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Kind things you can do in five minutes
Nobody needs a free afternoon to be kind. These take about as long as waiting for a kettle, and most of them happen in the gaps of a day you were having anyway. If you have been meaning to do something and keep not getting to it, start here.
Showing 121–150 of 197 ideas
Copy their manager on the thank you
A private thank you is kind. The same words with their manager copied in can change how someone's year is assessed.
5 minutesFreeA stranger
Not rated yet
Ask what they would make if you let them
People who make things all day rarely get asked their opinion by the people they make them for.
5 minutesUnder $10A stranger
Not rated yet
Say something specific about their garden
Someone is doing that for nobody's benefit but the street's, and almost certainly has never been told it was noticed.
5 minutesFreeA neighbor
Not rated yet
Follow up on the thing they were dreading
Ask about the interview, the scan, the difficult conversation — on the day it actually happens.
5 minutesFreeA friend
Not rated yet
Talk to the person on the door
Security staff stand in one place for twelve hours while thousands of people walk past without making eye contact.
5 minutesFreeA stranger
Not rated yet
Wave through the person with three things
You have a full trolley and eleven minutes of unpacking ahead. They have a sandwich and a train to catch.
5 minutesFreeA stranger
Not rated yet
Cover the few pounds someone is short at the till
Being short at a checkout with a queue behind you is a small public humiliation, and it is trivially preventable.
5 minutesUnder $10A stranger
Not rated yet
Vouch for someone you have only met online
People build real reputations in communities that are invisible to employers. Saying so out loud transfers it.
5 minutesFreeA stranger
Not rated yet
Diarise the six-month mark
After a death everyone appears for a fortnight and then vanishes. Month six is when the house is quietest.
5 minutesFreeA friend
Not rated yet
Share it rather than commenting on it
A comment reaches the person. A share reaches the audience they are actually trying to find.
5 minutesFreeA friend
Not rated yet
Face them instead of raising your voice
Shouting distorts speech and singles someone out. Facing them and slowing down works far better.
5 minutesFreeA neighbor
Not rated yet
Say something kind to a parent having a bad time
A toddler melting down in public means a parent convinced that everyone is judging them. Usually everyone is sympathetic and silent.
5 minutesFreeA stranger
Not rated yet
Offer to take the photo for the group
Someone is always missing from the picture, and it is usually the person who organized the trip.
5 minutesFreeA stranger
Not rated yet
Tell someone what they taught you years ago
People who shaped how you work almost never find out. A message years later lands harder than one at the time.
5 minutesFreeA friend
Not rated yet
Offer to water while they are away
Offering before a holiday is worth far more than offering after. It also quietly tells a burglar the house is occupied.
5 minutesFreeA neighbor
Not rated yet
Invite the whole household, not just the one you know
Partners and teenagers of a newcomer are often more isolated than the person who has the job or the class.
5 minutesFreeA neighbor
Not rated yet
Pay the small place in cash
Card fees take two to three per cent from a business whose margin may be five. Cash is a quiet discount you can choose to give.
5 minutesFreeA stranger
Not rated yet
Send someone a photo of themselves from years ago
Everybody has pictures of other people sitting unseen on a hard drive. The subject has usually never seen them.
5 minutesFreeA friend
Not rated yet
Be the one who actually books it
Everyone agrees they should meet up. Groups fail at the step where somebody names a date and holds it.
5 minutesFreeA friend1 person did this
Not rated yet
Introduce two neighbors who should know each other
You often know two people on the same street who would be useful or good company to each other, and who have never spoken.
5 minutesFreeA neighbor
Not rated yet
Give the introduction, not the advice
When a friend is stuck, the name of someone who has done it is worth more than your opinion about it.
5 minutesFreeA friend
Not rated yet
Slow down without announcing it
Matching someone's pace is easy. Doing it without commenting on it is what preserves their dignity.
5 minutesFreeA neighbor
Not rated yet
Quietly pay for the thing they canceled
Money is the first thing to go in a crisis, and the cancellations are small, private and cumulatively demoralising.
5 minutesMore than $10A friend
Not rated yet
Hold the door a few seconds longer
The standard distance for holding a door is about two seconds. Extending it to six costs nothing and is noticed every time.
5 minutesFreeA stranger
Not rated yet
Tell a parent something good about their child
Parents hear from school when there is a problem. Positive observations from another adult are rare and enormously reassuring.
5 minutesFreeA friend
Not rated yet
Offer to carry the heavy thing
Someone is struggling with a suitcase, a box or shopping. Most people look away rather than risk offering.
5 minutesFreeA stranger
Not rated yet
Bring the new person into the group conversation
A circle of people talking is physically closed. Turning your body is the whole mechanism for opening it.
5 minutesFreeA stranger
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Take the parcel in, and say so straight away
Taking a delivery in is common. Telling them immediately is what stops it being a small anxiety in someone's evening.
5 minutesFreeA neighbor
Not rated yet
Apologize without explaining yourself
Most apologies contain a defense, which converts them into an argument the other person now has to have.
5 minutesFreeA friend
Not rated yet
Say that you do not know what to say
Most people say nothing at all because they are waiting to think of the right thing. There isn't one.
5 minutesFreeA friend
Not rated yet