Weird "life hacks" you do

[Vars]

Mine is related to test taking because my finals are tomorrow and I'm too old for this.

When I went through A-school (trade school for military I guess?) we had a lot of tests taken on the computer. And I found myself agonizing over which answer to pick and ultimately failing the test. One time I had to go to the bathroom in the middle of the test, and put my anxiety aside to get the thing done faster so I could go pee.

Well turns out, I got a perfect score doing that. So every future test, I'd wait until I had to pee and then go take it, so I could blaze through the questions.

I carried this over to university. Any time I have to pee in the middle of a test, I am always one of the first five students to finish and I always get a better score.

Could be coincidental, but I doubt it at this point!

What weird crap do you do that helps you?

 

[Jester]

Mine's not related to school, but I learned how to unstick a soda bottle cap by wrapping a rubberband around it, and then twisting. It tugs it RIGHT off. It's a perfect grip. No more stuck caps, no more aching hands. B)

 

[Poe Dameron]

I put a couple of little vials (samplers?) of cologne in my suit pockets. Not only do they give my suit jacket a nice scent, they are great "refreshers" in case of "close encounters" on those hot sweaty days/nights.

Don't know if this qualifies as a life hack... but if I feel like I want to go out with someone but don't feel up to the game of actually asking, I'd say "I wish I could go out somewhere and do something fun..." Results in a date at an approximate 90% success rate.

 

[Nemopedia]

I cook vinegar in my watercooker to clean it out once in a while. Then I pour it into my warm water bottle to clean these out. Our water here has a lot of chalk, so it is needed to make them all last longer without thick chunk of chalk floating in my tea.

Afterwards I cook and rinse my watercooker with water and repeat above steps with the other items to get rid of the vinegar smell. It is a lot cheaper than buying these 'special' blocks to un-chalk everything, and I'm a scrooge in that regard.

 

[Sidhe]

I'm not sure if this counts, but...

If you find yourself forgetting if you've done something you do regularly (i.e. taking your medication, locking the door, washing your hands), try doing one small thing out of the ordinary while you do it. Something small, like doing a little dance as you lock the door behind you. That way when you think, 'shit, did I do that thing?' you'll remember 'oh, yeah, I did that stupid dance while I did the thing' and you will save yourself the stress.

 

[Kagayours]

If you find yourself forgetting if you've done something you do regularly (i.e. taking your medication, locking the door, washing your hands), try doing one small thing out of the ordinary while you do it.

One other suggestion I've heard in regards to medication is to place the bottle upside-down after taking a dose (or back to right-side-up again, depending). So, if you take 2 doses per day, then you'll know whether you took a daytime dose or a nighttime dose last. I feel like it would probably only work for people who specifically take 2 doses per day, though -- hence why it's not a life hack that I personally get much use out of.

Also: hair conditioner makes a really great substitute for shaving cream. owo

 

[Greenie]

Add in a little salt when frying onions/veggies. It pulls out the water and helps them sweat faster.

 

[Gwazi Magnum]

I like to take a battleaxe and then hack a box of life (cereal) into pieces.

 

[Ravenfrost]

What weird crap do you do that helps you?

Weird crap? Moi?

Well.

Because my mind is often filled with too much to organize *stuff* - I've trained myself to create large text banners for things that I REALLY (1) want to remember to do, or (2) already did, but might not remember that I did.

For instance, if I have to remember to get up at 5 a.m. tomorrow and can't rely on the alarm clock (which I might sleep through), I design a huge text banner in my mind that hangs in front of me, slightly over my head. I have my fun in choosing the color, outline, whether it will flash, glow, pulse, etc. The more annoying I make it, the better it works.

I give it a level of mental intensity, say on a scale from 1 to 10. (The intensity gives it a ... weight ... something like a physical weight, is the best I can describe it, that makes it more or less urgent).

Then I let it go and don't have to think about it. It just works, because I ordered my psyche (with no qualms) to make it work. I had to train myself to do this, though.

Ditto for when I already did something (sent all-important thank you card to Alice?) - not as elaborate, I mentally create a large text banner with a certain weight assigned: YES, SENT THANK YOU CARD TO ALICE. It becomes like a file cabinet that I can ping. Hey, did I do that? Yes!

It's not intrusive and doesn't weigh on my conscious mind.

Similar uses for personal resolutions, as reminder.

They can dissolve instantly when used or over a certain amount time, so it's not like it gets crowded in their hang-out place.

 

[Dervish]

I organize my computer cables by using labeled bread clips so I can tell which cable does what.

WD-40 pulls oil stains right out of clothing.

Less a life hack and more solid life advice: If you have a lot of stuff you need to do, use that Memo function on your phone and keep track of it. Even if you don't end up looking at it, writing stuff down helps cement it in your mind.

 

[Greenie]

use that Memo function on your phone and keep track of it.

I've started to use this a lot. I finally remembered to take two books to work that I had promised ages ago, because I finally decided to smarten up and use the memo app.

 

[Kagayours]

Less a life hack and more solid life advice: If you have a lot of stuff you need to do, use that Memo function on your phone and keep track of it. Even if you don't end up looking at it, writing stuff down helps cement it in your mind.

I've started to use this a lot. I finally remembered to take two books to work that I had promised ages ago, because I finally decided to smarten up and use the memo app.

And this is why my life is held together by a haphazard combination of digital and physical notes.

