Burning the candle (mindfully, at one end)
A hack to save your fancy candle before it's too late and the best way to curb your phone addiction.
This weekend I spent two glorious afternoons sitting with friends outdoors, eating and drinking while watching other people eat and drink, feeling awash with joy (even when getting unexpectedly rained on).
On Saturday, I ate a perfect Bánh mì and drank a single pre-rain seltzer. On Sunday, some friends and I enjoyed two Bella Brutta pizzas (one clam, of course), a loaf of fresh bread, and two cans of anchovies on a blanket in Camperdown Park. It doesn’t feel like that long ago I was dreaming of picnics just like the two above while writing this newsletter. Now they’re here, and I feel very happy.
Since the weekend delivered so many tiny joys, below I have two hacks to fix two small annoyances: a good candle that’s going to waste and my addiction to scrolling.
An Easy Hack To Fix A Tunnelling Candle
I recently bought my first Boy Smells candle (I played it safe and went for best-seller, Kush) only to make a rookie error and kick it off with two short burns, resulting in a sad little tunnel.
Looking at it sitting on my desk last week, I remembered this post my friend Tom wrote while we were working together at BuzzFeed. In it, Tom writes about a tried-and-tested hack for fixing a candle just like mine.
To fix a tunnelling candle, fold a piece of aluminium foil in half, then wrap it around the top of your candle, creating a shiny little tent. Light the candle, and let it burn with foil tent intact for at least half an hour. Eventually, the wax walls at the edge of your candle will begin to melt. You can watch a YouTube tutorial here. It works!
And Something To Try When You Feel Your Screen Time Spiralling Out Of Control
This lockdown, I’ve quit beating myself up over my screen time as a little treat. After all, when you have less things to look at—no Sydney Harbour as you cross the bridge en route to the office, no mask-less faces to smile at while waiting for a coffee—it makes sense to spend more time peering into the void that is your phone. However, I’ve recently decided it’s time to get my hours back.
A little thing I used to do whenever I found myself mindlessly scrolling Instagram too much was turn my iPhone display to black and white.
It’s really easy to do: Go to your Settings > Accessibility > Display & Text Size, then click into Colour Filters, and toggle Colour Filters ‘on’ before selecting ‘greyscale’.
Whenever I do this, I also set up a shortcut to easily turn the filter on and off. To do that, go to Settings > Accessibility > Accessibility Shortcut, then select ‘Colour Filters’. Once you have this selected, you can turn the greyscale on and off, just by hitting the button on the right of your iPhone three times.
It’s a very basic trick, but an easy way to remind yourself how boring your phone is compared to the real world!
See you next week!
Gyan x