People Share 80 “Personal” Life Hacks They Claim To Have Come Up With Themselves
If your child watches the same DVD over and over so many times that they know it by heart, switch the language and let them learn Spanish.
When I don’t feel like cleaning, I put on a watch me clean show on YouTube and somehow within 10 minutes I get up and start cleaning. I need to try that with exercising next.
If you’re feeling sluggish or down in the dumps go for a walk or get out in nature, even if it’s the last thing you want to do.
Just show up. Whether it’s for your job, your BF/GF, your sports team, your parents, whatever. Just showing up, even if you’re empty handed, even if you can’t play, even if you’re not totally prepared for the meeting, just show up. Bailing on stuff and not being present is the worst thing you can do. Always show up.
Don’t start your day with sugar – it helps reduce cravings throughout the rest of your day and your snacking will take a back seat. I think it’s spiking your glucose early that does it. Start with something savory and packed with protein.
Every morning I spend 10 minutes cleaning something before I go to work. Dishes we left to soak overnight, folding laundry we air dryed, organizing the coffee table. A little adds up to a lot.
Go to thrift stores the week before Christmas and the two weeks after Christmas.
The first week is all the stuff people threw out to make room for new things.
The second week is all the stuff people threw out because they got newer versions.
When someone says something outrageous (racist, mean, hurtful, whatever), do not respond at all. Go completely silent. Leave their comment hanging there like a fart. Let them marinate in what they just said.
kymikobabe:
Hear me out, or
Repeat exactly what they’ve said out loud back to them. Say nothing else after. It gets them thinking.
As a black woman whose recently moved to Australia I’ve had to adopt this approach instead. It’s been a wonderful strategy.
If you don’t have the mental energy to meal plan/make a list before going to the grocery store, go to the international aisle, choose an intriguing ingredient (noodles, sauce, etc) and use the recipe on the box to finish your shopping and make dinner. The grocery store is literally full of recipes!!
Folding my T-shirts to fit vertically in my drawer, like a filing cabinet. That way I can see all my options at a glance and pluck out the one I want. Figured this out 30 years ago. Turns out Marie Kondo reco’s the same approach.
When I’m at home, my keys and wallet always go to the same location unless I actively need them. That way I always know where they are.
The magic erasers will clean off tennis shoes. The sides of the soles. A little water on the foam eraser is all it takes.
Capelily:
Dry magic erasers are also great for cleaning lampshades.
RankedAverage:
To add on: Magic Erasers are a brand name. Stop buying them. They’re like $8 for three in stores but online you can get bricks of them (24+) for $3 and they’re the same thing.
This is probably a ridiculous one: using less soap than how much you think you really need. I used to not think about it in the shower but for the past year I started to and I’ve stretched out shampoo and body wash by twice the length of time while achieving the same cleanliness.
Anytime I am getting up, I am taking something with me to put it back where it belongs.
Going to the kitchen? Taking empty mug with me.
Going to the bathroom? On my way out, taking laundry with me to the basket.
Helps keep things tidy and it doesn’t feel like I’m working at it.
The best way for me to deal with loneliness is actually not to pursue platonic or romantic relationships actively, but to keep myself busy working on and developing my interests.
(Additionally, it’s important for me to do this both in a solitary and semi-social way – taking classes, joining groups, etc. However, I don’t use these semi-social outlets to make friends per se, but as a way to just be around like-minded people.)
I find actively pursuing relationships when I am in a state of loneliness stress is a recipe for bad outcomes. I always meet the best people when I am more at peace with my life. Also, one of the big perks of having a relatively slow social life is time for personal development and working on interests.
I clean as I cook, so when I’m done; the counters are clean, dishes are in the sink soaking, and I got nothing left to do but enjoy the food.
“Might as well” If I need to do something I can’t skip like going pee, I might as well do soemthing I’m procrastinating to do. It’s like tricking your dog you’re going to the park instead of the vet, I just trick my brain that I’m not gonna do chores and then BOOM clean bathroom.
I have ADHD so staying on task is very difficult. I’m also the type of person who works best under pressure so this helps a lot. When I need to get something done that I’m dreading, I set a ridiculous countdown on my phone and try to do the task within that time frame. Example: Fold all my clothes in 1 minute, make my bed in 20 seconds. This has helped me more than medication actually lol.
It’s only a little thing, but I have attention issues and I lose stuff constantly. I got a new set of bluetooth earbuds that come in a little back charging case. Lost them about 4 times in the first hour that I had them despite having barely moved.
Got some glow in the dark star stickers and taped them on. Now the little box stands out in general, and a lot of the time when I lose it in a room I can just turn the light off to see where it is.
When browsing recipes online, hit the print link to skip the extra chatter. Save it as a PDF or just keep the link for the straightforward version.
When hanging a shower curtain minimize the strain on your arms by attaching the curtain to the rings at the ends first, then one near the middle. Now you can attach the remaining rings to the curtain without having to hold the full weight of it.
Washing your face isn’t for your faces benefit. It’s so your hair doesn’t get greasy as fast. Wash your face and you’ll get an extra day without needing to wash your hair.
