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![“What’s A Life Hack That’s So Simple, [But] People Don’t Know About It? (47 Answers)](https://www.boredpanda.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/simple-effective-life-hacks-fb-65942c2caed4d-png__700.jpg)
Everyone loves a good life hack, right? Especially when you can finally make your life a little bit easier by simply using them. You may save some time, materials and more easily deal with things that constantly make you nervous. For example, I believe quite a few of us have struggled with the garlic smell on our hands after cooking a meal. Well, apparently touching stainless steel can remove it easily. Or did you know an easier way to remove gum from the carpet? Basically, you can put a bag filled with ice cubes on top of the gum and wait for approximately thirty minutes. Once the gum is solid, break it apart and extract it from the carpet.
Well, one Reddit user recently posed a question asking folks online to share a life hack that's so simple yet so effective that it shocks them that more people don't know about it. So scroll through them, upvote your favorites and share your easy life hacks below!
More info: Reddit
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
From working technical support for longer than I dare think about, most angry customers just want to be heard. Let them have their rant, do active listening, and make notes about what they're saying. They will eventually run out of steam. Then, read back everything they talked about and go through it step by step. Works almost every time, and often they are very thankful by the end of the call.
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#2
My grandmother always said that if you feel terrible, get out of bed, take a shower, do your hair and put on clothes, down to your shoes, and have a good meal. Either this will fix it or you're dressed and fed and in a better place to deal with the problem.
She was right.
Couragetcd 11 months ago
This is very good advise for those of us able to do so. If you can't do it today, don't stress yourself more about it.
#3
To increase your peace of mind don't waste your time arguing with random strangers on internet.
#4
If you're putting together furniture, leave all the screws a little loose.
Finish the whole thing.
Place it where its going to be.
Wiggle it so it settles into place.
THEN tighten all the bolts. No wobble!
#5
When looking at recipes online, click the print link. This cuts out the unnecessary backstory and random musings. You can also save the recipe as a PDF to your computer or even just the link to the printable version.
#6
If ordering something online, since places can fake a good review, only read the negative reviews, a bunch of complaining about shipping/damaged items/trivial s**t is good, where as multiple broke in the first week/won't charge/leaks means the product is s**t.
Keith Lancaster 11 months ago
No. Some people place negative reviews for stupid reasons. We had a holiday in Turkey a few years ago and one guy slated the place because they didn't have bacon for breakfast. It's a Muslim country. be an adult and make your own mind up.
#7
Always write down momentarily good ideas. Don’t lean on your memory
Couragetcd 11 months ago
So so true. I've lost more good ideas than I probably have left in my lifetime
#8
Percentages are reversible. Working out 4% of 50 will give you the same result as 50% of 4
#9
If you want a comfortable pair of high heels, invest in a pair of dance heels.
Lots of beautiful designs and colors, designed to be flexible and comfortable. Worth every penny.
Just make sure they’re not felt-soled if you plan on wearing them outdoors. A good quality pair from a company like Repetto are worth getting rubber-soled if they aren’t already.
Your feet will thank you.
ETA: So glad some of you found this helpful. My mother has permanent foot deformation from wearing heels daily since 1977 and my discovery of wearing dance heels was born out of my desire to look elegant but avoid pain and disfigurement!
#10
I’m going to give two tips.
1- “no.” Is a full sentence and the only needed response to many requests or questions. Stop feeling the need explain yourself. Occasionally I reply with no thank you, and end the conversation. Also effective.
2- I love a clean and tidy house but can be a procrastinator. When it’s time to get things done writhe house, I set my timer for one hour and clean the whole time. You’d be surprised how much you will get done in one single hour!
#11
There's a Youtube video showing how to do that thing you don't know how to do.
#12
Completely cut out 24 hour hyper partisan propaganda news and your stress and anxiety levels immediately like halve, turns out it’s all horses**t designed to make you angry and unhappy
Couragetcd 11 months ago
Ground.com is my new source for news. It's interesting how even the most innocent subjects still get spun differently by the left and right. Really not trying to solicited for them, promise! I haven't paid them anything yet and they'll never pay me
#13
Buy a bunch of the same style and color socks and you never have to match socks again. I have a drawer with just socks, and every time I reach in and grab two...I have a pair of matching socks. Game changer.
#14
Library cards are worth their weight in gold.
My physical library comes with (mostly for free)
* Tool rentals
* laptop rentals
* studio rental space (video cameras, audio equipment)
* 3D printer usage in library
* woodshop
* sewing kits
* free classes
* This with the usual book rentals
Digitally/web-wise, my library card comes with
* Digital movie checkout
* Hoopla
* Libby
* kanopy
* Free subscription to skillshare
* Free subscription to linkedin learning (lynda if you're old)
* free ebook app
* free online courses (very limited though)
* Udemy
* Language learning apps
* Virtual Workshops
Along with other community events for people of all ages. Everyone should get a library card.
*Edit to add other prominent features mentioned*
Couragetcd 11 months ago
My library does not come with all of this. It does come with a kid's section where my 7 actually remembers he needs to be quiet though, and that is more rare and valuable than gold.