I need reminders for stuff -- and, like Dervish said, just writing stuff down helps me remember even if I don't look at it -- but I'm too scatterbrained to even have one, consistent medium through which to give myself reminders about things -- so anytime I know that I need to remember to do something, it's basically like, "oh boy, I need to remind myself to do something, and I need to put a reminder somewhere before I forget" -- and that "somewhere" can really be just about anywhere. Sometimes it's something as mundane as just writing a note down in my planner or setting an alarm on my phone. But some of the more interesting methods I've devised are:

• Sending myself an email, and writing the reminder in the form of an all-caps subject line (which will catch my attention the next time I open my email)
• Writing a reminder down on a post-it note and then sticking that post-it note inside my laptop, so that I'll see it as soon as I open it up. Unlike a digital reminder, which I might dismiss like "I'll get to it in a second", and then completely forget again -- the post-it note stays there until I do the thing, so I can't forget :P I usually place the post-it note next to the trackpad where it's not covering anything, so that it's still visually obvious enough that it's impossible to miss, but it's also not in the way to the point where I would want to take it off, set it aside, and then forget about it as quickly as I would forget about a digital reminder.
• Taking the object that I need to remember to bring someplace, and then physically placing that object right in front of my door, so that it'll be impossible to miss on my way out and I'll remember to bring it. (My roommate's not very fond of this one, though, so I try to use it only on really bad days when I feel like I really need the most drastic measures in order to remember things. XD )

For me, the trick is to do something while I'm thinking about it that'll remind myself to do something later. Thinking about something I need to do and then not immediately acting on that thought could easily mean completely forgetting to do the thing when the time comes, even if I was thinking about it barely 20 minutes earlier. o_o"

Hopefully some other people here can get some use out of these strategies. XD

 

[Greenie]

Taking the object that I need to remember to bring someplace, and then physically placing that object right in front of my door, so that it'll be impossible to miss on my way out and I'll remember to bring it. (My roommate's not very fond of this one, though, so I try to use it only on really bad days when I feel like I really need the most drastic measures in order to remember things. XD )

My mom does this XD Mostly because unless we trip over something, we tend to forget it.

 

[Desdemona]

People are confused by my ability to speak publicly in such a comfortable matter, yet I'm disaster when it comes to one-to-one conversations. The truth is that I've always felt that I was meant to be leader and in order to overcome my anxiety when it comes to speaking in front of a class, I remind myself that I'm an attention seeker and boost up my ego in order to appear more confident and professional.

I think this has worked so well that I actually look forward to public speaking because I actually feel pretty good about myself during it.

 

[Ravenfrost]

I read the preceding post about public speaking with interest. I had to develop different tricks. Due to my upbringing, my ability to communicate with anyone when I was younger - except my best friend - was very limited.

And public speaking? Forget that!

When I graduated high school, I received an award during the ceremonies (unexpected) that forced me, of course, to accept it in front of everyone and actually say SOMETHING. It was a terrible sensation, nerve wracking, but I managed to blurt out something polite (I hope).

Afterwards, a classmate told me (seriously) that they had thought all this time that I was a deaf mute. And they weren't the only one.

And now, years later, not only am I better than fine at one on ones (whether it is a stranger, friend or somewhere in between) -- but I'm the kind of person that gets up and organizes a group of strangers in a crisis (if no one is better qualified) and I have no fear of speaking publicly anywhere, anytime to anyone, great or small. Not that I think I'm so smart. Not that I think I'm a leader.

Granted I am a totally changed person. But what methods have I used, what are the hacks?

For me, the first early key, was to totally kick to the curb any expectations I had about getting something out of my interactions with others. Just let it go. Will they like me? Will they be mean? Will I say something stupid?

Forget about it! Totally. You can't empower other people that way, you can't allow them to have that weight -- it will trip you up every time.

Everyone else is just as imperfect and struggling with their problems. You can't place them on a pedestal (not even if you have a wild crush on them). Worrying about the reactions of others is not the way to effective communication.

Plus, it places an unseen burden on the other person when you have too much invested and strains the whole interaction unless they have some excellent skills of their own.

I don't mean one should be obnoxious or curt. It's just ... say the things you honestly want to say, and let it go. Don't obsess over the result. It will get better with practice. (Like playing the piano, learning to cook, or playing a game.)

If you are terribly shy, you will have some fails at first. Developing finesse takes time if you've not been trained since birth. But people are here to stay, so we best get on with learning!

It is not as if people will love you and give you a million dollars if you're an excellent conversationalist (not generally!).

These are the things (the hacks) I pounded into my own skull.

I have friends that have trouble talking with others, and I can see that it's the anticipated reactions of other people and my friend's fears or expectations (for good or for bad) that usually make it so hard.

After I got through that phase...just to get over the terror of talking to human beans, I had to learn the companion piece. (And this may just be my personal thing.)

That is, forget about yourself as well.

Especially when speaking in public. The focus is on the message, the issue, the communication. That's all there is.

Forget about your personality (it's there, it will take care of itself), your needs, your desires. I'm not saying submerge them entirely, but they shouldn't be the star of the show. Let it go, for now.

It can be very powerful (in face to face interactions) when you talk to others either focusing on an issue or on them (or both) without bias, without fear, without thinking of what you have to gain or lose personally.

It still amazes me.

P.S. I call these hacks because these things did not come naturally to me, and I had to remember the above constantly, like a mantra running through my mind, until it was fait accompli.