Change the menstrual cup in the shower. Get as messy and bloody as you want and dump that blood down the drain. Bonus: Forces you to take a little shower morning and night and we all feel grosser on our period anyway.
Take vitamin D. Just do it.
Use the washcloth to do your regular body cleaning stuff in the shower. At the end of the week use that washcloth to do a quick wipe down of the bathtub edge and sink and get a fresh one. Really freshens up the bathroom without needing to get into total bathroom cleaning mode. Towels get sanitized in the wash and dryer just fine.
Do whatever you can to make your life more efficient. For example I keep a dirty rag in the garage just for wiping down my backup cam that always gets covered in salt and dirt. Always needing a stool to get the casserole dish down? MOVE the casserole dish. We don’t think to do these things but adjusting your living area for your convenience does wonders for your mental health. Don’t be afraid to assess and rearrange stuff to how you actually use it.
I stick a piece of painter’s tape on the lid of leftover containers and write the date it was put in the fridge.
If you have to move a bunch of heavy cardboard boxes, keep wetting your hands. It will give you better grip and prevent the box slipping in your hands.
I call it the No 4th Chance rule when it comes to family. If they’ve been horrible, mean, insulting etc to you 3 times – don’t allow a 4th chance. Just cut ties and be done with them.
I’m a guy. I used to constantly lose keys, wallet, phone, whatever. Things seemed to disappear from my pockets, I swear. I got over myself and started everything in a bag. Friends call it a purse, I could give af. Now everything’s together when I need it and nothing gets lost.
Mel Robbins’ 5 second rule has worked wonders for my ADHD: When I can’t get myself to get started on something I need to do, I count down backwards from 5, like a NASA rocket launch (where she got the idea). It works like a charm! I think it breaks me out of my trance and helps me to switch gears.
I drink a glass of water while I wait for my morning coffee to brew. I am very not in the mood for water, I want coffee. But I’m surprised at how much better I feel with that minor amount of rehydration every day.
Balance on one foot while you brush your teeth or wait for your dog to go pee or wait for the water to boil. Good balance is a really important physical skill especially as we get older and I find it can serve as a mini meditation session.
I adopted a snippet of conversation from the movie, Bridge of Spies. At three, separate points in the movie, there is this fragment between Hanks (the Lawyer) and Ryland (the Spy) (whose birthday is today, too):
Lawyer: You don’t seem to be worried about «event».
Spy (after a short pause): Would it help?
I like that. There’s no point to getting your knickers in a twist over events you have no control over, cannot influence, etc.
My life is considerably more relaxed with that attitude.
My trick in school was to write some thing over and over again. The repetition of writing it made it so easy to recall.
* You really have to invest in friendships the older you get. The analogy of them being like a plant that needs watering is so true.
* If you want to move up the ladder in corporate America it isn’t about who does the best work, it’s about who does good work that is visible, and who doesn’t make the same mistake twice.
* If you have to travel more than 1-2 times a year, get Clear & TSA Pre Check.
My personal lifehack: For upcoming exams that require memorization, I just read through the paper once in morning, noon, afternoon and evening. Don’t try to forcefully remember, just read, maybe out loud if can’t focus. Over several days, the brain naturally remembers it effortlessly. This of course requires doing it ahead of the exams at least 1 week, try to break the bad habit of studying rushed the night before the exam next morning with this. Repetition is mother of all learnings.
Pass / Fail Mondays
I’ve found over the years that Mondays seem to be challenging for me. I tend to be a little less motivated, a little less energetic, and a little less positive.
I now make Mondays Pass / Fail. There are no grades on Monday. I make no major life decisions on Mondays. If I find myself worrying or obsessing about something, I tell myself to set it aside and pick it up again on Tuesday.
In order to “Pass” a Monday, all I have to do is show up:
– Show up for my workout (it doesn’t have to be great…but I do have to show up)
– Show up for work (I don’t have to be great, but I do have to show up)
– Show up for my family (even if I feel tired or grumpy, just be there…maybe explain I’m tired and will feel better tomorrow)
It’s saved me lots of Monday anguish.
When I want to leave a party early, I book a ride without telling anyone. So when the ride comes I just go “my ride is here I have to go!” So I won’t go through the entire hour of parting rituals like standing at the doorway chatting etc.
My favourite phrase for keeping me calm about things is “Not my circus, not my monkeys”. It’s amazing how often it puts things in their right place. I also always run cold water under the collander when draining spaghetti so the steam doesn’t burn me.
Always keep a couple of bottles of water and basic snacks in the car. You never know where or how long you might be stuck in traffic, especially in larger metropolitan areas.
I was stuck behind an 8 car accident on the interstate. Early part of evening rush hour, between exits and heavy rain. Sat there for 3 hours and was so grateful I happened to have snacks. Now I always have some in the car.
Whenever I open spices, baking soda, oil, whatever I use my designated kitchen sharpie and write the date on the package. Expiration is one thing, but open forever in the pantry is another. I also will mark “MIP” (more in pantry) on top of containers of food/ ingredients that I have a back up of in the pantry. This way I don’t over purchase.
