids.

~~~
rmb177
I changed jobs a little over 4 years ago and went from working from home to
working for a local company. I have about a 25 minute walk each way, and like
you, I find the same benefits. I "read" so many more books now having signed
up for an Audible subscription. Plus the company I work for pays out a $1
benefit each way to encourage walkers/bikers/public transportation. I live in
the upper Midwest so I don't always enjoy the winter walks, but I still try
and do it every day.

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skylark
While we're considering things that won't happen - how about working less?

I love my job in software, but I think I'd have a better QoL with a 32 hour
work week. I feel like my productivity wouldn't go down by 20% (but it's hard
to tell without trying it for an extended period.)

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stefs
after nearly burning out on the last ~42 hour job, at the current company i
tried 30 hours and i love it. they do want to convince me to go full time, but
for now i refused (stating that i don't think i'd be as productive and just
cost the company more money without delivering another 33% of work). a lot of
my colleagues and even friends at other companies downgraded to 30 hours (or
never upgraded after finishing university).

i earn enough to get by but don't save as much as others at my age (for
reference, i'm 35). i work 6 hours a day, 5 days a week (others work 7.5 hours
a day and just take friday off). i don't get paid overtime but be do have comp
time.

the upsides, in my opinion:

* i'm better rested, more concentrated and productive so the company gets more bang for the buck

* i spend a lot of my free time in the gym (this hopefully means i'm reasonably healthy which would be a plus for the company due to less sick time off)

* the rest of my free time i spend programming interesting private non-commercial projects; i.e. free education and experience that benefits my employer (sometimes it also leads to open source libraries we can use at work)

* the other rest of my free time i spend reading about IT (things like HN), which, again, +experience

* when schedules get tight i tend to accumulate overtime, as soon as that passes i tend to take time off. this means the company doesn't have to pay me for twiddling my thumbs and waiting for the clock

in my opinion it's _mostly_ a win-win situation for both me and my employer.

~~~
skylark
Interesting, I was considering negotiating with my employer for part time
where I'd take every Friday off - have you found 6 hour days to be better? I
feel like if I took a 20% pay cut I'd want to avoid commuting for that extra
day off, but I can see how shortening the workday might be more pleasant.

~~~
stefs
i'm a bit of a special case here - i'm a night owl, late riser and usually
show up quite late (around lunch). also, my commute isn't that long and this
way i can circumvent the notorious drop in concentration after 6 hours (which,
in my experience, isn't universal).

there are several more downsides to the 5d _6h model, but i personally don 't
care much for those right now and i could switch any time.

most of my friends and colleagues choose the 4d_7.5h work week and i think
it's the better option for most people.

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superasn
Exercise and Proper eating. Common sense, right? Yet, so many of us find it
hard.

I've lost more than 8kgs in the last 3 months and I feel great. I was never
overweight to begin with but still I feel so much happier overall. I don't
think drugs can do what 1 hour of exercise daily does to your mood and energy.

Plus losing weight has it's own benefits. Once you shed those extra pounds you
feel like you've been carrying a laptop bag or something on your back all the
time before.

~~~
xupybd
> 1 hour of exercise daily

How did you get going with that? Any pointers?

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superasn
Sure but what you need to understand is that you need to change your mindset
from I must exercise to I want to exercise and for that you need to program
your brain first.

 _step 1: make your WHY big enough and the how will follow_

First go to amazon and get one of these books: Spark or Go wild by john ratey.
I prefer the audible version but either works. Listen to them, it's much
easier than exercising. This will condition your mind and make your Why big
enough. Soon you'll want to do it rather than have to do it.

Step 2: baby steps

You can't decide that you will exercise 1 hour daily starting from 0.
Thankfully again there is a book called Minihabits. Get the audio or print
version and read f it. Basically it teaches you that forming a habit is more
important than doing it right. So 1 push daily for 3 months is better than 2
hours of 1 day gym in 3 months.

Step 3: track your habits

Get loopt habit tracker from app store (android) and put the widget on your
home screen. Mark it daily. Even if you do 1 pushup you maintain your habit
streak remember that. Once you have a 45 day streak you'll do your pushup even
if you are falling asleep.

Typing this on a mobile but let me know if i can be of any more help.

~~~
xupybd
Thanks for your reply. You've definitely given me some direction thanks :)

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throwpurp
A sense of purpose and meaning. I grew up in poverty, managed to emigrate to
the US and have struggled to get where I am and now am in a comfortable senior
position in the industry.

I am good at what I do but it's the same thing over and over. I go to work
each day, save most of my paycheck, then use the rest to buy expensive
trinkets, go to nice restaurants and take trips.

I have a circle of acquaintances, hobbies, a great girlfriend and look
outwardly successful and happy.

But is this cycle all there is for the next few decades until
retirement/death? I feel like I am plateauing. There must be more to it than
this.

I feel guilty even thinking such things as my life is fortunate in so many
ways.

(Throwaway account)

~~~
throwaway3301
I don't have an answer for you. I just wanted to say that I struggle with the
same ideas. I feel like I'm wasting my youth obsessing over these ideas. I
feel like I'll disappoint everyone if I stop keeping up this cycle you
describe. Sometimes I feel handcuffed to my life.

~~~
oddlyaromatic
Do you have a specific alternative in mind? Can you dip a toe in the water
without changing everything completely? The people in your life want you to be
happy and safe and secure. They probably won't be disappointed if you go do
something crazy but I bet their love to see that your backup plan is solid.

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usgroup
Thanks for asking this. It made me think and realise that I don't know, which
gives me cause for concern.

