It’s been two decades since technology writer Danny O’Brien coined the term “life hack” to describe a simple action or habit that solves a problem or makes our lives easier.
Some life hacks are super helpful, in a “well, why didn’t I think of that sooner?” kind of way. Some so-called life hacks are just questionable attempts to get people to click on things, either by offering silly ideas that mock the life hack genre, or things that are basically just common sense. And then there are the tricky ones that sound stupid or fake but are actually really useful.
Here are some life hacks that “seem fake at first glance but are actually effective,” courtesy of AskReddit.
(Remember, this is not medical advice. These are just reports from people sharing things that have worked for them.)
How can you quickly turn a bad day around?
“Change your socks to save a bad day. When I first read this, I laughed. Then I tried it.
It works. It’s like a reset button. A kind of fresh start.
If you have a bad day, change your socks.”
“A shower helps a lot when you have a bad day.”
“I would encourage that, but if possible with a cold shower or a clean towel if you’re outside. Feeling relaxed and refreshed after a quick shower and fresh clothes is a godsend.”
“And brushing my teeth. When I feel like crap or exhausted, I feel like a new woman after brushing my teeth thoroughly!”
“The Army knew this decades ago. You want a soldier to last longer but not sleep? Then you get him to shave, brush his teeth and do his hair. Then he feels better and he’s good to go. Sounds ridiculous, but it works. Personally, I love brushing my hair to cheer myself up.”
Sometimes back pain has nothing to do with your back at all.Photo by Kindel Media/Pexels
How do you relieve lower back pain?
“Try your Quads If you have lower back pain, a simple stretch will do the trick: grab your shoe and extend your knee downward. I’m a personal trainer and my clients are always amazed when they try this, lol.
“Most lower back pain in our modern society is caused by prolonged sitting. When you sit in a chair, your quads shorten and become tight. Remember, your whole body is connected and your quads reach all the way up to connect to your hip bone. Imagine your hip bone is a bucket of water and you want that bucket to be straight so the water doesn’t overflow. When your quads are tight, that ‘bucket’ gets pulled forward and tilted. You get what I call the ‘booty pop’ posture, which puts a lot of pressure on your lower back. When you stretch your quads, you stop pulling the hip forward, correcting that posture and helping the ‘bucket of water’ stay upright.”
“Tightness in one area creates tension in another. The human body is a fleshy pulley system. I can tell by the tightness in my ankles that I haven’t stretched or warmed up enough. But that doesn’t mean I’m doing ankle stretches. I’m trying to stretch my hamstrings, hips and QL area.”
“YES. I injured my lower back two years ago and my doctor told me to stretch my hamstrings and I was amazed at how well that helped. I do that several times every day now, as well as other stretches. Before, I could only bend over and barely reach my shins because I was so stiff and now I can easily touch the floor. I also use a lacrosse ball and roll it around on each of my glutes for a few minutes (I found this on Joe DeFranco’s Limber 11) and that has also helped tremendously in relieving my back pain because my glutes were also very tight.”
How do you relieve anxiety or nervousness?
“If you’re feeling anxious or nervous, chew gum. It sounds weird, but it tricks your brain into thinking you’re safe and calm because your body associates eating with relaxation. Plus, it helps you focus and stay in the moment, which can really relieve tension in stressful situations.”
“I had a teacher in my nursing school who handed out gum before our exams for this reason.”
“During my freshman year of college, one of my professors advised us to have snacks on hand while studying for the same reason, and to give our bodies and brains small rewards for concentrating.
A week before the final exams, he told us to write down our favorite study snack, and when we got to the final exam, each of us had our “study snack” on the table, ready for the exam.
This was great for me because I had written down that I loved getting to-go containers of queso, guacamole, and tortillas from this little Mexican restaurant in town, and I had warm tortillas and queso and cold, fresh guacamole waiting for me at my desk. My friend had pancakes from iHop on her desk because back then they had endless pancakes and she would just sit at iHop at 2 a.m. when it was dead quiet and eat pancakes and study.