I suspected –correctly– that putting a few large dry towels in my tumble dryer along with a load of wet laundry would make the clothes dry faster, with a savings in time and electricity. It turns out that this makes the clothes dry a full third faster –or more.
When pouring sugar, flour, etc from a bag into containers I always do it in the sink that way if anything spills ( which seems to inevitably happen ) it’s easy to clean up.
Pack a “go bag” with everything you need to live for a week and keep it in a convenient location in your home, office or car.
I spent most of 2023 dealing with a massive medical issue that had me getting admitted to the hospital with zero notice more than once and having a hospital go bags saved my a*s more than once too.
Wash your pillowcases every time you do laundry. If you struggle washing your bedsheets weekly, at least have clean pillow cases for your face. It helps keep your skin cleaner too.
Don’t make decisions or judgements late at night, my opinions seem to always be reversed at that time of the day.
In the winter I put a small space heater in my bathroom and put it on only when I’m in the shower. When I get out, it is so pleasant in the room. No chills, no goosebumps. I can dry off and put on my lotion in comfort. It’s glorious.
If you want to do this, you have to make sure to buy a space heater that is designed for the bathroom and has one of those safety plugs.
If you’re stuck in a s****y job where they have bad communication skills you pretty much **HAVE TO** eavesdrop conversations sometimes. Not the best life hack, but my experiences made it feel like it was necessary.
Not only can it tell you how some staff really think + feel that they don’t normally reveal, but if it’s anything like 1 job I had you can start prepping for things that will inevitably become your problem or requests for tasks for you to resolve later.
If you lost something, look in the place you’re most likely to put it, not where you last put it.
So I have ADHD, so most of these are workarounds for that, but if you don’t have it they are probably still helpful.
CAYGO – Clean As You Go. You save hours a second at a time.
To do lists.
Put cues for recurring to-dos in your environment.
Organize most of your stuff into a system that is clear, visible, and recurring.
Make recurring tasks habitual – put your keys on a key rack near the door, put your wallet and pocket items in the same place every time.
Use the hell out of your smartphone calendar and take the time to integrate it across your work and family or spouse calendars.
Put clocks everywhere.
Don’t save time now at the expense of later unless it’s absolutely unavoidable.
Whenever I go away on a trip, I clean house the day before. After I’ve packed everything I need, I’ll clean up the house. There’s nothing like coming home to a clean house after being away for a few days that makes it feel more welcoming.
Also, after packing up the bags, I load everything up the day before. That way, I don’t have to rush trying to get all the bags shoved in the back before getting to the airport or getting on the road.
As for personal hygiene supplies, I don’t take the ones I’m currently using; I buy travel-sized items, and use the items supplied by the hotel, if I’m staying in a hotel. I discard of everything when I’m leaving. Less stuff to pack. I wait to buy until I get to my destination, and then I’ll go to a nearby grocery store or drug store and buy what I need.
A big one for me in the last few years was to go grocery shopping or run your local errands on your lunch hour. It helps break up the work day regardless if you’re WFH or in an actual office and then makes after work all the better because you can just go home and relax or d house stuff without having to go running around when everyone else is trying to!
You do not need to fully unbutton button-down shirts. You can just open the top one or two buttons and pull it over your head like a T-shirt.
I never ever ever sleep in my bed in my “outside clothes”. As soon as I come home, I wash my hands, feet and face and instantly change into my “home clothes” and only then get into my bed or sit on the couch. Makes me feel cleaner, cozier and more in control of my routine and life in general.
It wasn’t my discovery but I’ve been doing this for years & it works:
If you have hiccups, drink a medium sip of water and then hold your breath for ~10sec (without swallowing your spit/no movements in the throat)
If it doesn’t work the first time, take a second sip & try again.
My couch is a magnet for cat hair, and I will mist it with a water bottle before I vacuum the hair up and it makes it so much easier and faster.
When going on a trip to see family (a trip where you’ll be staying a few nights and bringing luggage), whenever you arrive, leave all the luggage in the car first. Go inside, do your welcome greetings and everything, then go back and get your luggage.
Otherwise, if you’re like me, you end up in an annoying situation where you’re holding luggage in the entry way while everyone is trying to give you a hug and blocking you from offloading your luggage.
I used to buy those squeezies of water flavor enhancers for $3-5 a pop. Then I realized they’re just liquid Kool aid. So I bought a bottle of liquid sucralose that will last me forever and refill the little squeeze bottles with $.25 packets. Way cheaper and more flavor variety.
To remind me to get gas in the car the next time I’m in it, I put an object that doesn’t belong in my dash area obstructing my view (water bottle, sunglass case).
I needed 50ct coins for a laundry machine in the basement of an appartment so I always had to pay a lot with cash to get enough change. Then I accidentally found out, that the vending machines at my university would try to dispense 50ct coins as change if you cancel the order. This led to the following system: 5 or 10€ bill goes to the coin automat (you need coins for the lockers at the library) which changes them into 1 or 2€ coins, which consequently are changed into 50ct coins at the vending machine.
I buy most of my kids’ clothes at Goodwill. It’s mostly Nike, UnderArmor, GAP- legit name brand stuff. They just grown out of it anyways! I can’t believe more people don’t do this.
