u/barefootguy83

I'm completely new to the smart watch world and I'm considering a withings because they look classy and just like a regular watch but still record all the health data I'd love to have. My question though is about the saving of this data and how it syncs. I usually leave my phone in airplane mode most of the day and only use it a couple of times a day (I try to not be glued to my phone); it's also often not on my body but at a desk on the other side of the house. Will the data the scan watch 2 collects throughout the day sync to my phone when I do take it out of airplane mode/when I'm paired with it? Or, does the scan watch not save data and will only sync what it collects in real-time? Not sure if a smart watch will fit my lifestyle if I have to stay paired with my phone constantly. Thanks.

I've had my Outback since 2018. I bought it new through the Costco auto program. It now has 160k miles on it and runs well overall; it's been a great adventure-mobile. However, it's had a lot of recall/miscellaneous issues that have been annoying:

- oil consumption issue: I have to check the oil level every 2k miles and keep a quart+funnel in the trunk as it burns through it

- I'm on my 3rd infotainment unit (well, 2nd unit, 3rd screen). The first one had the ghost control takeover issue 3 years in which the dealership replaced free of charge, but then the replacement had the same issue occur 3 years later. I got help from a guy through this sub who pointed me to the kinetic vehicles site and I simply ordered a new screen and had my mechanic install it; $415 total part+labor rather than $1500 full replacement. Not bad.

- my axles have had to be replaced twice as they started making strange clicking noises when I turned.

There were other issues too like the gas gauge not reading properly earlier on and I ran out of gas ON THE FREEWAY and had to pull over quickly to call AAA. I hadn't gotten around to getting this recall issue worked on by the dealership but I certainly did it right away after that. One time issues like this weren't so bad though as the repair was quick and covered.

I haven't had any transmission issues thankfully but I'm sure that will be the turning point when I decide to trade this one in or not. Transmissions are crazy expensive and I think my KBB value is less than the cost of a new transmission (though, the trade-in valve wouldn't be good with a shot transmission either).

I might consider a Crosstrek for my next car as many of the other features are similar and the Crosstrek is cheaper. I don't know. It's been a great car and I really enjoy driving it but I feel like it's had more issues than it should have had. Perhaps Subaru has worked out many of these issues in subsequent years? Hopefully at least the oil consumption issue.

I'm curious what keeps everyone trying at this thing? I've gone at most 5.5 months without porn a few times, but I've always tumbled back into my prior habits over time. It's frustrating. It's a bad habit that was an outlet for my frustration, stress, lack of connection, etc and the ruts are decades deep now and I can't seem to make new changes stick. I'm not dating anyone nor am I pursuing dating which I think makes it more difficult to be honest. I'm not sure I really want a romantic relationship, but at the same time I have urges that need an outlet. I'm also not a hookup person. I tried it years ago but I just always felt icky or used or too concerned about STDs to want to continue going down that road. I definitely am turned on by the "idea" of casual sex (hence the porn) but I know it's not in my nature to make those scenes a reality for me. So I guess I'm frustrated because I'm not clear on what I really want. I want sexual satisfaction but I don't want to have casual sex and I don't want a serious relationship. I also don't want to keep using porn as a crutch for every uncomfortable emotion.

Addendum: After writing this I realized this is exactly my problem; I don't know what I want so I keep spinning in circles; wasting effort on something I'm not clear on. I DO know I want to live a more integrated life where I'm not shamefully outsourcing my sexuality to a computer screen. Maybe I WILL want a romantic/sexual connection once I stay away from porn even longer-term. I'm not sure. I guess all I can do is find a way to live more integrated (or at least harm-reduced) now, and trust that things will fall into place over time.

Just a quick post to say that after listening to a Cal Newport video on YouTube, I decided to try "landlining" my cell phone (keeping it in one specific area of the house/at work where it cannot move from) and it's surprisingly effective! I've tried so many things over the years; grayscaling, trying to schedule when I looked at my phone, etc., but all of them proved too complicated to be sustainable. Don't get me wrong, landlining is not perfect and it will not fix everything...but it has helped me to stop doomscrolling and to embrace single-tasking more. Nothing worse than sitting on the couch with my phone in-hand scrolling away while the tv is also on; hours would go by with nothing to show for it.

So, I'm embracing smaller, sustainable changes: landlining and no social media (FB, IG, Reddit) on my phone; laptop only. I'm also going to start carrying a pocket notebook and pen to jot things down if I'm not near my "landline".

