What will I try (and not regret)?
13
13
resolved Sep 7
50%0.3%
Go to be 15 minutes earlier.
50%2%
This market
20%
Gratitude journal
3%
Delete Reddit app and use Freedom.to to block Reddit on your phone for 80+% of your day.
3%
Unfriend a bunch of people on Facebook
4%
Delete Facebook
26%
Lay on your bed doing nothing (except listening to music) instead of surfing on facebook/manifold
4%
Download Newsfeed Eradicator for Firefox.
3%
More or better sex
0.0%
Use brain.fm
7%
Organize a Taco Tuesday
11%
Cycling/hiking trip to nearby forest/shore/nature reserve

Give me stuff to try this month! To make things interesting, I won't comment about how the market will resolve, i.e. whether I've tried something and/or regretted it, until it's resolved. I'll answer any questions about stuff I've tried or my lifestyle etc. though, including noting which answers don't count because I'm already doing them.

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answered
Unfriend a bunch of people on Facebook

@NcyRocks For me, unfriending or unfollowing people means less time until I see Facebook's message "you're caught up" which is a good cue to stop.

answered
More or better sex

@NcyRocks Sounds like an idea for another market!

answered
Go to be 15 minutes earlier.

@Duncan I ended up trying going to bed around an hour earlier a few times, which I think should still let this count. I felt better the days that I did it, so no regrets there, even if I couldn't get the habit to stick.

answered
This market

@Duncan My first instinct was to rule this one out but couldn't think of a valid reason. It's a thing I tried in that month. Maybe I should have explicitly marked it as valid, because no one seems to have bid on it even though I obviously tried it. It didn't go as well as I'd planned, but I don't regret making it.

answered
More or better sex

@MartinRandall Great suggestion, if only I could implement it...

answered
Unfriend a bunch of people on Facebook

@horse I doubt this would improve my Facebook experience. The way I see it, I don't have too many friends, I spend too much time mindlessly scrolling. Would you mind explaining what benefits you'd expect me to get from unfriending people?

answered
Delete Reddit app and use Freedom.to to block Reddit on your phone for 80+% of your day.

@Charlie I think this is a better suggestion for Facebook than Reddit; I'd prefer to block Reddit entirely and only check Facebook for an hour or so a day. I had a scheme like that in place using Cold Turkey (similar to Freedom.to), can't remember why I deactivated it. Another valued suggestion that I didn't act on, so have another tip.

answered
Delete Facebook

@horse No can do, unfortunately. At the very least, I need it for a show I'm doing.

answered
Download Newsfeed Eradicator for Firefox.

@Charlie I already have a similar extension installed but at the time I created this market it had been inactive for ages. I reactivated it a few times but I couldn't keep it off, so I don't think I can count that as not regretted. Worth a go, though, so have a tip.

answered
Organize a Taco Tuesday

@Austin Good idea! I'd probably have to commandeer my uni hostel's communal kitchen, but I could do that. I'm a little confused as to why you pitched this idea with no Tuesdays remaining in the month, though! πŸ˜… But it sounds like a good idea, so have a tip - there'll be more where that came from if I actually go through with it.

answered
Cycling/hiking trip to nearby forest/shore/nature reserve

@M Not really my kind of thing, but possibly worth a go if I can find someplace nearby.

answered
Gratitude journal

@BionicD0LPH1N An excellent suggestion that I ought to have tried but didn't. Have a tip (on your initial comment on this market).

answered
Lay on your bed doing nothing (except listening to music) instead of surfing on facebook/manifold

@JoyVoid Didn't try this, as it sounded kind of difficult, but now that I think about it that fact should probably be worrying. I used to do this a lot before I had a phone or laptop.

A few observations:

  • I think ruling myself out of commenting made this market a little less fun, and more engagement might have led to better suggestions.

  • I seem to be bad at trying stuff, which meant that some people lost a fair amount of M$ by trying to help me, for which I'm sorry. I've tried to make some of this up with tips, and I guess it should've been priced in, but still.

  • There were a couple of new suggestions at the very end of the month when it was too late for me to try them. Not sure why those were given, but I'm thankful for the suggestions nonetheless.

  • I got COVID last month, so it was an unusually crap month for trying stuff. I'm still not in a great state, which is part of why I'm resolving this relatively late.

hope you get better! I strongly encourage not worrying about losing people mana and to try out the suggestions that seem doable when you have the energy to

answered
Organize a Taco Tuesday
bought αΉ€10

@Austin This isn't actually a good investment since it's so late, but I wanted to evangelize my One Weird Trick to having a somewhat more active social life: host regular weekly casual dinners with low energy investment; invite anyone you know and ask them to invite their friends, bring snacks, etc

Some aspects that make Taco Tuesday nice:

  • Nobody has plans on a Tuesday evening anyways

  • Most social scenes have too low supply of events, relative to demand for events - if you run a thing and tell your friends, a lot of people will show up

  • Tacos are very very easy to cook, and it's a fun collaborative group activity to prep together (cut stuff, stir fry, make your own Taco)

  • After a couple weeks, the vibe shifts from "oh meeting lots of people" to "hey this is a recurring fixture in my week"

  • If you meet anyone throughout your week and want to see them again, you now have a default thing to ask them to go to

Bonus, you can set up markets to predict attendance! https://manifold.markets/group/sf-events

answered
Use brain.fm

@JoyVoid This answer doesn't count, because I'm already doing it. My apologies for only getting to this now.

answered
Use brain.fm
bought αΉ€1

Most of it don't work well for me, but there are like 2-3 songs that really help me focus

answered
Download Newsfeed Eradicator for Firefox.
bought αΉ€10
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/news-feed-eradicator/ Full disclosure: I've only used it for Chrome/Edge but it works like a charm without having to go the nuclear option and delete Facebook.
answered
Lay on your bed doing nothing (except listening to music) instead of surfing on facebook/manifold
bought αΉ€10
For me it really helps to focus and organize my thoughts, I found having a down time was very good for me and really help recharge. Alternatively, walking outside can also help
answered
Go to be 15 minutes earlier.
This was supposed to be "bed".
What browser do you use on your desktop/laptop?
@Charlie Firefox
answered
Delete Reddit app and use Freedom.to to block Reddit on your phone for 80+% of your day.
bought αΉ€10
I wouldn’t block it 100% right off the bat or you might get in the habit of unblocking and lose respect for the system.
Most of what will be recommended will have to displace time spent doing other things. What do you want to be doing less of? How much time could that feasibly account for?
@Charlie I spend quite a bit of time, maybe 2-3 hours a day, just sitting in my room browsing Facebook or Manifold without really interacting - i.e. doing nothing much. I guess it's possible I need that as rest time, but I seem to cope well when I don't have time for it. It could certainly be more purposeful.
@Charlie Or Reddit, only on my phone since I haven't found a good way of blocking it there. And I hate Facebook and Reddit - it's a really bad habit.