If you’ve got a craving for juice dilute 50/50 with water.
There’s so much sugar in there that you will still like the taste and you’ll stretch out your supply.
Also keep a bottle of lemon juice in the fridge. If you’re out of everything else, mix up some lemonade.
When I’m tidying up and don’t know where to start I use the rule of 3; pick up 3 things, put them away. Then do it again. And again. Etc. It helps me stay focused and not overthink how to approach tidying.
For extremely messy areas (I have ADHD), I use what I call the “vacuum dopamine hack.” Clear a small space of floor, vacuum, repeat. Even a small area looks so much better after vacuuming, so it gives me the dopamine boost I need to keep cleaning.
I have a looooot of the same type of ankle sock, it’s about all I wear. When I wash them I don’t pair them they all go in a box in my dresser. If one gets a hole, I throw it out individually.
Just discovered now but on my Android phone, if I want to read a long story on Reddit while doing something that involves me taking my eyes off the phone (i.e., changing clothes) I just highlight the entire story and have the phone read it aloud to me. Robotic narrator won’t be as good as someone actually reading the story but lets me focus on other things while browsing reddit.
Run wires through vents. I had an ethernet cable taking internet to the part of the basement where the router didn’t reach, and a 13 amp extension cord taking power to an AC unit because the plugs in that room were on an overloaded circuit.
To help me quit smoking I set a timer for 1 minute, when it dinged I could have a cigarette(when I felt like it obviously). I kept adding 1 minute at a time til I naturally cut down to barely any then eventually stopped.
Good way to naturally cut down. I was smoking 25 a day so it didn’t take long until it was hours in between.
Increments could be much higher based on what you want to achieve but helped me stop.
If there is movie I want to go see in theaters, I stick to a specific regimen:
– No food or drink for at least 1 hour prior to the movie beginning
– Pee at some point throughout that hour
– Never under any circumstance get a drink to bring into the movie. Popcorn is fine on occasion.
– Pee one last time upon arrival before walking into the theater for good measure.
Too many movie experiences have been ruined by having to go pee in the middle of the movie, resulting in either missing part of the movie or being miserable holding my pee in for the end of the movie and not remembering any of it because all I could think about was how badly I had to pee. Since sticking to this, I never once have had the issue of needing to use the restroom during a movie and my theater going experiences have been much more enjoyable.
Always set up your outfit, lunch, bag, keys etc the night before.
If something is a good price take a picture of the sale sign before you check out.
If it doesn’t ring up correctly you have proof of the advertised price and stores usually adjust to honor their listed prices. Sometimes they want you to point out where it was, making you have to walk all the way out of line and across a store to show a cashier or manager.
Have chapstick in your car. have breath mints in your desk at work. have a bottle of water in your car.
I have ADHD and have found that habit stacking is the way to gamify chores, and make things as efficient and memorable/automatic as possible.
This is the routine I do the day before trash day:
– clean out the fridge: this allows me to start making my list of what I need to buy, and helps me start thinking about how to use up the things I have left that would go bad soon
– go around the house and empty trash cans and pick up anything to throw away: I usually do this before the fridge clean out and then use the bag for anything from the fridge that needs to go outside immediately so it doesn’t stink
– before I tie off the bag, open my car and get any trash from there, as well as anything that needs to come back inside
– take out trash and recycling to the bins, and bins to the curb
Now I have a clean fridge, clean car, and the start of my grocery list. I write the rest of my list and go to the store, and then when I get back I have room for everything and a plan for the rest of the week.
Another thing I do is pack my leftovers for work lunch before I even serve myself the meal I cooked. I found that if I have to portion out cold leftovers from a big container, it just doesn’t get done, or it looks ugly and I get the ick when I open it the next day. If I pre-portion in a smaller container as I’m serving the hot meal when it’s done, I’ve already rewarded myself tomorrow and made it more efficient for clean up afterwards, because I don’t need to use as big of a container.
If someone is rushing you, they’re scammers who don’t want you to stop and think.
Are some situations objectively urgent? Yes. Is most urgency manufactured? Also yes.
At my old apartment my dishwasher was really loud so I tried to only run it at night when I was asleep in the other room. But a lot of the time I would forget to start it. So I started doing a thing where if I told myself I wanted to run the dishwasher tonight, I’d take the container with the detergent and put it on the floor right outside of my bedroom. That way I’d literally have to trip over it before going to bed.
I eat my fries before the other parts of a meal. Fries suck as leftovers but most other food does ok. Yea, if you put effort into it you can reheat fries decently, but who has the time for that.
I play dumb A LOT. But the truth is, I don’t miss a single beat. I see and hear everything and I am always observing people around me. I don’t really know how it’s a “hack” other than I just get a lot of satisfaction from secretly knowing a lot of dirt and weaknesses (and strengths!) about my family, friends and colleagues. I guess it makes me feel powerful. It’s like I have all these chess moves up my sleeve or a winning hand in poker.
Putting a dab of lotion on the toilet paper, before wiping. Can’t go back to raw dog wiping, feels like 20 grit.
