Does anyone who starts work at 6am have a morning routine? I wake up at 5:30am, in the car for 5:45am on way to work. I feel like i'm just rushing, rest of this week I'm going to wake up earlier and enjoy a coffee before going to work. Does anyone do anything similar?

Like everyone else on this planet, I enjoyed social media very much. But I realized that especially when I felt a bit under the weather, I would scroll for far too many hours, many even past midnight. So, I decided to stop it all together. I deleted all my accounts, even YouTube because shorts kept sneaking up on me without realizing. I replaced scrolling with reading since October last year (2025). I don't feel I am missing out on anything. My family and friends can reach me over the phone, so I don't need it to keep in check with anyone that truly matters to me. I read the equivalent of the previous years in just a few months. Even on my commute I read now instead of scrolling. Has anyone else replaced social media with other hobby? What effect do you feel it had on you?

I love how my life is turning out without rushing into things in the morning. A quiet day beginning with a hot cup of coffee as I meditate about how happy I am is what I signed up for.

I understand that it may sound slightly vague. Here is the dilemma:

One one hand: we should build our future by ourselves and do plan our life for a long term, including our financial goals, mentality, physical activity, etc..

And sometimes when we go too far in thinking of our future we start stressing about it using: “what if…” questions. There are a lot of them.

One the other hand: we should live in the present and treat today like it’s the only day that matters.

It’s kinda tough to mix two these mindsets together.

What are your thoughts?

I'm unfortunately currently recovering from an injury, and haven't been able to do any of my usual much-loved summer activities lately (biking, hiking, kayaking, swimming at the lake, etc). I feel like summer is slipping by without me getting to really enjoy it much. I did install a bird feeder on my deck and downloaded the Merlin app, so that has been giving me some entertainment, watching and listening to the birds. We also had a friend drop off some fresh farmers market peaches which were a delicious treat. Anyone have some simple living ideas for ways to enjoy and embrace summer that don't involve too much physical effort?

It changes how you see yourself.

Every purchase feels different.

Every paycheck already belongs somewhere else.

The weight isn't always the balance.

Sometimes it's carrying it every day.

Something funny happened last week. A coworker asked what I was doing over the weekend and I said “nothing much, just staying home.” Then I immediately started explaining myself. I told her I was tired from work, that I had cleaning to do, that I wasn’t feeling very social. Later I thought… why did I need a whole explanation? Staying home is actually something I enjoy. I like making food, watching a movie, organizing my apartment and having a quiet day. Somewhere along the way I started feeling like relaxing wasn’t a good enough reason to have free time. I’m trying to unlearn that. Anyone else feel this way?