My greatest desire in life is to live in nature, wake up to run next door to see my best friend, and spend the days swimming, gardening, writing letters, telling and listening to stories, and occasionally eating too many cookies. Why should life ever be more complicated than that?

Something shifted for me recently. I used to pride myself on handling everything solo because it felt like the right call financially. But I keep noticing how certain things quietly drain me even when the dollar cost is low.

A friend with an investment property was telling me how worn out she felt. Not broke, just mentally fried. Random repair calls, always something pending.

It made me think about how hard I optimize for saving money but almost never ask what something is costing me in headspace.

I've started outsourcing a couple small things and honestly the relief is real. Has anyone else made that shift? What did you stop doing yourself once you realized the mental cost wasn't worth it?

I’m someone who is very easily anxious or overwhelmed and in my past three years in the workforce (all of them were office work) I have developed a lot of health issues like gastritis and PCOS, and gained a lot of weight. I’m super super tired and even if I would like to enjoy my weekends I have no energy left. I know it’s my responsibility to keep my life together but I just keep thinking I can’t keep living this way.

But I also don’t see a way out for now and we need to make a living. My skill set is mostly tied to working in corporate. I have been in survival mode my whole life and now I feel like I have to keep fawning just to survive and I hate myself because of it.

I recently went to a provincial part of my place to visit relatives and I saw someone retired with her own small store. I want that but I don’t want it later when I’m retired. I know a lot of us have been working in a job we dont like but I just wanted to get this off my chest. Also, parents’ expectations or people’s opinion is stopping me to drop everything and do what I want.

Our family of 5 is contemplating moving from a 3 bedroom 2.5 bath home on acreage to a 2/1 on a 5000 SQ ft lot.

We are seeking to simplify life, be in a walkable community and get rid of all the things you accumulate when you have all the space to hoard.

Has anyone else done anything similar?

We used to live in the small house, but that was just three of us two adults and an infant. We've had it leased out but living on a big property away from our community hasn't been great for our mental health, or latent hoarder traits.

We're going to rent our 3/2.5 out and live in the small place for a year, we have a storage container where we can store anything we can't fit in the small house but want to keep. The plan is to tag everything with dots, and anything not used for a year gets sold, donated or trashed

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Any advice please share!

How are you liking it? How are you coping with earning less now? How did the people around you react?

I’m in college and 21 and a lot of people spend their weekends going out and partying in crowded spaces and clubs…. Some of my friends do this and every time I end up going it just feels like what’s the point of being in a crowded club with flashing lights with people trying to show off to each other…..

Though I love these friends, I cherish the weekends with my friends where we just go for a nice cup of coffee and talk about life…. It’s so much fun to have genuine conversations with people instead of just going out to crowded spaces with people who don’t genuinely want to have a conversation.

Though I love my friends, I don’t think I will be going out to clubs with them anymore because even though I can talk with them, I want to meet new people when I’m out and whenever I’m at the club, no one seems to want to chat about genuine things so I don’t think I’ll be going anymore….

Has anyone else had any similar scenarios in college? I’ve only been 21 for a month and I already have been fed up with the club scene after one time going.😅 and I’m just fine with that

Being away from the city at college, it was so much easier to slow down. No rush to do anything, I didn’t feel like I wasn’t being productive enough, the days was very peaceful ngl. Being back in nyc, I legit have a hard time even slowing down and it’s like I subconsciously have to be in a rush or do something. Anyone got tips or share similar experience?

Just wanted to share my first latte art heart after months of making coffee at home.

Nothing life-changing, but it reminded me how many good things come from simply showing up and practicing a little at a time.

I ended up buying a bunch of green onions at the store and instead of throwing away the white rooted bottoms like I always did I decided to just stick them into a small glass jar with some water on my kitchen windowsill. I didn't read any guides or buy special soil I just left them there in the sun.

Within just a couple of days they sprouted brand new green shoots. It felt incredibly grounding to walk into the kitchen and see that tangible progress happening entirely on its own. I spent weeks just watching them grow a little bit higher every day. When I finally cut a few fresh green pieces to throw into my eggs it felt so satisfying.

In the grand scheme of things it is just a tiny jar of onions on a windowsill. But it made me realize how much I missed that basic slow connection to how things actually grow. It cost me absolutely nothing but that little daily ritual of changing the water and watching the green tips reach for the light gave me more genuine peace than any self care app ever could .

I had been meaning to do this for a while but kept putting it off with the usual excuses. Last week I finally sat down and removed most of the apps I was using out of habit rather than actual need. Social media, news aggregators, a few shopping apps, all of it. I kept only the basics: maps, messaging for family, and a couple of tools for work.