Reading a 24 hour clock. It’s not perfect but I came up with it when I was 7. The formula was basically, subtract 2 from the time and drop the first digit. For example- 17:34 -2= 15:34 and after dropping the first digit you get 5:34.
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If your child watches the same DVD over and over so many times that they know it by heart, switch the language and let them learn Spanish.
When I don’t feel like cleaning, I put on a watch me clean show on YouTube and somehow within 10 minutes I get up and start cleaning. I need to try that with exercising next.
If you’re feeling sluggish or down in the dumps go for a walk or get out in nature, even if it’s the last thing you want to do.
Just show up. Whether it's for your job, your BF/GF, your sports team, your parents, whatever. Just showing up, even if you're empty handed, even if you can't play, even if you're not totally prepared for the meeting, just show up. Bailing on stuff and not being present is the worst thing you can do. Always show up.
Don’t start your day with sugar - it helps reduce cravings throughout the rest of your day and your snacking will take a back seat. I think it’s spiking your glucose early that does it. Start with something savory and packed with protein.
Every morning I spend 10 minutes cleaning something before I go to work. Dishes we left to soak overnight, folding laundry we air dryed, organizing the coffee table. A little adds up to a lot.
Go to thrift stores the week before Christmas and the two weeks after Christmas.
The first week is all the stuff people threw out to make room for new things.
The second week is all the stuff people threw out because they got newer versions.
When someone says something outrageous (racist, mean, hurtful, whatever), do not respond at all. Go completely silent. Leave their comment hanging there like a fart. Let them marinate in what they just said.
kymikobabe:
Hear me out, or
Repeat exactly what they’ve said out loud back to them. Say nothing else after. It gets them thinking.
As a black woman whose recently moved to Australia I’ve had to adopt this approach instead. It’s been a wonderful strategy.
If you don’t have the mental energy to meal plan/make a list before going to the grocery store, go to the international aisle, choose an intriguing ingredient (noodles, sauce, etc) and use the recipe on the box to finish your shopping and make dinner. The grocery store is literally full of recipes!!
Folding my T-shirts to fit vertically in my drawer, like a filing cabinet. That way I can see all my options at a glance and pluck out the one I want. Figured this out 30 years ago. Turns out Marie Kondo reco’s the same approach.
When I'm at home, my keys and wallet always go to the same location unless I actively need them. That way I always know where they are.
The magic erasers will clean off tennis shoes. The sides of the soles. A little water on the foam eraser is all it takes.
Capelily:
Dry magic erasers are also great for cleaning lampshades.
RankedAverage:
To add on: Magic Erasers are a brand name. Stop buying them. They're like $8 for three in stores but online you can get bricks of them (24+) for $3 and they're the same thing.
This is probably a ridiculous one: using less soap than how much you think you really need. I used to not think about it in the shower but for the past year I started to and I’ve stretched out shampoo and body wash by twice the length of time while achieving the same cleanliness.
Anytime I am getting up, I am taking something with me to put it back where it belongs.
Going to the kitchen? Taking empty mug with me.
Going to the bathroom? On my way out, taking laundry with me to the basket.
Helps keep things tidy and it doesn't feel like I'm working at it.
The best way for me to deal with loneliness is actually not to pursue platonic or romantic relationships actively, but to keep myself busy working on and developing my interests.
(Additionally, it's important for me to do this both in a solitary and semi-social way - taking classes, joining groups, etc. However, I don't use these semi-social outlets to make friends per se, but as a way to just be around like-minded people.)
I find actively pursuing relationships when I am in a state of loneliness stress is a recipe for bad outcomes. I always meet the best people when I am more at peace with my life. Also, one of the big perks of having a relatively slow social life is time for personal development and working on interests.
I clean as I cook, so when I'm done; the counters are clean, dishes are in the sink soaking, and I got nothing left to do but enjoy the food.
"Might as well" If I need to do something I can't skip like going pee, I might as well do soemthing I'm procrastinating to do. It's like tricking your dog you're going to the park instead of the vet, I just trick my brain that I'm not gonna do chores and then BOOM clean bathroom.
I have ADHD so staying on task is very difficult. I’m also the type of person who works best under pressure so this helps a lot. When I need to get something done that I’m dreading, I set a ridiculous countdown on my phone and try to do the task within that time frame. Example: Fold all my clothes in 1 minute, make my bed in 20 seconds. This has helped me more than medication actually lol.
It's only a little thing, but I have attention issues and I lose stuff constantly. I got a new set of bluetooth earbuds that come in a little back charging case. Lost them about 4 times in the first hour that I had them despite having barely moved.
Got some glow in the dark star stickers and taped them on. Now the little box stands out in general, and a lot of the time when I lose it in a room I can just turn the light off to see where it is.
When browsing recipes online, hit the print link to skip the extra chatter. Save it as a PDF or just keep the link for the straightforward version.
When hanging a shower curtain minimize the strain on your arms by attaching the curtain to the rings at the ends first, then one near the middle. Now you can attach the remaining rings to the curtain without having to hold the full weight of it.
Washing your face isn't for your faces benefit. It's so your hair doesn't get greasy as fast. Wash your face and you'll get an extra day without needing to wash your hair.
