• 9 Posts
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Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: August 6th, 2023

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  • Pretty much every day. I think it’s because we have a limited capacity and for many of us our job requires us to mask to some degree and it just takes all of our energy, even if it isn’t physically or even intellectually demanding. There’s no reason I should feel completely drained and demotivated by just sending emails, but it is what it is.

    I try to go somewhere quiet and lay on the floor or something. Or literally touch grass - get feet in the dirt, listen to the wind in the trees, that sort of thing. And stay away from screens for a bit. I’m still trying to find ways to help regulate my nervous system since I need different things on different days but those are some of the most effective for me.






  • I loved reading through the manual for Morrowind with the copy we got on the original XBox. I read all the class descriptions, details about the schools of magic, and had a whole character planned out before starting the game. I didn’t get into tabletop gaming until much later, but looking back, that manual really captured the same feeling of reading through the D&D players handbook and picking out a race, class, background, etc.

    I think that feeling is why it’s still my favorite PC game.











  • WRONG!

    I write the tasks in my little notebook and then I don’t have to think about it until later.

    DISCLAIMER: This only works if you actually review the notebook periodically, as I have recently discovered.

    I’m not even kidding - I started doing the bullet journal method (this video) recently and it is not an understatement to say it changed my life. I’m just talking the basic method in the video - I always thought bullet journaling was all of the pretty spreads and fancy lettering but that’s not at all what it is about. It was developed by a guy with ADHD to help himself manage his own brain in school and work.

    Knowing that if I write something down I have a process to evaluate it later means I really can stop stressing about it. And then at the end of the day / week / month I can look over the tasks, evaluate if they are actually important, and put them where they need to go.

    Knowing that I have those periods of reflection each week / month to migrate and organize tasks means I don’t stress about a super long list of tasks either. Before I always felt like I had to do a task ASAP or else I would forget it and it wouldn’t get done for months (if ever). Now I just don’t worry about that.

    It has helped me also a LOT with planning a reasonable amount of things to do for the day. Yes, these 10 things NEED to be done, but they don’t NEED to be done TODAY - I’ll put them in my weekly or monthly when I am reviewing unfinished tasks for the day. Then when I start a new day, I will review the weekly, monthly, and previous day and pick a couple unfinished things that are important and put them on my daily list.

    Having that structure and writing things multiple times also helps me with executive function. It makes everything seem much more achievable.

    TL;DR - Bullet Journal Method was made by an ADHD brain, and I recommend it. 10/10. Just watch this short video and also maybe check out some of the other videos and podcast that Ryder Carroll has done


  • A lot of tea for me, especially earthy flavors. Shou Puerh tea is like a magical grounding experience for me every time I drink it. I love coffee and drink that daily, but when I really need to just be I break into the puerh stash.

    For evenings I like a lot of herbal teas. Rooibos is probably my favorite. Lately I have been drinking a lot of lemon ginger tea with a splash of apple cider vinegar before bed.


  • Similar situation here. I was raised home schooled for all of my education. Got a GED, good score on the ACT, got a 4.0 in the community college where I got an associates degree. The problem is parents who homeschool because they don’t want their kids to turn “woke” or be “converted” by exposure to the fact that non-straight, non-cis people exist. A lot of the time, the emphasis is only on indoctrination, and there is little or no actual education involved.

    I have been to homeschool conferences - there are some good resources there, and a LOT of really pretty awful stuff like this article mentioned. People like the author are so incredibly impactful, even if they don’t realize it. They may never see results but those seeds matter. Even if the parents don’t get it, the kids will.

    At a conference last year, there was a speaker talking about parenting difficult children (Kirk Martin with Celebrate Calm). He was presenting very much a solid gentle parenting approach (though he didn’t call it that) that is very contrary to the culture of a lot of homeschool groups. He spent a lot of time unpacking his experiences as someone who grew up with really strict physical discipline, the impact it had on him, his experience being a parent - kind of leading people on a journey from where they might be to where they should be as parents.

    He also spent a bit of his talk on how the Bible doesn’t teach us to raise our kids to fight in a culture war and just really pretty clearly calling out a lot of the toxic far right christian-nationalist talking points. Sure he made a lot of people uncomfortable, but those thoughts will stick with them.

    After his talk he was spent over an hour talking with people outside of the conference room answering questions. His next talk was packed as well.

    Anyway, all that to say - I know it can take a lot out of someone to deal with people in those environments, but it is absolutely impactful and so desperately needed.


  • It honestly changed my life when I started meeting with friends at specific times each week to lift weights. Having it be an actual appointment that would affect others if I didn’t show up made all the difference. I was super excited to be there and never missed a day.

    Then their schedules changed and they are no longer available when I am. I still like working out… but it’s so hard to make myself do it and I am super inconsistent now. It depresses me to think about it