30 People Debunk The Worst Life Hacks They’ve Heard

Try typing “best life hacks” in Google’s search bar. You’ll find a laundry list of results about must-tries. What isn’t often highlighted are the ones that you may need to think twice before following. Some may even do more harm than good.

Thankfully, we have the people of Reddit to bring these to light by answering the question, “What are some commonly recommended life hacks which are actually wrong or bad?”

You’ll find some of the usual tips about sleeping less to achieve more, going on detox diets, and drinking coffee to sober up. Now that you think about it, these supposedly clever methods may be questionable at best and potentially harmful at worst.

Scroll through this list and see if you’ve tried any of these hacks. Were they as helpful as advertised? Or were they all hype?

This post may include affiliate links.

30 People Debunk The Worst Life Hacks They’ve Heard When people suggest going for a walk or working out to combat depression because “you don’t NEED medication, you just need to clear your head. Depression and anxiety are all in your head.”

B***h, no s**t it’s in my head. That’s why I take brain medicine.

BusyPaws , Tamar Willoughby / pexels Report

Final score:

176points

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30 People Debunk The Worst Life Hacks They’ve Heard Don’t quit, keep pushing no matter what.

Sometimes in life you need to understand when to throw in the towel and walk away.

JD054 , Drazen Zigic / freepik Report

Final score:

155points

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30 People Debunk The Worst Life Hacks They’ve Heard I always see people on reddit say that coworkers are not friends and to not develop friendships with them. Why? That's literally the worst advice I've seen parrotted here. Like don't be a degenerate in front of them but developing friendly relationships with the people you see for a 1/4 of your life is normal and not problematic.

MasterVader420 , Jopwell / pexels Report

Final score:

140points

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30 People Debunk The Worst Life Hacks They’ve Heard Any kind of "cleanse" diet or item. Your body already does that. Colonics, shakes, fasts, etc don't "cleanse" anything better than what your actual biology can do.

hovermole , Toni Cuenca / pexels Report

Final score:

134points

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30 People Debunk The Worst Life Hacks They’ve Heard That b******t one about how we've all been "opening bananas wrong" because we don't do it upside down like chimps. It literally doesn't f*****g matter. The banana opens easily the way I do it and I'm going to keep doing it that way.

Aquatico_ , KoolShooters / pexels Report

Final score:

124points

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30 People Debunk The Worst Life Hacks They’ve Heard No Pain - No Gain.
Pain is the body's way of telling you that you are damaged.

nevermindaboutthaton , Eduardo Romero / pexels Report

Final score:

111points

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30 People Debunk The Worst Life Hacks They’ve Heard Sleeping less for success. Sleeping less and hustle more can lead into burnout, health issues, cognitive function. Sleep in essential for mental health and well being of a person.

Conscious_Permit_703:

The 'just sleep less' advice to be more productive is terrible. Lack of sleep affects health and focus, making you less efficient in the long run.

RavishingMistressVib , pvproductions / freepik Report

Final score:

108points

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30 People Debunk The Worst Life Hacks They’ve Heard "Just wake up at 5 AM and your life will be fixed!" Nah, I’ve tried it, and all I got was more tired and cranky 😂

ChevalierA , Miriam Alonso / pexels Report

Final score:

99points

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30 People Debunk The Worst Life Hacks They’ve Heard Repeating constantly "Leave out of your comfort zone". Not everyone wants to leave it and some people work very hard to have a safe space and confort.

Some people just want to settle and it's fair.

CosmicChronicler9041 , Alex Green / pexels Report

Final score:

95points

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#10

30 People Debunk The Worst Life Hacks They’ve Heard Do not put your toaster sideways to make cheese toast as some lifehacks suggest. It is a fire hazard.

TheBassMeister , 4fmpb311cf Report

Final score:

91points

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#11

30 People Debunk The Worst Life Hacks They’ve Heard **"Multitasking makes you more productive."**

Actually, multitasking tends to make you worse at everything you’re trying to do. You end up scattered, doing a mediocre job on each thing instead of really focusing and excelling at one task. If you need to get stuff done, block out distractions and tackle things one at a time.

