This is a summary of practical life tips, explained for my simple commonplacing and your public consumption. Consult my method to see how I built it.
NOTE: I no longer consider any of these essays to be sufficiently right anymore. I keep it here for archival purposes, and am currently working to migrate all non-opinion aspects to this notes page.
Start Here
- TL;DR — the summary for those with a short attention span
- Making Habits Stick — how habits work
- What to Change — what needs to change
Critical Needs
Necessary Mind Fixes
- Sleeping Well — everything about sleep
- Self-Awareness — understanding oneself
Happiness
- Defining Happiness — what it is
- Fighting Unhappiness — climbing out of unhappiness
- Maintaining Happiness — long-term maintenance
Success
- Defining Success — what it is
- Attitude Adjustment — changing motivation
- Making Realistic Goals — planning around reality
- Optimizing Your Routine — improving flow
- Persevering — persisting against failure
- Staying Humble — maintaining success
Money
- Why Money Management Matters — why it’s worth it
- Everything About Debt — how debt works
- Budgeting & Goals — know what you want
- Wise Spending Concepts — how to spend
- Adequate Data: Numerous Saving Tips — specific ways to save money
- Adequate Data: Small Things Always Worth Buying — items usually worth the extra cost
People Skills
- Why People Skills Matter — why it’s worth it
- Making Yourself Presentable — how to look good
- Respecting People — honoring boundaries
- Building Friendships — how to make friends
Important Improvements
Better Mind Management
- How Creativity Works — the creative process
- Improving Memory — how to remember
- Having Fun — how to enjoy life
- Basic Computer Skills — how to use computers
Better People Skills
- How to Speak — better spoken language
- How to Write — better written language
- Conflicts — difficult conversations
- Dealing with Liars — understanding deception
Better Home Management
- Getting Organized — managing clutter
- Housekeeping — home maintenance
- Decorations & Renovations — improving a home
- Pet Ownership — responsibly owning a pet
- Adequate Data: Moving Checklist — everything necessary to move
Romantic Relationships
- Dating — finding a decent partner
- Weddings — transitioning into marriage
- Life Partner Relationships — long-term relationship strategies
Parenting
- Parenting Babies — working with new people
- Parenting Children — working with extremely inexperienced people
- Parenting/Releasing Teenagers — working with barely experienced people
Better Careers
- Preparing for the Search — know where you want to go
- Making Plans — setting goals
- Image Crafting — building a personal brand
- Job Hunting — marketing yourself
- Interviewing — impressing employers
- Closing the Deal — deciding and transitioning
- Deciding on College — whether college is worth it
- Prolonged Unemployment — prolonging living without income
- How to professionally say (external) — the polite way to send blunt messages
Better Body Maintenance
- Weight Management — diet and exercise management
- Basic First Aid — caring for injuries
- How to Cook — improving food
Better Fun
- Alcohol Ideas — fun with alcohol
- Throwing a Party — having memorable parties
- Enjoying Vacations & Trips — having great time off
- Adequate Data: Fun Ideas — small ways to enjoy life
Other Critical Problems
Severe Hardship
- Overcoming Severe Hardship — handling a terrible experience
- Handling Death — managing the ends of lives
- Overcoming Personal Hardships — specific personal battles
- Overcoming Interpersonal Hardships — specific social battles
- Overcoming Society’s Hardships — specific battles with society
Disaster Preparedness
- What is a Disaster? — the essence of every disaster
- Short-Term Preparation — how to prepare for something big
- Long-Term Preparation: Staying — how to be prepared to stay afterward
- Long-Term Preparation: Moving — how to be prepared to leave afterward
- Surviving Nature — how to handle untamed nature
- Learn to make outdoor gear (external) — make outdoor gear yourself
- Animated knots (external) — learn to tie knots
- Adequate Data: Specific Survival Situations — odd, specific things you can survive
- Adequate Data: Disaster Checklist — a sensible shopping list for the collapse of society
Autism
- How to Start Looking at Autism (book) — the precise way to view autism
- How to Stop Looking Autistic (book) — if you’re autistic, how to not look it
Modern Society
Miscellaneous
About/FAQ
Why “Adequate”?
- This world tends to reward greatness with more great things. But, with a bad hand in life, the world is often unfairly cruel, and punishes you for things you couldn’t have known.
- This site converges and consolidates everything related to self-help:
- YouTube videos and TED talks
- Advice columns and blog articles
- Discussions with professionals
- Book and executive summaries
- Social media feeds
- Forum discussions
- This is for people who don’t have enough time or focus to read, or simply want the plain facts.
- If you want persuasive explanations or many examples, there are 10 best-selling books on each of these topics that do it better than me.
What’s up with the logo?
- It’s a visual representation of Adequate and Life (AL), intentionally designed as adequately as possible.
I can’t read this website!
- For whatever reason (e.g., limited electricity access, incarceration), you may not be able to view this site. I created an inferior book format for your needs. It’s the cheapest Amazon will bind and sell a 361-page book. Try to get it used somewhere.
Who are you, anyway?
- I’m Dave Stucky.
- You might like other things I made.
- Follow my updates here.