What are your life hacks?

Minestrone101Minestrone101
edited August 2022 in General

My winning ones are getting groceries delivered (pre-pandemic I'd spend 3-5 hours in a store a week), getting more sleep, and drinking more water (esp boiled w lemon, honey, and ginger).

My favorite online grocery stores:

  • www.misfitsmarket.com (sells irregular produce at discounted prices)
  • www.southasiangrocery.com
  • www.asianmart.com

2 out of 3 of them give free delivery over a certain price.

I've spent decades trying to perfect a way to get to bed by a certain time and to get more sleep from the day. As a night person, I need a routine to help transition me from being awake to a sleeping state.

Ok. I love cold showers too. Showers are less than 3 mins - less wasted time and saves on energy bill and improves willpower.

What are yours?

«1

Comments

  • [Deleted User]Zundar (deleted user)
    edited August 2022

    Think I've heard of misfitmarket before, it's great what they do to reduce food waste.

    Mine would be:

    • If there something you need to interact with but sometimes forget or that's otherwise too important to risk missing (medication, toothbrush, currently important documents, etc) then instead of keeping them in separate places around where you live, it can help to just keep them together right by where you spend a lot of your time at home, that way any time you're there you're right by a reminder of things you might need to do and if you need to find any of them then there's only one place you need to check.

    • If you're trying to cut something out of your diet, whether for health reasons or otherwise, then getting something you've never had before instead can help with the cravings for the original food by distracting you and your brain a bit, and could also give you another viable option for what to get instead in the future.

    • If you tend to get bored or demotivated just listening to music while doing things like exercise, working, travelling, cleaning, cooking, etc then listening to podcasts or audiobooks might help with that. They're (usually) more engaging, and can also be a good chance to learn some new things or explore ideas.

    Think it's interesting how much the life hacks people come up with reflect back on what they personally struggle with as that's of course what they're going to try and problem-solve, I can only conclude that a lot of the people who make those crafty life hack videos struggle with the issue of having an overabundance of hot glue and empty bottles.

  • Minestrone101Minestrone101
    edited August 2022

    @Zundar - Good ones.

  • JohnR1972JohnR1972

    I started smoking to help me quit chewing gum 😉

  • CharlieBearCharlieBear Mod

    @JohnR1972 i read your comment and immediately pictured Dick Dastardly offering bubblegum cigarettes to kids

  • zerocantaloupezerocantaloupe
    edited August 2022

    @JohnR1972 I've never smoked, but I use those nicotine lozenges for smoking cessation. It's way easier to be precise about dosing, and considerably less benzopyrene.

  • [Deleted User]ClubSamwiches (deleted user)

    Most recently I discovered to keep the weird hooks that belts come on and hang them on a hanger to hang in my closet.

  • [Deleted User]simsaddict (deleted user)

    I watch cleaning TikToks for an hour with ASMR tags so I feel motivated and satisfied whenever I clean. I associate the sounds with a job well done now.
    I decided to Pavlov my brain into both seeing and hearing action for cleaning and it’s worked significantly

  • blisscuddlesblisscuddles

  • achetocuddleachetocuddle

    Pay your house off ASAP if you are fortunate enough to own one, avoid debt as much as possible and stop worrying about what other people think.

  • JohnR1972JohnR1972

    @achetocuddle
    Your post reminds me of a poster I once saw which read “In your 20s, you care about what other people think of you. In your 40s, you quit caring what other people think of you. In your 60s, you realize nobody was ever thinking about to begin with.”

  • Minestrone101Minestrone101

    Good stuff people- sarcastic or otherwise.

  • ohnonotagainohnonotagain

    Budget and spend below your means.

    The amount of stress relief you will have when you have back up is amazing.

  • achetocuddleachetocuddle

    @johnR1972 That saying is so true. People are not really noticing or thinking about you anytime. There are exceptions to every rule, but not many to this one.

    @ohnonotagain That is so true. After my divorce I always lived below my means. The peace of mind it gives you is worth the effort and sacrifice.

  • HeyFayHeyFay

    I have no hacks, but I quite enjoy all yours ! :)

  • achetocuddleachetocuddle

    @HeyFay Lol. Me too, including the sarcastic ones. I wish I was in Fresno with that low humidity.

  • dave31415dave31415

    News websites have a perfect right to have a pay wall. Producing news isn’t free. They gotta make their money somehow. At the same time if they send their content to my browser and think that they can hide it from me with a little JavaScript, they are mistaken. My browser, my rules. You can turn off JavaScript in your browser and usually the hidden content pops up and you can read it. There is a nice plugin for Chrome that gives you a little toggle button on the top margin that makes it even easier.

    Don’t think of it as stealing news. You’re not. You’re just reading the news they send you assuming you aren’t clever enough to notice that they are being too cheap to implement a real authentication system.

  • RadiantHugsRadiantHugs Mod
    edited August 2022

    I like to trade money for reduced stress every time I feasibly can. Especially for the things which are seemingly simple but a huge mental effort for me - hiring them done is expensive but well worth it to me. Things such as house cleaning, organizing, paperwork, taking Uber instead of driving to a congested place (downtown), using curbside pickup for groceries, etc.

    When I need a popular consumer item, I go to Costco and get something from their selection rather than spend countless hours online reading reviews. Their procurement is almost always good, their prices competitive, and their return policy is great in case something isn't right.