LyannaLL , Mizuno K / pexels Report

Final score:

86points

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#12

30 People Debunk The Worst Life Hacks They’ve Heard "Always carry a small balance on your credit card to build credit"

No. Paying off your debts consistently builds credit.

jeffbarge , Anete Lusina / pexels Report

Final score:

80points

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#13

30 People Debunk The Worst Life Hacks They’ve Heard I saw one the other day that said if you are lost in an unfamiliar location needing rescue and your battery is about to die, change your voicemail to include your approximate location. Then people who call will be able to determine where you are after listening to the voicemail.

Things that are very wrong with this advice:
* Many people can go days without getting a phone call.
* It you don’t answer the phone, most people probably won’t listen to the voicemail greeting.

What you should do, if possible, is send one of your contacts your approximate location. GPS coordinates work. And always call 911.

GreenGrandmaPoops , Kamaji Ogino / pexels Report

Final score:

67points

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#14

30 People Debunk The Worst Life Hacks They’ve Heard Drinking Lemon Water for Detox. While lemon water can be refreshing, the body already has efficient detoxification systems (like the liver).

Due-Degree137 , Julia Zolotova / pexels Report

Final score:

60points

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#15

30 People Debunk The Worst Life Hacks They’ve Heard Any food hack that wants you to get sugar boiling hot and then spin it with a whisk in the air to make strings or says it'll turn into fairy floss or some such.

You will burn yourself, and getting it off your skin is difficult because it's sugar. And they always aim it at gd teenagers.

Howtocookthat on youtube has a lot of the food related ones and explains why they're dangerous or don't work.

EdithTheBat , The_Viewerhere Report

Final score:

56points

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#16

30 People Debunk The Worst Life Hacks They’ve Heard That putting bicarb soda down your drain will unblock it. It doesn't do s**t.
Source: I'm a plumber and I'll charge you more as it makes it harder to clear the waste or drain.

alfredhospital , HomeSpot HQ / pexels Report

Final score:

54points

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#17

30 People Debunk The Worst Life Hacks They’ve Heard Dressing like security or maintenance to gain access to restricted areas of events and venues. this could endanger the safety of others if an actual emergency occurred.

chosonhawk , freepik Report

Final score:

53points

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#18

30 People Debunk The Worst Life Hacks They’ve Heard To "do it anyway" or "do it scared".

Sometimes you do need to get yourself together/calm down before you do something. Like driving.

anon , MART PRODUCTION / pexels Report

Final score:

53points

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#19

30 People Debunk The Worst Life Hacks They’ve Heard The advice I see on Reddit about asking for an itemized receipt is incomplete.

Asking for an itemized receipt does not automatically drop the total cost. Instead, asking for an itemized receipt allows you to identify line items that don't make sense, don't apply to you, or weren't rendered.

For instance, I was charged a materials delivery fee as part of a home renovation project, even though I transported all the materials to my home myself. Since the service was not rendered, I got that cost stricken from my total, but I had to first identify it manually and draw attention to it--it didn't just automatically go away when I asked for the itemized receipt.

ChuushaHime , Brad Montgomery / flickr Report

Final score:

51points

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#20

30 People Debunk The Worst Life Hacks They’ve Heard Putting your phone in rice.

bergg98 , Xcyelm Report

Final score:

50points

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#21

30 People Debunk The Worst Life Hacks They’ve Heard I used to sell mattresses and commonly had customers who believed that the harder their mattress, the better it was for them.
Untrue. If you lay down and you're comfortable, then it's a good mattress. You don't need to sleep on a slab of stone for health benefits.

Also, it's a pain, but turning your mattress every now and them is good for it's long term health.

hetep-di-isfet , Max Vakhtbovycn / pexels Report

Final score:

48points

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#22

30 People Debunk The Worst Life Hacks They’ve Heard Drinking cod liver oil to induce labour is never a good idea. It can make the baby poop inutero.

