When we last rounded up our staff’s Weekly Upgrades, our editors were installing our own bidets, cutting back on caffeine, and protecting ourselves from exercise-induced injury.
This week, we’ve been clearing and donating clutter, finding small ways to take of ourselves throughout the day, ending our compulsive email checking, and doing some crock pot cooking.
What upgrades did you make this week? Let us know in the comments.
Use Command hooks to clear clutter
My partner has started keeping more stuff at my place, including many jackets and hats, so I broke down and got some Command hooks to keep the jackets off of my chairs and doorknobs.
Claire Lower, Food & Beverage Editor
Build self-care into your news feed
This is a tiny upgrade: I started following @tinycarebot on Twitter. Every hour or so, it tweets a reminder, such as “take a quick moment to play a song that helps you feel happy please.” It’s nice to have these little interludes as I’m scrolling through my feed.
Beth Skwarecki, Health Editor
Use a stormy day to make your food for the week
This week, I took full advantage of the stormy weather by making this slow cooker recipe for butter chicken. Not only did it make my apartment smell like spices and butter the entire day (mmm), but I’m still benefiting from the leftovers.
Alicia Adamczyk, Staff Writer
Get a jump on your seasonal cleaning
I cleaned my whole apartment. Got rid of a TON of clothes (a ton = two garbage bags full). Made quick work of what to keep, donate and throw out. It not only made a lot of room in my closet, but also reminded me to wear clothes I would have otherwise forgotten about.
Joel Kahn, Senior Video Producer
Don’t let your inbox own you
I unpinned my email tab. Now I just open it every hour or two and handle a dozen emails at once. (Lifehacker‘s internal communication happens on Slack.) Next week I hope to get down to just three opens a day.
Nick Douglas, Staff Writer
Learn from your IKEA mistakes
This week, I decided to buy a brand-new IKEA drawer unit to stash under my desk, so all the junk I keep on top of my desk can go away. Naturally, it shipped with a banged-up side panel – both an issue for construction and an aesthetic annoyance, given how much I paid for the stupid drawers. How long did it take to chat this issue out with IKEA on the phone? OVER AN HOUR. Next time, I might as well just spend that hour driving back and forth to the local IKEA – at least I’ll get meatballs out of the deal. And probably a new ANTAGEN. It was an upgrade in theory, and I have now upgraded my ways: I’ll just go to the damn store.
David Murphy, Senior Tech Editor
Aggressively schedule your relaxation time
I’ve gotten pretty consistent as a morning meditator, but I’ve also wanted to carve out time to do it midday, and had been struggling to make it happen. This week, I set up a daily reminder on my phone that will bug me to meditate, somewhere around lunchtime. It hasn’t meant that I’ve done it every day, but it’s definitely increased my success rate, and is nudging me in the right direction. Eventually, I’m hoping it becomes enough of a habit that I don’t need a digital reminder, but in the meantime, the nudge has been really helpful.
Virginia K. Smith, Managing Editor
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