No seriously, I know you know this intellectually. When's the last time you acted on it?
You make an infinity of choices everyday, and most of them are automatic. That's how we all stay sane.
But we can agree there's no way you managed to make the best choice for all of them, right? Forget choices, are you even in the ideal environment to make them?
You know that funky smelling towel which is always uncomfortable to use but you keep using because it's there and works? You can throw it away1 and get a new one. You don't need to force yourself to suffer through using it.
No one is going to come over and give you permission, so stop waiting and fix it.
There are limits; you can't obsess over everything. Neglecting to consider a minor tweak to an everyday task is the nature of everyday tasks. Let's not get into habit stacking or charting the exponential curve of 1% improvements.2 Simple changes.
Check if another commute is faster, quieter, prettier, just nicer, whatever that means to you. Maybe that means taking a turn earlier, or sitting in a different spot on the train, or going on an entirely different route. Maybe it means no change. Confirmation that the current option is the best option is still useful.
Get rid of that one pair of pants which was nice a couple years ago but fits too tight now.
Actually talk to that awkwardly drifting friend. Or stop talking entirely, but at least decide something.
Ok, perhaps that was a tad ambitious.
Little, simple changes 'round here.
Tape a bit of pool noodle on the corner you bang your leg on once a month. Pool noodle is softer and cheaper than those silly plastic covers3 and you can trim it to fit.
It's going to look stupid.
I don't care.
I choose to revel in the great glory of jank solutions to jank problems.
Why not make your life less bad when you have the chance? You're the only judge who matters.
There are so many things you can do, right now.
So go do them.
- Rew
...oh wait, I should introduce myself.
What is this?
The first in a series of standalone daily posts about ways I've made my life better (sometimes worse), and how you might improve your own. I expect topics run the gamut from opinions on tape to theorizing about the nature of change.
Can I say this is a series in the first one?
That's my goal. Some people would call it a New Year's Resolution. I just decided to start on January 1st because it seemed close enough to get me going, but far enough to give myself an out.4
Who are you?
Someone who likes thinking about thinking. Or rather, someone who can't stop.
Been through a fair amount of writing and systems over in the productivity side of the world5, but no formal credentials. Lived experience will have to do.
Bit of a programmer, definitely a nerd. If you don't use a terminal, I will try to convince you that you should, but some of these posts will not be for you.
...yes, Rew is pulled straight out of "Perpetual Rewiring". I'm bad at names.6
What's next?
More of these posts, forever?7
Perhaps I'll run out of steam next week, or next year. But this is my commitment to the all-knowing internet, I will be posting one of these, every day, as long as I can. I'm here to clarify my own thoughts, and if any part of it helps other people, that's a job well done.
Alright, that's actually all for today.
Happy 2026 y'all,
- Rew
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Ideally not literally, I hear the pet shelters are always in need of towels. ↩
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Atomic Habits is a good book, but even as it attempts to make self-discipline approachable it becomes somewhat mythic. Any change is a step towards improving the system that is your life. Even the regressions, even the one time duct tape fixes. ↩
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Did you know there's a whole website for these? Truly, the internet has no end. ↩
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You're reading this, so evidently I decided it was worth doing. Buffer time is great, I'll write about it eventually. ↩
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Other sides as well, but in all ways lies eventual madness. Gearheads are interesting, so are the rationalists, and the essentialists. Take what you need, be careful who you identify with. ↩
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My longest running daily habit is only about three years strong. Not a great track record, but one must believe to begin. ↩