Has anyone here had success with landlining? What are some other tips you all have found effective and sustainable?

Hello, I'm hoping to find a facial cleansing bar that is gentle enough to use 2x/day (my skin is dry), is fragrance free, and ideally organic with minimal ingredients. I currently use the Dr. Bronners bar soap and I love the company for their eco-mindedness and minimal ingredients, but it's too harsh to wash with twice a day. I've read that you don't want to use a soap that foams. Any product recommendations?

Wish list:

- bar soap

- fragrance free

- non-drying (can use 2x/day) but still works as a soap

- organic with few ingredients

Thanks!

Hello, I'm hoping someone can explain this to me. I have a 401k with my job and I also put a chunk of my yearly bonus into a separate Roth IRA account. I assumed that since a Roth is composed of money already taxed, that you could withdraw the money anytime, penalty-free if you needed it. However, I was considering purchasing a condo recently and looked into using some of the Roth $ for the down payment, but the Roth representative on the phone told me that I WOULD have to pay a penalty if I withdrew it since I'm nowhere near retirement age. This confused me because I then thought, what's the point of having put any $ into the Roth when I could've been getting the same return in a regular mutual fund account with the added benefit of penalty-free withdraws? Surely there must be a benefit to the Roth or else it wouldn't exist as an option.

Thanks in advance for any explanation.

My apologies if this topic has been posted about before; I didn't take the time to go digging. I'm 42 and I'm really wanting to learn an instrument and I'm leaning towards piano. I've been torn between guitar, cello, and piano and of the three, I really just enjoy listening to piano music the most. I don't have much of a music background; I did choral stuff in HS and also played a brass instrument in marching band, but both were ages ago now and I never learned to properly read music so I'll pretty much be a beginner. I don't own a piano nor do I have access to one, so besides lessons, this will be my biggest cost; could a keyboard suffice? I know you can self-teach online, but I'm thinking in-person lessons at least to start would be best so that I don't pick up bad habits or poor technique. Thoughts?

This has proven to be a slow-going habit change. It has also been shown to affect almost every aspect of my life including having me reassess my career and just how I spend my time every day, period. It's quite disruptive to the status quo and is bringing up more questions than it answers for me.

I frequently forget my own touchstones, but thankfully when I do remember and I, for example, grab my phone without thinking, I'll often put it back down again and write something down in my pocket notebook instead. Also, after trying out certain touchstones for a few days, I'll realize they don't quite work as well as I intended. For example, I have hand-written notes I keep in my pocket throughout the day which I intend to input into my calendar, phone, etc in one session at the end of the day. Unfortunately, this frequently takes a lot more time than I think and it starts eating into my bedtime which negatively affects everything else. Little things like this which are good habits in theory, have made other things more complicated in practice. I'm still confident I'll get where I want to go in time, but I just gotta stay consistent, redirect when necessary, and not focus on being perfect.

Also, when I say this has me reassessing my career and how I live my day-to-day life, what I mean is I don't just think tech distraction is a "bad" habit, I think it's a symptom of how I'm handling stress and overall dissatisfaction with parts of my life. I know I don't like my job, and I frequently turn to my phone when I'm bored for entertainment. This is a symptom of a bigger problem I need to address and just changing my "bad" habit of playing on my phone is only going to have me looking for another bandaid.

This past week has not gone well; jetlag has been negatively affecting many areas of my life and my new habits have suffered. I'm trying to balance giving my body what it needs (extra sleep) along with the discipline I've worked hard to cultivate the past 13 weeks; it hasn't been as easy balance. Each day gets a little bit better though, and I'm confident I'll be over the jetlag by this coming weekend (they say a day for each timezone you cross, and I crossed 15 unfortunately). Going to bed earlier is the most important part of this habit and also many other habits I'm trying to build. It's also the easiest thing to disregard when you finally get some solo downtime at the end of the day. I've tried counteracting this by giving myself downtime throughout the day, but it's still difficult to just go to bed. I set an alarm in my phone to remind myself to start winding down in the evening; hopefully this will help.