Change the menstrual cup in the shower. Get as messy and bloody as you want and dump that blood down the drain. Bonus: Forces you to take a little shower morning and night and we all feel grosser on our period anyway.
Take vitamin D. Just do it.
Use the washcloth to do your regular body cleaning stuff in the shower. At the end of the week use that washcloth to do a quick wipe down of the bathtub edge and sink and get a fresh one. Really freshens up the bathroom without needing to get into total bathroom cleaning mode. Towels get sanitized in the wash and dryer just fine.
Do whatever you can to make your life more efficient. For example I keep a dirty rag in the garage just for wiping down my backup cam that always gets covered in salt and dirt. Always needing a stool to get the casserole dish down? MOVE the casserole dish. We don't think to do these things but adjusting your living area for your convenience does wonders for your mental health. Don't be afraid to assess and rearrange stuff to how you actually use it.
I stick a piece of painter's tape on the lid of leftover containers and write the date it was put in the fridge.
If you have to move a bunch of heavy cardboard boxes, keep wetting your hands. It will give you better grip and prevent the box slipping in your hands.
I call it the No 4th Chance rule when it comes to family. If they've been horrible, mean, insulting etc to you 3 times - don't allow a 4th chance. Just cut ties and be done with them.
I'm a guy. I used to constantly lose keys, wallet, phone, whatever. Things seemed to disappear from my pockets, I swear. I got over myself and started everything in a bag. Friends call it a purse, I could give af. Now everything's together when I need it and nothing gets lost.
Mel Robbins' 5 second rule has worked wonders for my ADHD: When I can't get myself to get started on something I need to do, I count down backwards from 5, like a NASA rocket launch (where she got the idea). It works like a charm! I think it breaks me out of my trance and helps me to switch gears.
I drink a glass of water while I wait for my morning coffee to brew. I am very not in the mood for water, I want coffee. But I'm surprised at how much better I feel with that minor amount of rehydration every day.
Balance on one foot while you brush your teeth or wait for your dog to go pee or wait for the water to boil. Good balance is a really important physical skill especially as we get older and I find it can serve as a mini meditation session.
I adopted a snippet of conversation from the movie, Bridge of Spies. At three, separate points in the movie, there is this fragment between Hanks (the Lawyer) and Ryland (the Spy) (whose birthday is today, too):
Lawyer: You don't seem to be worried about «event».
Spy (after a short pause): Would it help?
I like that. There's no point to getting your knickers in a twist over events you have no control over, cannot influence, etc.
My life is considerably more relaxed with that attitude.
My trick in school was to write some thing over and over again. The repetition of writing it made it so easy to recall.
* You really have to invest in friendships the older you get. The analogy of them being like a plant that needs watering is so true.
* If you want to move up the ladder in corporate America it isn't about who does the best work, it's about who does good work that is visible, and who doesn't make the same mistake twice.
* If you have to travel more than 1-2 times a year, get Clear & TSA Pre Check.
My personal lifehack: For upcoming exams that require memorization, I just read through the paper once in morning, noon, afternoon and evening. Don't try to forcefully remember, just read, maybe out loud if can't focus. Over several days, the brain naturally remembers it effortlessly. This of course requires doing it ahead of the exams at least 1 week, try to break the bad habit of studying rushed the night before the exam next morning with this. Repetition is mother of all learnings.
Pass / Fail Mondays
I’ve found over the years that Mondays seem to be challenging for me. I tend to be a little less motivated, a little less energetic, and a little less positive.
I now make Mondays Pass / Fail. There are no grades on Monday. I make no major life decisions on Mondays. If I find myself worrying or obsessing about something, I tell myself to set it aside and pick it up again on Tuesday.
In order to “Pass” a Monday, all I have to do is show up:
- Show up for my workout (it doesn’t have to be great…but I do have to show up)
- Show up for work (I don’t have to be great, but I do have to show up)
- Show up for my family (even if I feel tired or grumpy, just be there…maybe explain I’m tired and will feel better tomorrow)
It’s saved me lots of Monday anguish.
When I want to leave a party early, I book a ride without telling anyone. So when the ride comes I just go "my ride is here I have to go!" So I won't go through the entire hour of parting rituals like standing at the doorway chatting etc.
My favourite phrase for keeping me calm about things is “Not my circus, not my monkeys”. It’s amazing how often it puts things in their right place. I also always run cold water under the collander when draining spaghetti so the steam doesn’t burn me.
Always keep a couple of bottles of water and basic snacks in the car. You never know where or how long you might be stuck in traffic, especially in larger metropolitan areas.
I was stuck behind an 8 car accident on the interstate. Early part of evening rush hour, between exits and heavy rain. Sat there for 3 hours and was so grateful I happened to have snacks. Now I always have some in the car.
Whenever I open spices, baking soda, oil, whatever I use my designated kitchen sharpie and write the date on the package. Expiration is one thing, but open forever in the pantry is another. I also will mark “MIP” (more in pantry) on top of containers of food/ ingredients that I have a back up of in the pantry. This way I don’t over purchase.
I suspected --correctly-- that putting a few large dry towels in my tumble dryer along with a load of wet laundry would make the clothes dry faster, with a savings in time and electricity. It turns out that this makes the clothes dry a full third faster --or more.
