Tag
Triggers
The routes, moods and moments that pull you toward old places.
Articles
No bars on weeknights
A place-based plan for drinking less during the week: pick the nights, plan the route home, and let the record show you the pattern.
MagazineThe coffee run math
Small, repeated stops are easy to miss. A little arithmetic on coffee runs and takeout, and a few ways to keep more without giving up what you like.
MagazineYour habits have addresses
Habits are tied to the places where they happen. That makes places one of the most useful things to plan around.
Magazine
Community posts
Community preview: example posts, updated daily, show the kind of updates members share in the NoTestudo app.
“Turtle eyebrow: raised.” I drove past.
Drive-thru line again on the way home. The widget said “Turtle eyebrow: raised.” and I felt so judged by a cartoon that I pulled out of the line. Went home and made a grilled cheese. Last time the fries won. This time the turtle did.
Fast FoodThree weeks without a vape shop stop
Three weeks with zero vape shop visits. The first week I walked past it every day and it was the hardest part of my day. Now I walk on the other side of the street, which sounds silly, but it’s working for me.
VapingMy turtle told me to put the fries down slowly
I have the turtle on Playful, and I was sitting in the drive-thru line on the way home when the widget said “Put the fries down slowly.” I laughed so hard I sent my sister a screenshot. I still got the fries. Next time, maybe.
Fast FoodI unsubscribed from every store email
Realized half my mall trips started with a “sale ends tonight” email. Spent ten minutes unsubscribing from everything. Not an app thing, just a me thing, but my weekly summary has been very boring since, in a good way.
SpendingOrdered a soda at the bar and nobody cared
A friend’s birthday on Saturday, at a bar. My goal is no bars on weeknights, so technically it was allowed, but I wanted to see if I could just not drink. Ordered a soda with lime. Nobody asked. Nobody cared. I was the only one who remembered the whole night, which was its own…
SobrietySkipped the casino part of the family trip
My cousins do a casino night every few weeks. I said I’d come for dinner but skip the casino part. They were fine with it. I got a nice dinner, a ride home and still had my paycheck on Monday.
SpendingLate-night drive-thru is my whole pattern
Daytime me is fine. 11:30 p.m. me, after a long shift, driving past the drive-thru on the way home, is a different person. Things I’m trying: a snack in the car, a different route home, and texting my roommate when I leave work so someone knows I’m coming straight back.
Fast FoodThree roommates, one group, fewer vape shop runs
Me and my two roommates all wanted to stop the vape shop runs, so we made a group. We see each other’s streaks, nothing else. When one of us has a rough day, the other two just text “walk?” and we go around the block. It’s become our thing.
VapingWhat does your Friday night look like now?
Genuine question for the weeknights-only crowd and the not-at-all crowd: what does your Friday look like now? Mine is usually a movie and a long walk, which past me would have found hilarious.
SobrietyWhat do you do at 10 p.m. instead?
10 p.m. is my hard hour. Homework’s done or not happening, and my brain wants to relax the old way. Currently trying: a shower, a dumb comedy show and putting my phone across the room. Open to ideas.
CannabisHow do you get to class when it’s pouring?
Every time it rains I somehow decide the lecture is “probably recorded.” It is not always recorded. What’s your rainy-day plan?
ClassFirst week, and I already know my hard spot
First week of my goal. On day three I realized my whole problem is the twenty minutes between my last class and the bus, right next to the vape shop. So I’m trying to fill those twenty minutes: the library, coffee with a friend, anything.
VapingGetting off the bus one stop early
The dispensary is on my walk home from the bus stop. Started getting off one stop early and walking the long way. It’s seven extra minutes. Seven minutes turns out to be exactly enough to change the walk.
Cannabis