'I did it and it worked for me.' Good for you. You are lucky. A percentage of babies aren't so lucky and they inhale the poop and get very sick or worse.

Idobeleiveinkarma , athriftymrs.com / flickr Report

Final score:

48points

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#23

30 People Debunk The Worst Life Hacks They’ve Heard The whole "freeze a wet sponge for an ice pack that won't drip" is wrong on every level. If the sponge is saturated, it will absolutely drip as it melts. If it was only damp, it won't drip so much, but it also won't have much thermal mass and thus won't delivery much cold. Either way, it will be a stiff rectangle that won't conform to the body part you need chilled. So many things make much better ice packs, including the classic of ice cubes in a plastic bag.

BranwynOfTheTower , Handicapreader Report

Final score:

46points

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#24

30 People Debunk The Worst Life Hacks They’ve Heard Vinegar and baking soda is not a cleanser.

mapetitechoux , trenttsd / flickr Report

Final score:

39points

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#25

30 People Debunk The Worst Life Hacks They’ve Heard Freezing hard drives: Risky. Better to use professional services.
Lemon juice as sunscreen: Bad idea. Use real sunscreen.
Coffee to sober up: Just a myth. Only time works.

No_Article690 , Collectibl3 Report

Final score:

38points

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#26

30 People Debunk The Worst Life Hacks They’ve Heard Using Dawn dish soap on kittens to kill fleas. It doesn’t work. It’s a hoax. Even Dawn said it doesn’t kill fleas.

MerlinsMomma2024 , Specialist_Ad9150 Report

Final score:

35points

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#27

30 People Debunk The Worst Life Hacks They’ve Heard The saying "it will come when you least expect it", you have to look and fight for what you want.

Vegetable_Ad_7940 , Julia M Cameron / pexels Report

Final score:

28points

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#28

30 People Debunk The Worst Life Hacks They’ve Heard Mix vinegar and bicarb in a spray bottle for the most effective cleaner - enjoy cleaning with salt water. The effective part is the reaction of mixing the two, not the resultant solution.

Cadythemathlete , cottonbro studio / pexels Report

Final score:

27points

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#29

30 People Debunk The Worst Life Hacks They’ve Heard Stop applying lemon on your face thinking its gonna heal your acne and pigmentation! and for gods sake putting random food in your hair!! It's better to just eat that food instead.

LOLED_AKAASI , RDNE Stock project / pexels Report

Final score:

18points

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#30

30 People Debunk The Worst Life Hacks They’ve Heard The idea that drinking cold water burns calories comes from the fact that your body uses energy to heat the water to body temperature, but the amount is minimal (around 8 calories per glass).

verykitty05 , RDNE Stock project / pexels Report

Final score:

14points

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#31

30 People Debunk The Worst Life Hacks They’ve Heard It's ok to wipe your eye glasses with your shirt, TP or paper towels. No that s**t can still scratch the lenses and you should use the cloth that came with your glasses instead.

Themodssmelloffarts , Polina Tankilevitch / pexels Report

Final score:

14points

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#32

30 People Debunk The Worst Life Hacks They’ve Heard Using toothpaste to clean or remove scratches from surfaces (like phones or cars).

DevotedResidency , DreaminginDarkness Report

Final score:

10points

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#33

30 People Debunk The Worst Life Hacks They’ve Heard Tell the truth 99% of the time. Then when you have that credibility, you can lie and people will believe you.

Narrow_Cattle6428 , Jack Sparrow / pexels Report

Final score:

9points

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#34

They can be bad in what people often do with them, even if the theory is good.

For example, big batch meal prep *can be* bad for your health by reducing the variety of foods people consume and by slightly increasing food hygiene risk as meals are prepared, cooled, stored and reheated.

Done well though, for many people, it can actually increase the quality and variety of what they eat. It’s all in the execution not the theory.