When pouring sugar, flour, etc from a bag into containers I always do it in the sink that way if anything spills ( which seems to inevitably happen ) it’s easy to clean up.
Pack a "go bag" with everything you need to live for a week and keep it in a convenient location in your home, office or car.
I spent most of 2023 dealing with a massive medical issue that had me getting admitted to the hospital with zero notice more than once and having a hospital go bags saved my a*s more than once too.
Wash your pillowcases every time you do laundry. If you struggle washing your bedsheets weekly, at least have clean pillow cases for your face. It helps keep your skin cleaner too.
Don't make decisions or judgements late at night, my opinions seem to always be reversed at that time of the day.
In the winter I put a small space heater in my bathroom and put it on only when I'm in the shower. When I get out, it is so pleasant in the room. No chills, no goosebumps. I can dry off and put on my lotion in comfort. It's glorious.
If you want to do this, you have to make sure to buy a space heater that is designed for the bathroom and has one of those safety plugs.
If you're stuck in a s****y job where they have bad communication skills you pretty much **HAVE TO** eavesdrop conversations sometimes. Not the best life hack, but my experiences made it feel like it was necessary.
Not only can it tell you how some staff really think + feel that they don't normally reveal, but if it's anything like 1 job I had you can start prepping for things that will inevitably become your problem or requests for tasks for you to resolve later.
If you lost something, look in the place you’re most likely to put it, not where you last put it.
So I have ADHD, so most of these are workarounds for that, but if you don't have it they are probably still helpful.
CAYGO - Clean As You Go. You save hours a second at a time.
To do lists.
Put cues for recurring to-dos in your environment.
Organize most of your stuff into a system that is clear, visible, and recurring.
Make recurring tasks habitual - put your keys on a key rack near the door, put your wallet and pocket items in the same place every time.
Use the hell out of your smartphone calendar and take the time to integrate it across your work and family or spouse calendars.
Put clocks everywhere.
Don't save time now at the expense of later unless it's absolutely unavoidable.
Whenever I go away on a trip, I clean house the day before. After I've packed everything I need, I'll clean up the house. There's nothing like coming home to a clean house after being away for a few days that makes it feel more welcoming.
Also, after packing up the bags, I load everything up the day before. That way, I don't have to rush trying to get all the bags shoved in the back before getting to the airport or getting on the road.
As for personal hygiene supplies, I don't take the ones I'm currently using; I buy travel-sized items, and use the items supplied by the hotel, if I'm staying in a hotel. I discard of everything when I'm leaving. Less stuff to pack. I wait to buy until I get to my destination, and then I'll go to a nearby grocery store or drug store and buy what I need.
A big one for me in the last few years was to go grocery shopping or run your local errands on your lunch hour. It helps break up the work day regardless if you're WFH or in an actual office and then makes after work all the better because you can just go home and relax or d house stuff without having to go running around when everyone else is trying to!
You do not need to fully unbutton button-down shirts. You can just open the top one or two buttons and pull it over your head like a T-shirt.
I never ever ever sleep in my bed in my “outside clothes”. As soon as I come home, I wash my hands, feet and face and instantly change into my “home clothes” and only then get into my bed or sit on the couch. Makes me feel cleaner, cozier and more in control of my routine and life in general.
It wasn't my discovery but I've been doing this for years & it works:
If you have hiccups, drink a medium sip of water and then hold your breath for ~10sec (without swallowing your spit/no movements in the throat)
If it doesn't work the first time, take a second sip & try again.
My couch is a magnet for cat hair, and I will mist it with a water bottle before I vacuum the hair up and it makes it so much easier and faster.
When going on a trip to see family (a trip where you'll be staying a few nights and bringing luggage), whenever you arrive, leave all the luggage in the car first. Go inside, do your welcome greetings and everything, then go back and get your luggage.
Otherwise, if you're like me, you end up in an annoying situation where you're holding luggage in the entry way while everyone is trying to give you a hug and blocking you from offloading your luggage.
I used to buy those squeezies of water flavor enhancers for $3-5 a pop. Then I realized they're just liquid Kool aid. So I bought a bottle of liquid sucralose that will last me forever and refill the little squeeze bottles with $.25 packets. Way cheaper and more flavor variety.
To remind me to get gas in the car the next time I'm in it, I put an object that doesn't belong in my dash area obstructing my view (water bottle, sunglass case).
I needed 50ct coins for a laundry machine in the basement of an appartment so I always had to pay a lot with cash to get enough change. Then I accidentally found out, that the vending machines at my university would try to dispense 50ct coins as change if you cancel the order. This led to the following system: 5 or 10€ bill goes to the coin automat (you need coins for the lockers at the library) which changes them into 1 or 2€ coins, which consequently are changed into 50ct coins at the vending machine.
I buy most of my kids’ clothes at Goodwill. It’s mostly Nike, UnderArmor, GAP- legit name brand stuff. They just grown out of it anyways! I can’t believe more people don’t do this.
If you've got a craving for juice dilute 50/50 with water.
There's so much sugar in there that you will still like the taste and you'll stretch out your supply.
