I just came across this prompt in r/selfimprovement and thought I'd write about it quickly
What's something you stopped doing that improved your life?
I think one thing I stopped doing that genuinely improved my life was trying to reply to everyone immediately.
For the longest time, I felt like if someone texted me, I had to answer right away. Like, even if I was tired, busy, eating, half-asleep, or just not in the mood to talk, I’d still force myself to reply. And honestly? It was exhausting. I don’t even know why I put so much pressure on myself. Nobody was standing outside my house with a stopwatch like, “Wow, he took 23 minutes to reply. Unacceptable.”
But in my head, it felt that serious.
At some point, I realized I was making myself available all the time, and then wondering why I felt drained. So I slowly stopped. I started replying when I actually had the energy to reply. Not days later in a rude way, but just… not instantly. Sometimes I see a message and think, “I’ll answer this after dinner,” and that’s okay.
The funny thing is, nothing bad happened. People didn’t suddenly hate me. The world didn’t collapse. Most people probably didn’t even notice.
Now I feel a lot calmer. My phone feels less like a tiny boss yelling at me and more like a tool I can use when I want to. I still care about people, obviously, but I’m learning that caring about others doesn’t mean ignoring myself.
I wish I had learned that earlier, but hey, better late than never haha