A good life hack is hard to come by. A lot of the times, people say “life hack,” but really mean “something kind of strange that doesn’t really save any time, money, or effort.”
But the people who answered the Reddit question , “What’s a life hack that sounds crappy but actually works really well?” really swear by their answers. I wonder if they’re worth trying?
“I call it the power of ‘might as well.'” – ForwardSpinach
“Gonna get up from my desk and go to the kitchen? Oh well, might as well take this plate with me. Going to pee before bed? Oh well, might as well brush my teeth. Going to brush my teeth? Oh well, might as well floss.”
It’s kind of like tricking yourself into being productive.
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“A knitted fake wasp nest. Our wasps buggered off the same day, haven’t been seen since.” – KamahlYrgybly
I’ve never heard of people knitting wasp nests in order to scare real wasps away, but hey, it’s worth a try. Worst case scenario, you have a knitted wasp nest hanging around.
“Take two to ten minutes to tidy up your home before you go to bed.” – Greenest-fingers
“The next morning, you’ll feel way better not having to look at all the junk/things you still have to do.”
This is, like, the opposite of when you’re working on a project at night and say, “I’ll wake up early and finish it in the morning.” You won’t wake up early. Just get it done before bed.
“If something’s worth doing, it’s usually worth doing badly.” – Pseudonymico
“Don’t worry so much about doing 100 pushups, 100 sit-ups, 100 squats and a 10km run that you do nothing, just walk around the block and do one of each of the others for now. Just write one page a day of that novel, and allow it to be terrible.”
That’s… actually really good advice.
“When someone you like or respect does something confusingly infuriating, imagine the most-favorable-to-them possible explanation, and pretend that’s true.” – floon
“Wait until you know more before getting reflexively angry.”
Better to be calm at first and get angry later if you need to, than to be angry for no real reason.
“Writing things down by hand helps you remember them better.” – SigourneyReaver
Plus, if you write a bunch of notes and leave them around the house, you’ll find them later and remember what you wanted to do. It’s, like, infinite reminders.
“If you always put your keys in the same place, you won’t lose them.” – goat-of-mendes
You know what? It’s simple, but it really works well. After a while, it’ll be like second nature, putting your keys in the same place when you get home.
“Don’t save your banking information on online stores.” – Mikeavelli
“Makes impulse buying much more difficult if you have to track down your wallet.”
…Unless you memorized your credit card number. Then you’re pretty much doomed to spend all your money online.
“I started saying ‘silly’ instead of ‘stupid’ like for example ‘Oh I’m so stupid’ or ‘that was stupid’. I’ve noticed that it helped improve my self esteem.” – OddDogWarrior
Everyone makes mistakes, but being a bit nicer to yourself about them really works wonders. Fake it until you make it, I always say.
“If you keep forgetting if you locked your door/car/lock, do something silly after locking it. It will help you remember if you have to think back.” – deroobot
It might be embarrassing, but hey, it works. And as long as something works, why no try it? I have to remember trying that out next time I go out to do errands.
“Do a light stretch every morning. Nothing fancy, just spine, shoulder, neck and leg stretches should be fine. Breathe deeply while you do it to wake yourself up.” – HologramStarman
“Don’t lose track of your body’s flexibility and strength, feel it stretch every morning, and you will spend the rest of your day (and hopefully your life) with a real ease of movement, you’ll feel lighter and stronger.”
If you’re sitting down while reading this, it’s a good time to get up and do your daily stretches.
“Using leftover bags from grocery stores or whatnot for trash bags. Idk why, but whenever I tell people this, I get a funny look. It works well.” – BlueTrapazoid
If you don’t have a cupboard (or a shelf, or a bigger bag) full of grocery bags you’ve collected over the years, you’re doing it wrong.
“Place a small bowl of 2/3 water, 1/3 white vinegar (or lemon juice) in your microwave and cook on high for 10 minutes.” – Linux4ever_Leo
“Any stuck on dried food residue will wipe right off with no effort.”
This is a really good tip to remember next time you move to a new house or apartment. You don’t know how well the previous owner cleaned the microwave.
“Flushing a bit of dish soap down the toilet unclogs it 80% of the time.” – BabySuperfreak
See, I’d be a bit worried about that 20% of time when it doesn’t work. Still, any way to get out of using the plunger sounds like it’s worth trying.
“One of my favorite is to bring a couple of new disposable diapers to the beach (lake, river, etc.).” – 4steph
“If you decide to leave your towel to hit the water, you can wrap your cell phone, car keys, wallet up in diaper, then fasten it up and I promise you NO ONE will mess with your stuff!”
Yeah, even if there is a chance that there’s a watch in a diaper, I don’t see any scammer taking that chance.
“Bending your knees up using a little stool to support your feet while pooping. It has changed my life.” – The_unchosen-one
We all laughed at those bathroom stools they started selling in basically every store. But we were the fools. They actually work. At least, that’s what I’ve heard from people who use them.
“The quickest way to cool the inside of your car down is to open one door, then go to the opposite side and open and close it a few times.”
“This forces the hot air out and draws the cooler air in. I have a black car with black interior, and a few weeks ago when the high was 94 and it had been sitting in the sun for 6-7 hours I tried this before getting in, and holy hell it worked better than I could have ever imagined.”
I… have to try this next summer.
“Get a bidet attachment and never buy toilet paper again.” – adsvx215
Just like those stools you use when sitting on the toilet, bidets seem like they’re on a whole other level. Have we been missing out this whole time? Do we need to get on the bidet train?
“Before pouring coffee I heat water (in the microwave) until it’s boiling in my ceramic coffee mug, making the mug nice and hot.” – Back2Bach
“Then, dump out the boiling water and pour in the coffee. That way, the mug keeps the coffee warm for a much longer time.”
Interesting… I feel like this is another one I should try next chance I get.
“Make your bed in the morning so after Crappy days, your bed is nice.” – catfishjimsucks
I make my bed every morning, and I can tell you that jumping into the sheets at the end of the day feels so nice. It doesn’t take that much time in the morning to do, and it’s so worth it.