Also keep a bottle of lemon juice in the fridge. If you're out of everything else, mix up some lemonade.
When I'm tidying up and don't know where to start I use the rule of 3; pick up 3 things, put them away. Then do it again. And again. Etc. It helps me stay focused and not overthink how to approach tidying.
For extremely messy areas (I have ADHD), I use what I call the "vacuum dopamine hack." Clear a small space of floor, vacuum, repeat. Even a small area looks so much better after vacuuming, so it gives me the dopamine boost I need to keep cleaning.
I have a looooot of the same type of ankle sock, it’s about all I wear. When I wash them I don’t pair them they all go in a box in my dresser. If one gets a hole, I throw it out individually.
Just discovered now but on my Android phone, if I want to read a long story on Reddit while doing something that involves me taking my eyes off the phone (i.e., changing clothes) I just highlight the entire story and have the phone read it aloud to me. Robotic narrator won't be as good as someone actually reading the story but lets me focus on other things while browsing reddit.
Run wires through vents. I had an ethernet cable taking internet to the part of the basement where the router didn't reach, and a 13 amp extension cord taking power to an AC unit because the plugs in that room were on an overloaded circuit.
To help me quit smoking I set a timer for 1 minute, when it dinged I could have a cigarette(when I felt like it obviously). I kept adding 1 minute at a time til I naturally cut down to barely any then eventually stopped.
Good way to naturally cut down. I was smoking 25 a day so it didn’t take long until it was hours in between.
Increments could be much higher based on what you want to achieve but helped me stop.
If there is movie I want to go see in theaters, I stick to a specific regimen:
- No food or drink for at least 1 hour prior to the movie beginning
- Pee at some point throughout that hour
- Never under any circumstance get a drink to bring into the movie. Popcorn is fine on occasion.
- Pee one last time upon arrival before walking into the theater for good measure.
Too many movie experiences have been ruined by having to go pee in the middle of the movie, resulting in either missing part of the movie or being miserable holding my pee in for the end of the movie and not remembering any of it because all I could think about was how badly I had to pee. Since sticking to this, I never once have had the issue of needing to use the restroom during a movie and my theater going experiences have been much more enjoyable.
Always set up your outfit, lunch, bag, keys etc the night before.
If something is a good price take a picture of the sale sign before you check out.
If it doesn't ring up correctly you have proof of the advertised price and stores usually adjust to honor their listed prices. Sometimes they want you to point out where it was, making you have to walk all the way out of line and across a store to show a cashier or manager.
Have chapstick in your car. have breath mints in your desk at work. have a bottle of water in your car.
I have ADHD and have found that habit stacking is the way to gamify chores, and make things as efficient and memorable/automatic as possible.
This is the routine I do the day before trash day:
- clean out the fridge: this allows me to start making my list of what I need to buy, and helps me start thinking about how to use up the things I have left that would go bad soon
- go around the house and empty trash cans and pick up anything to throw away: I usually do this before the fridge clean out and then use the bag for anything from the fridge that needs to go outside immediately so it doesn’t stink
- before I tie off the bag, open my car and get any trash from there, as well as anything that needs to come back inside
- take out trash and recycling to the bins, and bins to the curb
Now I have a clean fridge, clean car, and the start of my grocery list. I write the rest of my list and go to the store, and then when I get back I have room for everything and a plan for the rest of the week.
Another thing I do is pack my leftovers for work lunch before I even serve myself the meal I cooked. I found that if I have to portion out cold leftovers from a big container, it just doesn’t get done, or it looks ugly and I get the ick when I open it the next day. If I pre-portion in a smaller container as I’m serving the hot meal when it’s done, I’ve already rewarded myself tomorrow and made it more efficient for clean up afterwards, because I don’t need to use as big of a container.
If someone is rushing you, they're scammers who don't want you to stop and think.
Are some situations objectively urgent? Yes. Is most urgency manufactured? Also yes.
At my old apartment my dishwasher was really loud so I tried to only run it at night when I was asleep in the other room. But a lot of the time I would forget to start it. So I started doing a thing where if I told myself I wanted to run the dishwasher tonight, I'd take the container with the detergent and put it on the floor right outside of my bedroom. That way I'd literally have to trip over it before going to bed.
I eat my fries before the other parts of a meal. Fries suck as leftovers but most other food does ok. Yea, if you put effort into it you can reheat fries decently, but who has the time for that.
I play dumb A LOT. But the truth is, I don’t miss a single beat. I see and hear everything and I am always observing people around me. I don’t really know how it’s a “hack” other than I just get a lot of satisfaction from secretly knowing a lot of dirt and weaknesses (and strengths!) about my family, friends and colleagues. I guess it makes me feel powerful. It’s like I have all these chess moves up my sleeve or a winning hand in poker.
Putting a dab of lotion on the toilet paper, before wiping. Can’t go back to raw dog wiping, feels like 20 grit.
Reading a 24 hour clock. It's not perfect but I came up with it when I was 7. The formula was basically, subtract 2 from the time and drop the first digit. For example- 17:34 -2= 15:34 and after dropping the first digit you get 5:34.
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