Have you ever wondered what you're doing that actually makes your life harder, not easier? Well, on Friday, Reddit user u/tropicalzhu asked people, "What's a common thing people do without realizing it's actually making their life harder?" People came through with some stuff that we all need to just nix from our lives.
Here's what they said:
1. "Distancing yourself from your friends because they don't contact you. I'm guilty of this; I'm just tired of being the only one who contacts them, yet I know they would be here for me if I asked them to. Distancing myself more hasn't made my life better at all."
2. "Not properly communicating their needs to people in their life. That one simple thing has ruined countless relationships."
3. "Mindlessly eating. I used to be guilty of this — I would eat when watching TV, when bored, when I was playing video games. I ate, ate, ate with no sense of how much or how often. I'd mow down a family-size bag of Doritos or five cans of Pepsi without really registering that I'd done so. It's not healthy."
4. "Road rage."
5. "Spending a lot of time on social media."
6. "Failing to apologize. It’s sad to watch a person, in an effort to preserve themselves, damn themselves by simply refusing to admit responsibility and address the problem."
7. "People-pleasing. Sometimes you just have to say 'no' to people. Otherwise, you'll be taken advantage of over and over and over again. That leads to pent-up anger and resentment. Just learn to say, 'No.'"
8. "Not moving your body daily, keeping your muscles (metabolism) strong, bones healthy, heart pumping, lungs healthy, etc."
9. "Not taking just 10–15 minutes each day to clean and organize."
10. "Low-quality dental care routine."
11. "Always putting others over yourself. You are worth your own attention."
12. "Staying hydrated is so simple and easy, but so many people don't do it."
13. "Keeping toxic people around. I've recently cut a couple people off. The process was difficult and painful, but the results made up for it."
14. "Failing to utilize an actual calendar. I know so many people who insist on just trying to remember everything, and then are constantly forgetting or double-booking their own plans."
15. "Credit card debt. Over-spending on things you don’t need will end up costing you a fortune in interest."
16. "Buying discount products and repairing what should be replaced. Example: I work with a guy who has gone through three pairs of $99 work boots in a single year. I bought a pair worth $400 six years ago and replaced them this year. Another example is my mom spending $14,000 to fix her $7,000 truck. She could have easily bought a new one without any issues."
17. "Telling all of your personal business to your co-workers."
And lastly:
18. "Complaining and being negative. The only people who put up with it are other complainers and negative people — it creates a toxic environment, and you’re the nucleus."
Got any other examples? Let me know in the comments below!
Note: Responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.