Well friends, I finally had my first relapse last night after almost 5 months of abstaining from porn. Not sure if I'm sleep-deprived, a little depressed, or jet-lagged; probably all of the above. I'm bummed I let this happen but I'm trying to learn from it so that I can move past it quickly. My lack of quality sleep has been a big contributor this past week; having just returned from a 3-week trip overseas. My own habits are also to blame as I've been staying up later than I intend to do, which allows old habits to creep up on me and negatively affect the other 2 new habits I'm trying to build. Going to bed earlier is going to be a biggie. I'm also reminding myself that a single relapse in almost 5 months isn't horrible and that as long as I can keep it a one-time thing, I'll be trending in the right direction.

In December I started what I'll call "2-month habits". This is where I take 2 months to focus on something I want to improve upon and I only focus on that. After 2 months, I can add another and stack every 2 months. So far, I've done 2 of these 2 month habits and I've been writing about my progress weekly in each of their corresponding subreddits. My current 2-month focus is on how I engage with primarily my phone, but also with digital media overall. I don't like that I'm addicted to my phone, it's a waste of time and a huge distraction from other things I'd like to spend my time doing. As with my other 2 habits, I will check in here weekly each Monday to review how things went the previous week. Here are some touchstones and ideas I plan to implement:

- only look at phone 3 times each day: after morning routine, lunch, and after dinner. No social media, no news, no scrolling, and no "reading"; for "checking" only. Anything more substantial must be done with intention from a laptop/larger screen. I can still answer calls and texts if necessary as they come in. In general, the goal is to follow the spirit of this touchstone and not the letter of it; use common sense; if I need to check something important I can do it. Most of my notifications are turned off entirely.

- read the news only from reputable sites like the NYT and only do it from a laptop/larger screen. Same for social media (FB, IG, and Reddit); all must be viewed intentionally from a laptop/larger screen. I no longer post to FB or IG but I cannot get rid of them entirely due to them being my only method of communicating with certain groups and keeping up with distant family. Reddit as I mentioned has been very helpful in tracking my goals and learning from others and I will continue to use it as the great tool it has become for me. YouTube music can be played through my phone while I'm driving, but I can only watch YouTube videos on my laptop/larger screen. Also, when at home, I can play background music through my phone while completing other tasks. I have a vinyl player, but flipping the record with soapy dish hands, etc has proven to be a hassle, so until I find a better system, I'll allow this (so long as I don't spend too much time "searching" for music)

- I've started carrying a small pocket-sized notebook and I have a keychain pen. These are for jotting down notes, journaling, etc which I can transcribe into my phone (calendar, email, article to lookup, etc) during one of the 3 allotted daily phone use times. I'm meant to use this notebook often and whenever I have reminders, thoughts or ideas I want to come back to or expand upon.

- I plan to start wearing a simple wristwatch again; this is something I don't currently have but I will buy a cheap one soon just for telling time. I'm tempted to get a Fitbit watch to track my steps as I'm enrolled in a workplace incentive program that pays me monthly if I meet certain step goals...but this really goes against my digital minimalism goals and I don't like the constant EMF exposure of a device against my skin all day. Currently I keep my phone in my back pocket in airplane mode when I want to track my steps which isn't ideal, but I'll keep doing this until I find a better way.

- I've also started meditating daily each afternoon for 10 minutes. It's really helped take the stress out of my workday and has kept me from scrolling.

Anyway, that's it for now with this brainstorm. These are just my initial ideas and once I implement them I'm sure they'll be adjusted and revised. If anyone has any advice or feedback on how to do this better or what has/hasn't worked for them I'm open to ideas. Thanks.

I can't believe it's been 20 weeks. My goal is 1 year and so far I'm noticing big, positive changes. I'm still masturbating, but it's so much more enjoyable than it was initially because I understand my personal eroticism so much better now. I just got back from a long overseas trip too and do not feel the urge to relapse; the last time I took a big trip I relapsed hard when I got home. I am determined to not let that happen again.

I've been traveling overseas so I haven't had time to do my weekly posts for weeks 17+18 but I'm at 19 weeks porn-free now and I'm still going strong!

Traveling has been uniquely confronting in its own way. Since I'm traveling with a friend, I haven't had much "alone" time (for lack of a better word) and this has allowed a lot of yearning to build. My arousal simply builds and remains unfulfilled which is frustrating on one hand but also strangely invigorating. I'm feeling deep yearnings I haven't felt in a long time and coupled with traveling in this beautiful new place has my mind buzzing with opportunities and ideas for new, exciting adventures. I'm really questioning a lot about how I'm living my day-to-day life. I met some backpackers today who seem to be living such an exciting adventure, it makes me want to do something similar. Maybe it's time to consider a big shake up in life.