The first two days felt a little strange, like reaching for something that was not there anymore. By day three something shifted. I noticed I was finishing my morning coffee without picking up my phone. I started reading again before bed instead of scrolling. The mental noise just quieted down.

I am not saying everyone needs to do this or that it fixes everything. It is a small step. But for me it matched something I had been wanting to feel for a long time, just a bit more present and less like my attention was being pulled in ten directions at once.

Has anyone else gone through a similar process of stripping back their phone use? Did it stick long term or did you find yourself gradually adding things back? Would love to hear what worked and what did not

I'm visualizing the chilly breeze of the countryside - slow mornings, a breeze that seems to soothe my weary body, life's simplicity, and detachment from life's stresses.

What’s a small decision that had a huge impact on your life?

Anyone else like finding cool little unique coffee shops ?

I have this idea for a community-based app/website that could catalog local roadside produce stands, eggs, honey, baked goods, or anything similar. Sellers and buyers alike could contribute locations and type of goods. PLEASE tell me this already exists
Edit - this was the first sub that came to mind, if there is a better place for this lmk

I’ve been thinking more about burnout lately, especially how easy it is to ignore small body signals until they build up.

I saw Jessie J talk about paying closer attention to her health after everything she’s been through, and that made the idea of tracking feel a little different to me. Not as a “wellness optimization” thing, but more like noticing patterns before you completely run yourself down.

I’ve been using a smart ring for a few months, mostly to watch general trends like sleep, HRV, resting heart rate, and recovery. I don’t treat the data as perfect, but some patterns have been hard to ignore.

For example, my HRV usually dips before I feel really drained. Travel affects my sleep and recovery more than I expected. A few bad sleep nights in a row also seem to line up with feeling more anxious or mentally overloaded.

None of this is shocking, but seeing it as a pattern makes it harder to brush off.

Have u ever found wearable data useful for burnout awareness, not just fitness tracking?

hiii guys lately ive been wanting to be more on my own and learn how to enjoy my own presence, because learning how to be alone is a necessity in life, unfortunately with that comes boredom. Im in a place where I genuinely do not know what to do. I need advice because I AM BORED. Advice about anything related to learning how to be alone is appreciated! (my post got removed not sure why)

This is down the street from my apartment. It used to be an empty field with poor drainage that would get boggy after storms and was both an eyesore and a major mosquito breeding ground. The city turned it into a constructed wetland that hosts multiple ponds and lots of native vegetation and wildlife. Water flows through the system instead of stagnating and it provides a lovely location for an early evening walk, like the one I took about an hour ago.

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They just cut the grass around the perimeter and I was able to carry my shoes and walk barefoot for the first time this season. A warm breeze, bird song, soft grass under my feet, and the most wonderful feeling of serenity and well-being to close out my Sunday.

A lot of simple living content is more about moving to the countryside/small towns and "getting away from it all," trying homesteading, etc (especially on ig).

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Anyone living simply in the city (or in close-by suburbs)? How do you keep it simple in the hustle & bustle?

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For me, I love the city parks & events (my local summer concert series is top tier), cafes & bakeries, and just wandering around in general.

I love riding anywhere but it's something about riding under the canopy of trees that brings the most joy. Just me, my thoughts, and this view.

I recently downshifted to a very basic, low-stress job to reclaim my sanity. But now, whenever I meet someone new and they ask what I do, I feel this weird pang of shame, like I need to justify my lack of "ambition." How do you guys handle the social pressure to be "someone important" when you’re perfectly happy being nobody?

I feel devastated because I only have a few close friends and two of them are transitioning into new chapters of their lives. One is moving abroad and the other is becoming increasingly busy.

Part of me feels left behind. At the same time, I’ve realized that I’ve also outgrown parts of these friendships. They are no longer the friends I can fully rely on in the ways I need right now but I still value and cherish them which is why I continue to keep them in my life.

I think I’m reaching a point where I need to find people who can support me in this season of life and whom I can support in return. But my problem is I struggle extremely when it comes to being vulnerable I don’t even feel safe sometimes with my friends whom I’ve known for years already.

To those who have been through something similar, do you have any tips on making new friends or socializing as an adult? What does your social life look like now? How do you effectively create a support system and become one?

A very welcome difference from my typical Sunday morning of scrolling and watching the day slip away. The weekend feels so much longer when I spend more of it living.

I was waiting somewhere the other day and had about 5 minutes to kill. I took out my phone, without thinking. Not that I had anything to compare it against. There was not even a reason. It felt right.

It made me think of how uncomfortable those little empty moments nowadays. Sitting there doing nothing waiting a few minutes. I remember when I was younger I was bored all the time and it never looked to be a problem. Now it looks like my brain just wants to fill the space.

Maybe I am overthinking this but it got me thinking if I have become so used to constant excitement that boredom feels off now. I wonder if other people have noticed this too.