LanewayRat Report

Final score:

7points

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#35

Storing the next trashbag in the bottom of the trashcan. F*****g nasty.

ScreamingLightspeed Report

Final score:

6points

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#36

That whole : ask your doctor to put it in your chart and then they'll do whatever you want.

I'm a doctor. Just no. All the chart is for is a record of what we did to be billing insurance for in the appointment. If your request doesn't line up with your symptoms, we are well within our rights to deny it. And considering the chart isn't for negative diagnostic loops, we don't have to put that our patient asked for some unrelated medicine, test, or thing.

That won't get you any resolution unless your doctor was already a people-pleaser to begin with.

will0593 Report

Final score:

6points

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#37

30 People Debunk The Worst Life Hacks They’ve Heard "Just drink more water" seems to be the universal answer for everything!

Lord--Shadow , freepik Report

Final score:

5points

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#38

30 People Debunk The Worst Life Hacks They’ve Heard Put your phone in the microwave to charge it faster.

hengjurmg , ultowich Report

Final score:

5points

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#39

Leidenfrost effect for stainless steel pans.

Causes more problems than it solves if all the posts complaining about how people keep burning their food is anything to go by.

giantpunda Report

Final score:

1point

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#40

People talk about the advice of cleaning as you cook, and while it’s not a bad idea, I think it has some drawbacks:

There are hot surfaces, and washing pans with water immediately when they’re hot is bad. After eating, you still have to wash the plates, glasses, and utensils... I don’t see many advantages compared to cleaning after eating, or if you have a dishwasher, it’s much more convenient and uses less water.

It’s fine, cleaning while cooking has its advantages, but people talk about it as if it’s a game changer and almost as if it’s foolish to do it any other way, when there are several reasons not to. To each their own.

SorryForMyEnglish Report

Final score:

1point

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#41

30 People Debunk The Worst Life Hacks They’ve Heard Sucking in your stomach to lose weight, it actually damages your insides

capsicum10282 , Photo By: Kaboompics.com / pexels Report

Final score:

-26points

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What are some commonly recommended life hacks which are actually bad?

Roxy222uk 3 weeks ago

Where on earth are people getting all these c**p ideas from?? I've never heard of almost all of them and they are almost all clearly complete c.r.a.p.

15points

Angela C 3 weeks ago

TikTok

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Alexandra Nara 3 weeks ago

while reading this..my cat came to me with a slight satisfied burp and got liquid beside me. she just don't care how I open food,as long we eat it.She has no needs to gain muscles with pain,she don't want to impress or carry her boxes-she just stretches and go for a walk if the weather pleases her. She strays in her comfort zone and right now her look tells me to chill because we lay here with food in the belly ,so who cares for all this stupidity,just rub my belly We should listen more to cats ..they know catZen

Julia Ford 3 weeks ago

I don’t know what this has to do with the topic but yeah agree.

3points

e gads 3 weeks ago

More than half of these were jokes

Comment Deleted 3 weeks ago

Good lord some of these were idiotic. Do people no longer have common sense.

Mike F 3 weeks ago

Oh, but I read it on the internet! /s We actually had a driver who would spout the dumbest $hit and (after we quit laughing) asked him where did he get that nonsense, his pat answer was "I read it on the internet". What a dolt.

BrunoVI 3 weeks ago

Came to read debuned hacks; found instead terrible advice which flies in the face of everything anyone ever said on the topic.

2points

Svenne O'Lotta 3 weeks ago

Nah, the worst hack has to be begging your readers for money to return a feature THAT WE ALWAYS HAD. You want money for regurgitating Reddit cràp? Bunch of pathetic losers, the lot of you.

Gonbei Nanashino 3 weeks ago

I know one hack save lots of money on holiday gifts!!! Just tell them how much you love and care about them, and maybe hugs!! And buy yourself something really nice!! Like health insurance!! Disclaimer: this hack will alienate you from your loved ones.

0points

30 People Debunk The Worst Life Hacks They’ve Heard

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