Small Decisions That Changed People's Lives For The Better

Life is full of choices—some major, some minor.

But much has been written about seemingly insignificant decisions drastically changing people's lives.

While many of us don't have enough access to an overview to show us the effects of all of our choices, some people do get that insight after making some minor change.

Reddit user Former-Accountant-53 asked:

"What is a small, everyday decision you made that unexpectedly changed your life for the better?"

Clean Sleep

"In 2020 after I started to work from home, I changed my shower routine to at night."

"It feels so much nicer climbing into bed clean and also getting some extra time in the morning to sleep."

~ elevatorDJ

"The Japanese do this. And I think it makes perfect sense.

"Would you rather sleep in the dirt and oil your skin accumulated throughout the day, or get 8 hours of sleep squeaky clean?"

"Seems obvious when you think about it this way."

~ Mindblade0

You Deserve A Break Today

"Breaks. I don't have enough energy to get through my coursework all at once, and doing so burns me out very quickly."

"I find taking a 5 minute break in between 40 minute work periods actually increases my efficiency and quality of work than doing everything in 2 hours at once."

~ randomboiboiboiboi

"Seconding this. I’ve also seen research that the mind can only focus for around 25 minutes at a time, so I do four 25-minute intervals with 5 minutes rest in between."

"This allows for two full hours of focus."

"After the fourth interval, there’s an automatic 25-minute rest to really allow time for your mind to digest everything you’ve read/studied/worked on. I use an app called Focus Keeper and it’s the best."

~ TakenOva4Da99

Furry Frietnds

"Adopting a dog. Pets are the best."

"I go for walks every morning. I’ve met all my neighbors because I’m out with the dog."

"I love all the funny stuff the dog does. I even like that he’s fully taken over my bed even though he has three dog beds of his own."

~ profwithclass

"I decided to see a movie that was only in a theater an hour away from me, and noticed the theater is in a mall with a cat cafe."

"And now 5 years later have a cat I adopted from that cat cafe."

~ IceCreamAttachment

Early To Rise

"Waking up 30 minutes earlier than I need to.

"Perfect amount of time for me to get up, make a pot of coffee and watch the news before going to work."

"No longer rushed in the morning. Get to watch the traffic report to see if I need to take a different highway or bridge."

~ UltraCoolPimpDaddy

Meal Prep

"I meal prep. I suggest take it in steps. I started with making meals a night or so before, and packing up a couple days worth at a time."

"Now I make my breakfast and lunch for the entire week. I keep it super simple, because I hate cooking, and I mostly eat to maintain my gym routine."

"Breakfast casserole: grease a caselore dish (I use bacon grease), layer the bottom with tater tots/hash browns. In a separate bowl, mix eggs and veggies, then pour that into the dish. Cook that for 30 to 40 minutes at 350 degrees."

"In the last 10-15 minutes, add shredded cheese on top. While that's cooking I also make a package of bacon on a cookie sheet. Split that all into 5 to 6 days of breakfast."

"Alternative—mini omelets. Get a small pan, set heat to medium, throw some butter or bacon grease on it. Add a cup or so of frozen veggies. Heat them up for about half the cookie time, then add your eggs. Put the top on the pan, and cook through but don't finish."

"Use the top to flip the egg over into the pan, so you can cook both sides. Then add cheese to the top, and cover until the cheese is melted. Takes about 8 minutes per. So you could make 5 pretty quickly - but takes more work than the previous."

"For lunch, I just make boneless, skinless chicken thighs in the instant pot. Put half a bottle of sauce in, like sesame ginger or something like that, with a big splash of soy sauce and a bit of water."

"Cook that for 15 minutes, and release the pressure after 10-15 minutes. Usually lasts me 5 days. That would also go good with rice and veggies."

"Buy yourself glass containers. If you can heat up and eat your food in the same container, it's so much nicer."

~ Spacemage

No More Snoring Either

"Using a CPAP every night."

"Not having 15 breathing disturbances an hour leaves you feeling a lot better the next day."

~ DeathSpiral321

"I've been using one for years, and can't sleep without one anymore."

"I just got a new one that travels a lot easier. Once I get the battery pack, I could even backpack and camp with it."

~ jfincher42

Some Is Better Than None

"Getting some level of workout in every day (except rest days)."

"10 push-ups a day is a lot more than 0."

"I need to start doing more cardio. But the weather has been too unkind and I don't want to risk a slip and fall."

~ PhreedomPhighter

"I work as a fitness coach—try two 20 minute workouts a week."

"The impact this has had on my clients has been incredible."

