Not sure if this fits the sub but I think it does — please remove if not appropriate.
The realization:
I was lying in bed last March and tried to remember something specific from the previous week. I couldn’t. Then I tried the week before. Same thing. Three weeks. Then I got scared.
I wasn’t depressed. Life was “fine.” But I was running on autopilot and my brain had stopped recording anything because nothing was different enough to be worth remembering.
What I did:
I started keeping a list of small new things to try. Not a bucket list of huge dreams — just tiny shifts. Try a new coffee shop. Take a different route. Cook something I’ve never made. Talk to one stranger meaningfully per week.
After 60 days something shifted. Not in some inspirational-quote way. Just — I could remember things again. The weeks felt distinct.
Why I’m posting:
I turned the list into an iOS app called new. It gives you one idea per day, you mark it done, you build a streak. There are 365 ideas covering creativity, food, social, movement, exploration, self-reflection.
It’s a paid app (€2 one-time, no subscription, no ads). If you don’t want to pay or can’t — totally fine, the bigger point is the method: keep a list, do one a day, track it. You don’t need an app for that. Notion, paper, whatever works.
But if you want it ready-made, the app is called: [new. - Something new every day]
What I’d love from this community:
- If you’ve done something similar (list-of-new-things), what worked? What didn’t?
- Ideas I should add to my 365 (always looking for new ones)
- Honest feedback if you try it
Discipline isn’t always about pushing harder. Sometimes it’s about choosing to notice more.
— Roman