~~~
scrapcode
Or lack thereof, from a different lens.

~~~
usgroup
That's an interesting statement. I guess it's tempting to assume that wanting
for nothing or a lack of anxiety leaves only contentment behind, but what if
it doesn't?

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throwaway26960
I wish the library was open 24/7\. What's up with it only being open during
working hours?

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djstein
A job. Just graduated and watching my bank account slowly drain. Have had a
steady job for the past four years and not having one truly diminishes quality
of life in all aspects. Those of you with them, even if you don't like them,
realize you have income.

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jlgaddis
An annual income of, say, $50k USD. I could live off of that -- comfortably,
not extravagantly -- and devote all my time to continue learning, writing tech
docs, teaching, contributing to F/OSS projects, etc., without having to work a
normal job.

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pasbesoin
Fair, accessible health care insurance. (I'm in the U.S.)

The amount of stress I've experienced dealing with this industry far outweighs
the benefit it has provided to me.

Yet, despite being relatively low-cost and high-paying, because I self-insure,
I'm marginalized to the maximum extent permitted under law and regulation.
Meaning, it is _only law and regulation_ that has provided some reprieve from
quasi-oligopical exploitation.

I don't mind paying. I do mind paying 2 - 3x more than a corporation employee
whose only demographic difference is being a corporation employee.

And I mind the deliberate, thorough, and jealously guarded opacity that serves
to perpetuate the system.

And now, with the ACA on the ropes, I fear and expect the return of unbridled
discrimination.

All the fear-mongering carping about "death lists" that we've heard? The real
death-list is being on the list of self-insured. (Or, uninsured -- not
infrequently the same thing, absent law and regulation to the contrary.)

Or now, once again, with an employer or other group-plan provider that doesn't
have enough moxie to negotiate fair terms and treatment for its participants.

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Mz
Affordable housing.

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methusalasleeps
No cars above ground.

~~~
tradersam
This would improve so many people's lives. Especially here, in South
California, imagine if all car transportation theoretically moved underground.
All the space for parking lots and roads could be converted to
homes/businesses, and although increasing population density it would decrease
rent prices and decrease travel time. Interesting thought.

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scrapcode
Doing something that I love to do, like programming.

The hard part is that it'd greatly reduce my quality of life in the short term
(gaining paper credentials, finding a job). Along with the fact that I've
never programmed as a profession for someone else, so would I even like it?
etc. I've got a cushy job with great pay and retirement, but it's a lousy
"legend" to live. Hard to leave, but hate to stay.

With that said it's hard to say, really, what might be concrete in improving
the quality of my life. Most likely sticking with meditation for more than 3-5
sessions a year, or marrying my 4-year girlfriend.

~~~
artmageddon
What are you doing now, and if I can ask, how old are you?

> marrying my 4-year girlfriend.

I highly recommend eloping! My wife and I did that, and hoo-boy it took so
much pressure off of us(not to mention saved us a lot of money).

~~~
tomcam
YES

We did it too. Total cost of marriage: $300. How many people do you know had
expensive weddings but ended up divorced and/or in debt? I have encountered
plenty of people who said they wished they had much less elaborate marriages,
but zero people who regretted eloping

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urahara
Clear social lifts to the at least upper-middle level in all countries. can't
see so many great people ending up miserably or tragically just because they
were never given a chance, and I myself could spend years doing valuable
things instead of just random no brain staff just to have something to eat by
the end of the day.

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parthdesai
I would say moving to Toronto where my work is. Right now my commute is ~4
hours everyday so I don't get time to do anything apart from gym once I get
back home. Good news is I'm moving in 2 months, bad news is I barely know
anyone in Toronto and have great friends where I live currently.

~~~
mattbettinson
Where do you live? That commute is insane.

~~~
parthdesai
Oshawa. Go train itself is not bad, but DRT from Ajax go to my place is
another 50 minutes to 1 hour. :(

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tjalfi
My upstairs neighbor is quite noisy after midnight. I would like an
alternative to sleeping pills or ear plugs.

~~~
throwpurp
Try playing brown noise through a subwoofer (a good Bluetooth speaker, not
your phone's speaker), the low frequencies can block bassy noises (footsteps,
TV, etc) so your sleep isn't interrupted by a sudden sound from above.

~~~
sumguysr
I'm sure tjalfi's downstairs neighbors will love that.

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Karupan
Working 4 days a week. I wouldn't mind working 9 hours a day if that lets me
have Fridays to myself.

~~~
steego
I worked for a company that did that during the 2001 recession. It meant a cut
in my salary for the period, but it was nice despite having to cut back on
some things.

I eventually started doing some side work on my Fridays. I have to say I
really enjoyed being a part-time freelancer and helping clients solve their
problems. The work was fun because I never relied on it.

Would do it again.

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bsvalley
1\. Lower taxes

2\. No neighbors

3\. Fewer people around

~~~
nkkollaw
Sounds like you could benefit from moving to some state like Oregon or
Colorado (if you're from the States)...

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ElectronCharge
The main change I'd like at this point would be to transition from an
"employee" job to a "founder" job.

That is in the works, we'll see how the next 6-12 months go... :-)

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jelliclesfarm
A farm robot assistant! Or seven. Past three years broke my body. Getting too
old for 24/7 physical labour!

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urahara
Universal basic income maybe.

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bjourne
An infinite supply of money!

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muminoff
1\. Flexible working time or working from home.

2\. Benefit

PS: I am based in Korea.

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stephancoral
If I was 300 feet taller

~~~
nickthemagicman
If I had a girl real cute so I could call her.