"Average age is 62. Their functional strength has been so improved that it’s been life changing."

~ Vivid-Soup-5636

Sparking Joy

"Getting rid of things I don’t use or wear and not accumulating pointless sh*t."

~ gra0975

"Every 3-6 months I walk around every room and choose something to donate that I haven’t used or worn in a long time, that has a bad association or memory tied to it, a book I didn’t enjoy or something that I’m hoarding for some eventuality that I realize will never come, and I donate it."

"I rarely, if ever, regret it."

~ KamenCo

Start Off Right

"Making it part of my bedtime routine to do the dishes before I go upstairs and get ready for bed."

"Usually I just can’t be arsed, but I’ve trained myself to do it anyway. It takes ten minutes and when I walk into the kitchen the next morning, I’m always pleasantly surprised by how nice and clean it looks."

"Puts me in a good mood while I make my coffee and breakfast and starts the day off just right."

~ saludpesetasamor

"It can be tedious, but it's well worth it."

"I'll usually put on a podcast or horror story narration while I do the dishes. It just makes a nice experience that kind of turns into a pseudo meditation."

"It's also a good time for me to reflect on anything going on in my brain that I didn't have time to think about during the day."

~ adventdivinity

Unsubscribe

"Click every unsubscribe link in every email you get from an online retailer you've bought from."

"I used to get 50+ emails a day from random companies reminding me to buy sh*t."

"Now when I get an email ding, most of the time it's something I actually want/need to read!"

~ round-disk

Cutting The Metaphorical Cord

"Turned off notifications on my phone."

~ KaiJonez

"Turning off notifications is a game changer. I only allow notifications from three people to come through."

~ 4canthosisNigricans

Neighborly Neighbors

"Initiating greetings with neighbors sparked friendships I never expected in my own community."

~ Attitude_Girly

"When I was younger me and my sibling had bad time with a neighbor because our ball would go over the fence a lot. He would yell at us or keep our ball. So I would pray that as an adult my neighbors would be nice."

"Since I moved in about ten years ago, me and my neighbors are basically extended family."

"We all know each other and have each others' number and help one another in small ways like watching out for strange people, feeding pets when not available, we bake each other stuff and when we got extra food from a bbq me and my wife debate who we send an extra plate to.

"We all wave to each other as we pull in/out our driveway."

"We live in a sort of culdesac in that one street leads to a dead end and you can only turn left so there’s like an L where we know the neighbors two houses down each way. Our right door neighbor is the lunch lady for my daughter’s school so sometimes she’ll give a lil' extra to my kid."

"My left door neighbor and I smoke together. My front door neighbor breeds cute rabbits. My other front door neighbor is an ex-fireman and has two awesome hot rod cars."

"Yesterday my furthest neighbor gave us a late Christmas present; a beautiful handwritten letter and a gift card to Texas Roadhouse."

~ TrippyShamann

Fridge Fresh

"I put place mats on the refrigerator shelves, it’s been keeping them clean."

~ Patriot420

"I use cafeteria type trays. That way I can pull them out and clean them, instead of having to reach iinthe fridge leaving the door open."

"I have an extra so I just rotate, while the 'dirty' one is being washed, and the food isn’t sitting out. It’s also easier on my shoulders—my fridge is too deep."

~ plainlyput

Fashion Prep

"Seems dumb, but laying out work clothes for the next day somehow seems to save me a bunch of time."

~ Drachen1065

"Not dumb. I think there's a lot of little micro decisions and problems that come with choosing work clothes, so it makes sense.

Like oh, I took time to pick the clothes, but forgot I also have to choose a belt/socks/accessories to go with it."

"Or something doesn't look as good as you thought or fit well anymore, so now you're having to choose something else."

~ AggravatingCupcake0

Never Argue With A Fool

"Not arguing with morons."

"Here's how I remind myself to be when it comes to misinformation, morons, and the internet: It's good to be invested in the truth. Especially if you are open minded enough to constantly rethink what it is and what your relationship to it is."

"Everyone invested in the truth, has some responsibility to protect it and proclaim it. But you're not everybody, and you have your own needs and responsibilities."

"So you only share one teeny little part of the responsibility. And anyway, real morons are never open minded enough to listen and consider. It's a classic 'pearls before swine' scenario a lot of the time."

"So keep your pearls, share them when someone that honestly values pearls is open to accepting one and appreciating it."

"And otherwise, keep doing you and creating more of those lovely pearls. There are people who will appreciate them, so they won't go to waste."

~ model70

Sometimes minor, insignificant life changes have major impacts.

What small changes have you made?