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When life gives you lemons… you don’t make lemonade, nor lemon zest. You make a gallon of limoncello, because whatever happens, we have to make the best out of it. Luckily, there exist simple shortcuts for whatever everyday problem we run into, aka life hacks.

You may well be skeptical about life hacks, since the term itself has become sort of a gimmick. We all know how useless and illogical some of the ones shared online are, and how by pretending to offer some real novelty, they are shamelessly milking clicks from us. But not all so-called life hacks are in vain, and some simple tricks really make our lives more efficient and less miserable.

From sorting socks to regrowing green onions, there are many ways to improve our day-to-day lives. “What is your BEST life hack?” tweeted writer Amanda Deibert and the thread became something worth taking notes on. Below are the best and most interesting hacks people shared in the thread!

Image credits: amandadeibert

#1

People-Sharing-Their-Best-Life-Hacks

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N Gregory
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

"Are we looking for sympathy or solutions?" is how someone told me they address the situation.

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Our fixation on being happier, healthier, more successful and better versions of ourselves has never been so powerful. You may wonder why we don’t just embrace our flawed human nature and let ourselves live (and some people indeed do that!), but there seems to be an empowering urge for perfection.

So to find out more about our society’s obsession with wellness, Bored Panda spoke with Helen Marlo, a licensed clinical psychologist and Jungian psychoanalyst who provides psychotherapy, psychoanalysis, and consultation. Helen is also a Professor of Clinical Psychology and the Department Chair at Notre Dame de Namur University, and as our luck would have it, she is as passionate about this topic as we are.

#3

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Safy
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I am in my mid 30's and only in the last few years did I finally realize that no one thinks about me nearly as much as I think they're thinking about me. In fact, they're rarely thinking anything. 9/10 the people that DO "care" or have opinions are the very people who you should avoid anyway.

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#4

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68sugarmomma Report

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Kate Jones
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

lol i love how this is phrased because people don't think of it like a 'date' and tend to think they're being selfish when they take time for themselves. I'm going to call it that from now one. I have a date this weekend, lol.

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Marlo argues that a heightened focus on wellness, as well as the appeal of life hacks and simple life tricks, may tell quite a lot about how we’re all feeling right now. “[It] partially tells me how much stress and pain people are experiencing, and how helpless people feel, especially now, perhaps given profound cultural unrest, collective traumas (including the pandemic), polarized views, and divisive conflicts.”

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Moreover, “these life hacks and wellness practices can sometimes help us feel better and enable us to cope with life stressors, while providing a respite from complex problems and pain that does not appear to have an easy solution,” Marlo explained.

“However, when wellness, life hacks, and simple life tricks become an obsession and fixation, I think the obsession reveals its dark side which can reflect the understandable human fantasy that human conflict and suffering can be bypassed, eliminated, or surpassed through these practices,” the Jungian psychoanalyst argues. Interestingly, life hacks and wellness practices can almost take on a magical quality, Marlo says. “if I do this practice then it will, somehow, address a more complex issue, trauma, or source of suffering.”

Moreover, “the obsession with wellness can reveal an intolerance or denial of the inherent conflict, complexity, and suffering that is part of human life,” Marlo explained and added that “Life hacks and wellness practices can bypass the healing power of becoming more conscious, including having difficult conversations in relationships with others.”

#7

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Puppeteer Saint
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This something I definitely need to work on.. Rehearsing for conversations that have never and will never happen

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#9

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rspanther
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

So I would eat a snack and then take a nap, and after I wake up, eat a snack and then rake a nap. I'm not sure I would get anything done that week.

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In her clinical work, Marlo often works with patients who adopt these practices. She says that there are “those who ardently wish these can resolve their suffering or problems, but who find they fail to offer relief for what is ailing them the most. When these wellness practices are coupled with the belief that they can heal complex pain, traumas, or issues, they can be destructive, because the individual is not focusing on what needs to be faced in their life, and is not engaging in what could help,” the psychoanalyst said.

On a more fundamental level, this obsession with wellness can also reflect a conflict we have in our society. Marlo argues that this conflict is about respecting interconnectedness and promoting interrelatedness. “An obsessional quest for one’s own wellness can reinforce an egocentric, solipsistic, or narcissistic attitude to life. That is, what promotes one’s own wellness may be at the dramatic expense of another’s wellness or the wellness of one’s community.”

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El Dee
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

When you've finished sewing the button back on use a dab of clear nail polish on the thread to protect in the future..

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#15

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Kona Pake
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

There are no stupid questions, just stupid people. And you can be sure that there is somebody else wants to know also.

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“Wellness practices, life hacks, and simple life tricks can also reflect the very human fantasy of shortcuts. That is, the idea that we can achieve something great without putting in time or work. As a culture, and as a species, we have long been enamored by the promise of quick, easy fixes,” Marlo explained.

