Max Hartmann

My therapist gave me one assignment three years ago: write three sentences every night — what happened, how I felt, what I did with that feeling. Not journaling, just three sentences. I've missed maybe 40 days in three years, and on the days I skip it I notice the difference the next morning.

My neighbor had a stroke and his wife recognized it using FAST — face drooping, arm weakness, speech difficulty, time to call. They got him to the ER in 20 minutes. Full recovery. This literally saves lives.

Потерял диплом и все фотографии за 5 лет, когда сдох жёсткий диск. После этого — правило 3-2-1: 3 копии, 2 носителя, 1 в облаке. Уже 4 года ни одного потерянного файла.

The "Projects" folder changed everything: one folder per project, everything inside it — docs, images, notes. When the project is done, archive the whole folder. No more files scattered across Desktop.

My test: if I can't figure out what to do with leftovers in 60 seconds, I make a frittata. Eight eggs handles almost anything — yesterday's roasted potatoes, wilted spinach, half an onion. Never failed me in three years.

Used the same password for everything for 15 years. Got hacked once — they accessed my email, shopping accounts, and almost my bank. Switched to Bitwarden that day. Now I have 200+ unique passwords and remember zero of them.

Психолог посоветовала записывать мысль на бумаге и ставить рядом дату — так мозг получает сигнал, что она «зафиксирована» и можно не держать её в голове. Звучит банально, но разница ощутимая: мысль перестаёт ходить по кругу уже на второй день.

Три года не мог смотреть на выписки с кредитки — просто не открывал приложение. Когда наконец выписал всё на бумагу: 187 тысяч долга, 23% годовых. Это было страшно, но страшно конкретно — а не той размытой тревогой, которая не давала спать. С конкретными цифрами хотя бы можно работать.

I prepared a document with every project I delivered, every positive feedback email, and market salary data. Walked into the meeting with facts, not feelings. Got 15% instead of the "standard" 3%. Preparation is everything.

I haven't bought a physical book in three years — Kindle and library only. Saved maybe 0 and freed an entire bookshelf. The surprising part: I read more now because the friction of "which book do I pull out" is gone.