22 Life Hacks That Actually Work
You might find these useful.
Published 3 years ago in Ftw
There's a lot of... questionable life hacks out there. It seems the term can be applied to just about anything these days, with many content to call just about anything a life hack for the sake of clicks or views. That said, these recommendations came from people who swear these tips and tricks genuinely helped them in some way in their life.
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YMMV, but when you're giving presentations or interviews, literally pretend you're Steve Jobs. Watch his videos on YouTube. The dude had a questionable personality, but nobody's questioning that he's a damn good public speaker. I have social anxiety, and literally just pretending that I'm like a presentation God makes a huge difference.6
Had a pigeon problem on my balcony. I live in front of a church, so a lot of them gather there. At night and early on the morning, they would come to my balcony, leaving s**t and feathers all around and biting my plants. One day I saw a plastic raven at a store, that supposedly scares them away. It was expensive and I didn't have much money, so I grabbed a bunch of black plastic bags and some wire, made a fake raven and attached it to the railing. It's been like seven months and I haven't seen a single pigeon on the balcony since.12
I call it the power of "might as well" 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. Going outside? Oh well, might as well bring the trash. Its ridiculous, but it works.16
One of my favorite is to bring a couple of new disposable diapers to the beach (lake, river, etc.) 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! You're welcome! Hee!18
Don’t ask someone ‘do you need anything?’ when they are going through something. Ask them ‘what can I do for you?’ and stop talking. Sometimes listening is enough. Being a good listener isn’t easy. You have to stop waiting for your turn to speak and just be there for them. Source: father of daughters.19
Choose your reaction before your emotions can. I was always jealous of people who naturally had a great response to problems (like “I forgot something at home. Oh well, it happens to everyone. I’m sure they’ll understand why I’m late.”). I began really noticing how much easier that must make life, so I started trying to imagine the “right” reaction to situations. If you make yourself pause to think of a good reaction, you can kind of choose it like “Yeah, that would be a good one” and then you don’t give your stupid brain an opportunity to throw out a sh**ty reaction. (Someone made me remember something I think is important to add, so I’m pasting it here so it won’t get lost) I learned to do it despite it seeming impossible. The trick for me was to recognize that I was enabling and feeding my own emotional responses, like “My car won’t start, I should be upset! Why wouldn’t I be?! This will cost me money!” I was choosing to be upset because I was “supposed” to be, or I was entitled to be upset. But I didn’t really want to be.21
If something’s worth doing, it’s usually worth doing badly. Half-assing the dishes is better than leaving them to fester in the sink. Sending old friends a happy birthday message when Facebook prompts you is better than losing touch entirely. Taking a quick shower without soap is better than not showering at all. Piling your laundry up in a basket instead of putting in the wardrobe is better than leaving it scattered over the floor. Also applies to self-improvement stuff as well as maintenance. 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. Write simple, buggy programs. Draw badly. Watch youtubers cook or fix their car or put on makeup or build something, even, if you can’t find the energy to yourself. If you’re having trouble finding a date start pre-emptively assuming that everyone is off-limits and just focus on finding genuine friends who match your orientation. Somewhere along the line you’ll lose your discomfort and start getting better at doing what you want or need to do.