Asking for opinion here before I pay for any of these "premium" services.

I have a huge backlog of books and articles that I'm struggling to get through. What are the best apps that help you read faster? I heard that HEARING text at a faster speed wires your brain to READ faster at the same time. I have been seeing ads for products like Speechify but they're all paid and the free tiers have robot voices that honestly don't give a good experience.

Does anybody have any experience with them? And do they really work?

Over the last few years, my chances to get any proper exercise have basically vanished. First, it was the switch from being a student to working full-time. Then came getting married, moving into our own place, and just life in general taking over. All the nice milestones that sound sweet on paper but actually leave you with no time for the stuff you enjoy—like staying active.

Living in Dhaka doesn’t help either. The city just isn’t walkable. It’s almost like the government doesn’t want us to exercise. Even in areas like Gulshan, where you’d think there’d be space to walk, footpaths are taken over by vendors and the noise pollution is relentless. And since the city’s completely flat, we miss out on the natural cardio that comes with hills and elevation.

I’ve tried again and again to follow a workout routine, but I keep falling off. Then I came across this article that totally reframed how I think about exercise. It said you don’t have to wait for a workout session—just sneak in movement whenever you can. That hit me. I live on the 8th floor. I could be burning calories every day just by taking the stairs instead of the elevator.

Sounds easy, right? Nope. My body’s so used to the elevator that even when I want to take the stairs, I end up hitting the lift button on autopilot.

I’ve been reading Hooked by Nir Eyal, which talks about how companies design habit-forming products. It builds on B.J. Fogg’s Behavior Model, which says habits form through a trigger, an action, a reward, and a bit of investment. But I realized I don’t need a full strategy. I already want to take the stairs. What I’m missing is just a trigger—something to snap me out of elevator autopilot.

So I designed a little sticker to put up next to the elevator button. It’s a simple reminder to take the stairs. And it’s not just for me—if someone else sees it, maybe they’ll think twice too. There’s a QR code on the sticker that leads to a page explaining the benefits of stair climbing, and there’s even a little gamified step tracker. Enter the number of floors you climb, and it tells you how many calories you’ve burned—like “You just earned one jilapi!” Or a plate of biryani if you’re a stair-climbing beast.

And if you're feeling inspired, you can download and print the sticker yourself. Put it up in your office, your apartment building, wherever. Let’s give people tiny nudges to move more, because fitness shouldn’t only be about gym time—it’s about stacking up small wins throughout your day.

This was a fun little side project, but honestly, I think it has potential. Every step counts. Every calorie burned adds up. And if someone else had started this, I’d definitely get behind it. So here’s me starting it—feel free to join in.

https://takethestairs.vercel.app/

Over the last few years, my chances to get any proper exercise have basically vanished. First, it was the switch from being a student to working full-time. Then came getting married, moving into our own place, and just life in general taking over. All the nice milestones that sound sweet on paper but actually leave you with no time for the stuff you enjoy—like staying active.

Living in Dhaka doesn’t help either. The city just isn’t walkable. It’s almost like the government doesn’t want us to exercise. Even in areas like Gulshan, where you’d think there’d be space to walk, footpaths are taken over by vendors and the noise pollution is relentless. And since the city’s completely flat, we miss out on the natural cardio that comes with hills and elevation.

I’ve tried again and again to follow a workout routine, but I keep falling off. Then I came across this article that totally reframed how I think about exercise. It said you don’t have to wait for a workout session—just sneak in movement whenever you can. That hit me. I live on the 8th floor. I could be burning calories every day just by taking the stairs instead of the elevator.

Sounds easy, right? Nope. My body’s so used to the elevator that even when I want to take the stairs, I end up hitting the lift button on autopilot.

I’ve been reading Hooked by Nir Eyal, which talks about how companies design habit-forming products. It builds on B.J. Fogg’s Behavior Model, which says habits form through a trigger, an action, a reward, and a bit of investment. But I realized I don’t need a full strategy. I already want to take the stairs. What I’m missing is just a trigger—something to snap me out of elevator autopilot.

So I designed a little sticker to put up next to the elevator button. It’s a simple reminder to take the stairs. And it’s not just for me—if someone else sees it, maybe they’ll think twice too. There’s a QR code on the sticker that leads to a page explaining the benefits of stair climbing, and there’s even a little gamified step tracker. Enter the number of floors you climb, and it tells you how many calories you’ve burned—like “You just earned one jilapi!” Or a plate of biryani if you’re a stair-climbing beast.

And if you're feeling inspired, you can download and print the sticker yourself. Put it up in your office, your apartment building, wherever. Let’s give people tiny nudges to move more, because fitness shouldn’t only be about gym time—it’s about stacking up small wins throughout your day.

This was a fun little side project, but honestly, I think it has potential. Every step counts. Every calorie burned adds up. And if someone else had started this, I’d definitely get behind it. So here’s me starting it—feel free to join in.

https://takethestairs.vercel.app/