I passed the final exam with flying colors.”
“Unless you’re having a bad panic attack. I tried chewing gum, but that didn’t help. That was a particularly bad panic attack, it lasted an hour and I thought I was going to die the whole time.”
How can you nip a panic attack in the bud?
“If you’re having a panic attack, sucking on an ice cube or putting your face in ice water can stop it. I thought that was nonsense, but was shocked that sucking on an ice cube relieved the physical symptoms of the panic attack.”
“The face-in-ice-water thing requires your face to be completely submerged in water, and you have to put a little bit of water up your nose. This triggers a reflex known as the ‘mammalian diving response.’ This causes your heart rate to drop by about 30 beats per minute in a matter of seconds.”
“Similar note: Eating something extremely acidic also helps. A slice of lemon is very good at home and you can take Warheads or something similar with you when you’re on the go.”
“If you don’t have access to ice cubes or a bucket of water, touching something cold helps. Windows on public transport (just hold your arm to the window, no one will notice), metal shelves in shops, metal bars on the side of the stairs… there’s always a way. Then ask yourself: what am I seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling, feeling. This grounds you. Humming or singing also helps if your breathing is disturbed.”
“I can confirm. I had occasional attacks for about two years (I’m better now), but if I get one of those ice packs from the freezer and hold it to my wrists/forearms, it goes away faster than if I just endure it.”
How do you stop beating yourself up?
“Stop talking bad about yourself in your inner dialogue and start saying nice things. Whether you mean what you say or not doesn’t matter, your subconscious mind picks it up and it becomes your actual self-perception. Eventually, your positive self-reinforcement will take root and you will see yourself in the positive light that you should.”
If you had told me this information 10 years ago, I would have said it was hocus-pocus nonsense. It’s not. It actually works.”
“Yes, talk to yourself like you would talk to your best friend. It doesn’t come naturally, but you can work on it.”
“My buddy solved his anger issues with therapy like this. Whenever he got angry about something he had done, he was supposed to remove himself from the situation and pretend he was talking to his best friend about something they had done. It changed his perspective on things.”
“Absolute truth! I have completely changed my outlook on life by stopping the internal dialogue of ‘You stupid’ or ‘Why are you such an idiot’. Instead I mentally say to myself ‘PFUUUU! I have to think of a better way’ or something like that. I have also started mentally praising my accomplishments, like you would praise your small child when they achieve something. It has truly changed my life!”
Gotta stay awake. Gotta stay awake. Gotta stay…zzzz.Photo by Ketut Subiyanto/Pexels
How do you stay awake in a meeting or class when you’re tired?
“If you’re having trouble staying awake in class/meeting, see how long you can keep one of your feet slightly off the floor.”
“We did it as basic training. If you fell asleep, you would get beat up, but we were all so damn tired. It’s really impossible to fall asleep if your foot isn’t on the ground.
“That’s actually what I always did when I was a nurse driving home after a night shift. Window down and left foot off the ground.”
“Rub your ears too.”
“And look up. So, just look up with your eyes for a few seconds, don’t tilt your head. I do this all the time and it’s like minimum effort, maximum reward.”
How do you remove a ring that is stuck on your finger?
“If your ring gets stuck on your finger, Windex will take it off immediately. I worked in a jewelry store for over five years.”
“I also worked in a jewelry store for a while and the customers never believed me when I told them that.”
“That’s because classic Windex contains a little bit of ammonia, which, like any alkaline (basic) chemical, causes fats to form soaps (also called saponification), which makes your skin (which contains the fats) feel slippery.
This is why it’s not good to leave Windex or similar chemicals on your skin for too long. It actually reacts with your skin oils, which can cause damage if it takes effect.”
“The floss trick works too and I really thought that wouldn’t be the case.”
“My ring size is a 7, my knuckle is at least an 8. I wanted to take off my wedding ring for surgery and was shown the floss trick. I’ve used it a few times since then.”
Here’s the flossing trick:
– YouTubeyoutube.com
