I'm currently on a "rationality as 'skills you practice'" kick. I'm really into subtle cognitive skills. I do think they eventually pay off.

But, realistically, if you have a major problem in your life, my experience is that the biggest effect sizes come from radically changing your environment.

Move in with new roommates.

Get a house in a new neighborhood.

Get a new romantic partner.

Get a new job.

Move onto a new team at your current job.

I'd count "install a serious internet-blocker on your computer that kicks in automatically at regular intervals" as an "environment change", since we do live our lives largely "on the internet."

You want your general life situation to feel like flowing downhill, not having to trudge uphill. Often, lots of little things about your physical and social environment make things frictiony, or demotivating,

When I briefly lived on a boat where going to the bathroom required completing a minor obstacle course, I was surprised how much I just automatically got enough exercise and lost weight. I haven't succeeded at finding a way to live longterm with those properties, but, the proof of concept had a pretty enormous effect size.

If you [...]

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First published:

November 1st, 2025

Source:

https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/eSDy7supmmKAWsDmG/re-rolling-environment

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