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People On This Twitter Thread Share Surprisingly Genius Life Hacks That Actually Work, And Here’re 30 Of The Best
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
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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.
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.
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.
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.”
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.”
This something I definitely need to work on.. Rehearsing for conversations that have never and will never happen
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.”
“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!”
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.
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 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.”
That doesn't work if you have body dysphoria or dysmorphia. That REALLY doesn't work in those cases.
“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.
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.”
“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.
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.
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.
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.
A full dishwasher would have be be very, very, far down on my list of worst things, actually.
I add the word 'house' to all contacts that are repair people like electricians, plumber, exterminator, etc. And as a caregiver I add the the person's name I'm taking care of in the notes of their contacts that I might have in my phone (such as emergency contacts and physicians)
Better yet, leave them in the carton they came in which has the date on it. Taking them out and putting them in the egg rack in the fridge means they don't last anywhere near as long 1-door gets slightly warm every time you open it and 2- eggs are porous so nay nastiness in your fridge makes its way into the egg.
Easier: write on the plastic-ware with the Sharpie. A brief scrub with steel wool will remove the writing. It's also easier because you don't have to worry about the tape falling off in the freezer.
I bought new sheets recently which have a tag sewn into the hem at the head/foot end that say "Head/Foot" which is rather convenient.
all the food, now with condiments with kids stuck in a car.. sounds like a great idea. who does the clean up?
And when most of the meat is gone, the bones go in a crockpot with onions, celery, carrots and water. Eight hours later: chicken broth!
So, gatekeep movie tickets? If you don’t want people sitting next to you, then stay home.
Saying this to someone with both chronic insomnia and ADHD is like saying to a depressed person, "Just cheer up."
I just read about this somewhere.. here?... with a comment from someone using elmers wood glue to hold it down and would wash out.. I'm not going nuts. right? =P
TIPS ARE NOT HACKS! A hack is when you find a clever use for something that it wasn't intended to do.
No, it's when you find clever ways to minimize the amount of energy you have to put into a getting a task done without slacking on the task. Still doesn't fit.
Load More Replies... Kind of a small thing but I can't believe it took me so long to figure it out. When making bacon, put a piece of aluminum foil in your sink and shape the center of it into the drain area, making a little cup. Then when you're done, dump the oil into the foil. Later it will harden and you can just pick up the foil and throw it away. Saves your sink and you don't then have to wash out a greasy glass or bowl.
here's an actual hack. Corroded silver jewelry- put into aluminium foil, e.g. a cup shape of foil. Add bicarb, e.g a teaspoon worth. Boil in a pot. Voila, clean silver.
Here's something I figured out when I was horribly anxious about something and badly needed to be reassured but I was on my own: imagine yourself as a child who's upset and needs a little mothering. Do for yourself what you'd do for that upset kid. I remembered what my mum would have done, and got myself an icy pole and a small stuffed toy to cuddle, and it worked wonders.
TIPS ARE NOT HACKS! A hack is when you find a clever use for something that it wasn't intended to do.
No, it's when you find clever ways to minimize the amount of energy you have to put into a getting a task done without slacking on the task. Still doesn't fit.
Load More Replies... Kind of a small thing but I can't believe it took me so long to figure it out. When making bacon, put a piece of aluminum foil in your sink and shape the center of it into the drain area, making a little cup. Then when you're done, dump the oil into the foil. Later it will harden and you can just pick up the foil and throw it away. Saves your sink and you don't then have to wash out a greasy glass or bowl.
here's an actual hack. Corroded silver jewelry- put into aluminium foil, e.g. a cup shape of foil. Add bicarb, e.g a teaspoon worth. Boil in a pot. Voila, clean silver.
Here's something I figured out when I was horribly anxious about something and badly needed to be reassured but I was on my own: imagine yourself as a child who's upset and needs a little mothering. Do for yourself what you'd do for that upset kid. I remembered what my mum would have done, and got myself an icy pole and a small stuffed toy to cuddle, and it worked wonders.