In that sense, “promoting wellness as the answer to having a fulfilling life can play into human vulnerabilities, because wellness can be instantly gratifying!” Marlo added: “It feels good; is positive; focuses on one’s self; and can be limitless. We can always have more wellness and our minds can delude us that more is better!”

#16

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Something
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I can't only buy one type of socks, because then, even worse than all the trouble of sorting them, is knowing that you have mixed them up and have no way of sorting them. Just because they're all the same style and color doesn't mean they don't want to be with their partners.

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When asked whether there is a point where obsessing over improving ourselves and our wellbeing becomes unhealthy, Marlo said that in general, anything that becomes an obsession, including wellness, is unhealthy.“The quest for wellness, improvement, and growth can be mistakenly regarded as healthy because it is lauded; tied to greater success, worth, and higher status; and is so socially acceptable. A lack of wellness is often associated with personal or moral failure or weakness that could or should be fixed.”

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According to the Jungian psychoanalyst, “obsessional quest for improvement and wellbeing can obscure our real psychological challenges around knowing and accepting our human limits and the limits of others as well as accepting the inevitable limitations and suffering in life that have to be lived through.”

#19

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Sky Render
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That doesn't work if you have body dysphoria or dysmorphia. That REALLY doesn't work in those cases.

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“In my practice, I usually find that individuals obsess over things that they have not actually thought about enough!” Marlo said. She explained further: “That is, they fixate on the part that is easy for them, and fail to look at the whole picture, especially what is hard for them, including what else is related to the obsession that they may not want to know about.”

Marlo also said that becoming lost in obsessions around self-improvement and wellbeing can preclude other kinds of knowing. “The obsessional pursuit of growth and wellness can often limit one from realizing the value of brokenness and imperfection. Often, it does not affirm or leave space for being receptive, patient, accepting, tolerant, and open to the understanding that genuine growth is, often, a developmental process that occurs over time,” she concluded.

#20

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Kona Pake
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Would you believe that there are able body people who will not walk 10 feet to park a cart.

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#21

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Fenchurch
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

My library life hack (at least in the UK) is you can be a member of more than just your local county library. I have digital accounts with my home county library and three others who have good digital content, one of which is a couple of hundred miles from where I live.

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When asked whether there is a point where obsessing over improving ourselves and our wellbeing becomes unhealthy, Marlo said that in general, anything that becomes an obsession, including wellness, is unhealthy.“The quest for wellness, improvement, and growth can be mistakenly regarded as healthy because it is lauded; tied to greater success, worth, and higher status; and is so socially acceptable. A lack of wellness is often associated with personal or moral failure or weakness that could or should be fixed.”

According to her, “obsessional quest for improvement and wellbeing can obscure our real psychological challenges around knowing and accepting our human limits and the limits of others as well as accepting the inevitable limitations and suffering in life that have to be lived through.”

#22

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Lisa H
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is also a technique with Dialectical Behavioral Therapy. It helps you to think about the situation and reduces the chances of reacting irrationally, thus making the situation more manageable.

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#23

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Emily M
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

They needed to proofread their writing sentence here. :p legit advice tho

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“In my practice, I usually find that individuals obsess over things that they have not actually thought about enough!” Marlo said. She explained further: “That is, they fixate on the part that is easy for them, and fail to look at the whole picture, especially what is hard for them, including what else is related to the obsession that they may not want to know about.”

Marlo also said that becoming lost in obsessions around self-improvement and wellbeing can preclude other kinds of knowing. “The obsessional pursuit of growth and wellness can often limit one from realizing the value of brokenness and imperfection. Often, it does not affirm or leave space for being receptive, patient, accepting, tolerant, and open to the understanding that genuine growth is, often, a developmental process that occurs over time,” she concluded.

#24

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K
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Not every car has this. My Nissan Altima didn't but my Subaru impreza does

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#26

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Kate Jones
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

lol this just reminds me of mcdonald's back in the 90s early 2000s they used to have shaker salads in a cup and they were delicious. They had a cobb salad with turkey, ham, egg and cheese and this awesome dressing. I miss those salads so much, lol. They were the perfect size and easy to carry around.

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#27

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Injun Joe
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I do that. Skip cleaning the kitchen, skip cleaning up the yard... Just joking!

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#28

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Alphabet Soupy
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I don’t know about this one, it’s supposed to be a nice thick layer of sunscreen, reapplied every so often, why make it harder than it needs to be? Just put a gob of the stuff on their cheeks or your fingertips and rub it in.

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#30

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Kate Jones
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Also, grab some green and red seedless grapes, skewer them like a kabob and put them in a pan and then pour some prosecco over them. soak for 1 day, then freeze them. Effervescent and tasty little treat without getting you hammered drunk. you can also do this with champagne or even sprite if you prefer no alcohol. Frozen grapes are so delicious.

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Note: this post originally had 68 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.

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