mxb's opinionated guide to life

1. Block web ads and tracking when online. uBlock Origin saves your privacy, time, bandwidth and battery.
2. Avoid the endless data harvesting. Don't install that app when the website works. Each additional app steals your privacy, battery life and focus.
3. Unless specifically visual, three paragraphs of text is usually better than a 10 minute video for the same content. Use services such as Stepify to convert and summarise videos. For people who are visual learners, this point will not apply.
4. Physical media (books, DVDs) will outlast the digital media you purchased rented.
5. Learn the *nix shell. Once you appreciate the composability and write your own additional tools you can do so much in so little (time and resources).
6. Learn a scripting language as this allows you to quickly create handy scripts and utilities which helps with recommendation #5. I prefer Perl, but pretty much any scripting language will suffice. The best language is the one you know the best.
7. Get outside, enjoy nature, enjoy walks, especially if you have an indoor office job.
8. Pick up an offline mentally taxing hobby. I chose chess, with a real board and books.
9. Take part in the creative arts. Painting, drawing, dancing, playing a musical instrument are the usual suggestions here.
10. Family comes first.

Last updated: April 2024