  • calineurcalineur
    edited August 2022

    During the quarantine, I made a few changes myself:
    1) I stopped eating meat and dairy for 11 months, and although I still do ingest it on occasion, very infrequently.
    2) I fasted, first for 26 hours, then 72 hours, then 120 hours (thats 5 days of no food, only water)
    3) I went to a number of parks to go hiking/walking, as for a while it was the only activity to do.
    4) I started frequenting grocery stores, even arranging meeting up with others there during the quarantine because it was, aside from parks, one of the locations where we could still talk to someone in person.

    I recently made an additional changes to increase my hydration by drinking enough water daily and eating as much high water content foods (mostly fruit) as is beneficial.

  • achetocuddleachetocuddle
    edited August 2022

    @calineur What positive results did you get from that? Interesting.
    @CuddlesByDeep I do that also, except for Costco. The only reason I don't go to Costco is cause it's 2 counties away. I meant to say, I use the same philosophy, just for different things :)

  • calineurcalineur

    @achetocuddle Not sure to which part you are referring, but if it is the fasting, I did lose 15 pounds. In general though, what I learned was that fasting allows the body to reset its immune system, increase production of stem cells, and detoxify, with side effects of both body healing and weight loss faster than any diet (although fasting isn't specifically for weight loss one cannot help but lose weight). There is a doctor who has a fasting clinic in Santa Rosa, California, whose videos I watched on Youtube who suggests that anyone of average size could easily fast 60 days or more drinking only water without a problem, and many people can go much longer.

  • MCcuddles2MCcuddles2
    edited August 2022

    I don't know if it's a hack, dodging health issues by trying to live a healthy lifestyle.

  • DaringSprinterDaringSprinter

    I tend to be suspicious of claims that not eating is good for people. I was raised with that idea ("it clears your mind! cleanses your body and soul! helps you hear the voice of God!") and not only went days without eating as a kid but have actual trouble eating regularly today... not to mention the health issues caused by malnutrition in childhood.

    Sure, maybe starving yourself as an otherwise healthy adult is fine, good, even—but I dunno.

    My life hack: buy easy foods like jerky, dried fruit, snacking vegetables, rice cakes, whatever, so it's easier to eat at least once a day (and preferably more). When I have to fix myself a whole meal before eating, often I just don't.

  • achetocuddleachetocuddle

    @calineur Thank you. Sorry I was not clearer. Can you tell me why you cut out meat and dairy for 11 months and what resulted?

  • calineurcalineur
    edited August 2022

    @MCcuddles2 good point.

    @DaringSprinter I can certainly agree that the idea of not eating as a health "hack" is a difficult one to get used to, but it seems to have become popular of late. The doctor in California has had his clinic since 1984 fasting clients up to 40 days without a single client loss so I was convinced of it's relative safety, especially when compared to other interventions. He says it isn't starvation until the fat stores have been depleted, which doesn't happen quite as soon as one would expect. I wouldn't think to use it on a child though without a specific determination by someone who has more experience than I do. Fasting is a choice, not an obligation because one does not have sufficient or proper food to eat. Adults have had more time to damage the body and thus create the situation that would call for fasting.

    @achetocuddle regarding the change in diet, I just wanted to eat what I had been convinced was going to help my overall health, as I was having some blood flow issues. At the same time that I did research on fasting I did research on diet and decided to make those two changes (removing meat and dairy from my diet). My anectotal experience would be that I seem to have more mental and physical energy, and when I avoid meat and/or processed foods I do not need to nap in the afternoons. Interestingly, I fasted before changing my diet because I had heard that fasting resets the food cravings so we lose the desire for junk food. We can always get it back though if we want. 😊

  • achetocuddleachetocuddle

    @calineur Thank you. I was interested in your anecdotal experience but could not think to say that. Not eating for health used to seem counterintuitive? to me, but I've thought for a while there is something to it. Talking to someone who understands their body and science and can relay believable and balanced anecdotal info about their dietary and life changes is helpful.

  • DaringSprinterDaringSprinter

    @calineur: Mm. You make fair points. I wanted to come back with "I ought to have been very healthy during that period of my adult life in which I lived on water most of the time, with one good meal some Sundays"—but it's entirely possible that what was done to me in childhood has ruined any ability my body ever had to benefit from fasting.

  • MCcuddles2MCcuddles2
    edited August 2022

    So, biologically that's probably how nomadic hunter gatherers would have subsisted. Especially those in forests. There would be periods of not eating until you find or catch something.

    Anatomically modern homo sapiens are 300,000 years old. We stopped being nomadic around 12,000 years ago.

    On the evolutionary timescale, three regular meals a day, or any regular meal a day is a relatively new phenomenon.

    It stands to reason that our biology may be built to function well in an intermittent fasting environment.

  • achetocuddleachetocuddle

    This thread is so good. I hope y'all don't stop.

    @DaringSprinter I'm so sorry about your childhood experience. I've never thought of jerky as being easy to eat, but I get what you are saying.

  • TheGManTheGMan
    edited August 2022

    Life Hack: Mumbai trains edition.

    It’s okay to ask 3 people to move for half a seat in a crowded train.

    • Saves your knees from loading from unnecessary standing. Works everyone’s glutes.
    • Networking and increased social interaction.
    • practice negotiation and giving/receiving consent.
    • understand tiebreaker situations.
    • platonic touch.
    • read a different newspaper.
    • live demo of different cell phone models.
    • Tax, home buying, investment, relationship, medical advice.

  • achetocuddleachetocuddle

    @TheGMan Your hack is so good for so many reasons. Thoroughly enjoyable :)

Sign In or Register to comment.