Advice

Posture

Desk

• Imagine a string is pulling you upwards from your head. This should keep your chin relatively tucked in.

• Your shoulders should be hanging down: not shrugging. To do that raise your seat (pad it with whatever you have - blankets, pillows) and raise your monitors as well, by about a spread-palm-width using books or boxes. Its center should be right in front of you.

• Have your computer notify you about once an hour to get up and do some dynamic stretches, hop around, look out the window, do eye exercises.

Exercises

• Exercise to improve hunchback posture forward head carriage correction
• Upper Neck Pain or Back Pain? Simple stretches for instant relief
• How to relax tight and sore upper back & neck muscles
• 6 Ways to Get Rid of the Knots in Your Upper Back
• Forward Head Posture

Time and distractions

• Know when your “work”, “study”, “hobbies” and “relaxation” sections of your day start and end. If you don’t define them well enough, you will either reach catastrophic fatigue in a matter of a few days (overworking) or fall into limbo (understimulation). Rest is paramount.

• Write a distraction-free mode for your entire computer. In my case I can hide all notifications and irreversibly minimize all chat / mail windows with the press of two keys. Exiting this mode hints at all missed notifications, if any, and restores the windows.

• Use /etc/hosts or some other mechanism to block things you don’t need.

• If you catch yourself not having done anything useful while on the computer for a certain period of time, stop using it.

• People who sell used books have good suggestions for you. Balance work and literature books.

Buying things

• Amazon sells used products. Odd-colored products go for less. Ebay probably has equivalents for even less.

• Buy yourself small things that will take a long time to arrive and may turn out to be engaging. It’s a gift to your future self. For example, a cheap instrument: An Ukulele, a kalimba or flute.

• Before buying a piece of clothing, go online and click on everything relevant that you see. Pretend you’re browsing those websites with the most stylish person you know and imagine what they would have to say. If there’s any amount of “but” or “eh”, it’s not good.

Exercise, diet and hygiene

• Look up Antranik on YouTube for exercises you can do at home.

• Mathematically speaking, any amount of exercise is infinitely better than none and it’s never too late to start.

• Finish your shower with cold water.

• Use a soft toothbrush. Pretend your teeth are ancient bones that you must carefully clean. Floss!

• Eat a bit of everything and less of the bad stuff.