#15
If you get something that comes with a unique charger/power cable, label it with what it’s for.
Lydsylou (she/her) 11 months ago
And if you have toddlers dont leave anything charging on a unique charger anywhere near the floor because then you won't be able to charge your BRAND NEW SMART WATCH for 2 MONTHS while you hunt for the charger they put IN A WASHING POWDER BOX
#16
If you have an itchy mosquito bite, hear up a spoon under semi-hot water (like 45-50°C), dry it off and tap or press it on the bite. Just as short as you can tolerate it but also as long as possible.
The heat dissolves the protein that makes the mosquito bite itch.
Couragetcd 11 months ago
Hmm, I wonder if that would work for me. I'm allergic to mosquito bites to the point they react like a spider bite and have to be lanced.
#17
When driving for long periods. Turn off recirculating air. One of the reasons you get tired in the car is not from lack of sleep but from too much co2 in the car. You ever been so tired driving home and when you get home you’re no longer tired. It’s because of lack of oxygen in the car. Especially if you have passengers in the car.
Ace 11 months ago
Recirculating can also lead to misting up on damp conditions. Really I'd only ever use it when it's very smelly outside or very hot where it uses less power to keep the air cool than to re-cool it coming from outside all the time. But yeah, open a window occasionally if you are, just to let some fresh air in.
#18
Hack 1: When you paint a room and remove the light switch plate, on the inside of the plate write down the color of the paint you used and the brand. Great for when you need to repaint a spot a couple of years later.
Hack 2: After you wash and dry a set of sheets, put the top sheet, bottom sheet and pillow case all inside of one of the pillow cases. Then you have the whole set together in one neat little package and don't have to look for matching sheets and pillow cases.
MrsFettesVette 11 months ago
Or (in reference to the sheet sets) don't buy "sets", buy the sheets you need separately but in coordinating colors. Same goes for pillow cases. Then you don't have to worry about keeping a set together.
#19
Spend an hour finding something in your house? When you are done with it put it in the first place you looked.
#20
Never gossip no matter how much you dislike a person. It can be really helpful in particular at work when that person you dislike and you consider to be dumber to actually save your a*s in certain situation rather than have him/her as your rival.
I keep receiving gossips from various colleagues about others and always pretend to never know anything while I know lots of details and I agree with many of these sometimes.
This is really helpful in your career being neutral and have people not being against you.
Stephanie Did It 11 months ago
When someone offers to share a bit of juicy gossip, my response is always "Please don't tell me anything about X that I can't share with them." Shuts down that conversation instantly, plus it tells them I won't gossip about them either.
#21
If your bed is tucked into a corner or against a wall, but there is still like a 2 inch gap where your remote, glasses, game controller, etc can fall down between the bed and the wall, buy a pool noddle and shove it down into that gap. It'll stop anything that tries to slide down into that PITA gap there.
You can also cut one to size and shove it between your driver's seat and the center console to stop your phone or keys from falling into That PITA gap.
#22
I am extremely organized except where my keys were concerned. I lost them several times a week. Then I saw the comedian Jon Richardson saying that people with keys are "putters" or "leavers" I was a leaver, leaving my keys lying around so i decided to be a putter. As soon as I get in i PUT my keys straight into my bag. It seems so stupid but it totally works and has saved me a lot of stress!
#23
Casseroles provide far more servings with far less cost and effort of many other dishes.
Jennik 11 months ago
Add volume to your casseroles by including a lot more vegetables than most recipes call for. Carrots are especially versatile. You can add loads and they give the casserole/stew a bit of sweetness whilst taking on the flavours of the dish. I used to dislike cooked carrots but now use them all the time. My family always asks me to add more of them and, as they are currently one of the cheapest vegetables, I'm happy to oblige. Canned beans (any sort - white, black, kidney etc) are also great for extending casseroles and making them a more complete meal without extra dishes or prep.
#24
Store cans of baked beans upside down so you don't have to scrape them out the bottom when you open the can.
#25
If you need to go to the bathroom in the night, cover one eye whilst you have the light on. Then when you turn the light off, you have one eye in night mode so you can still see where you're going.
#26
After making ramen that is presumably boiling hot, add frozen peas to cool it down and increase your veg count for the day.
This is also the perfect way to cook frozen peas (quickly so as to not leech out all the sugars).
Other frozen veg can be added as well/instead of but some of them actually need cooking for a number of minutes which just won't be done in the bowl of ramen.
Erik Rydbom 11 months ago
Since I was gifted with a meat slicer, I have been slicing thin pieces of beef to add to my ramen along with onion, jalapeno, and mushrooms. I jokingly call it "poor man's pho" and I absolutely love it.
#27
The 5 minute rule - If you have something that needs doing, and it can be accomplished in 5 minutes, or less, then why not do it immediately?
Littlebunnyfufu 11 months ago
Because I have 200 other things that also only take 5 minutes...
#28
Sick of losing socks in the laundry? Wash them in one of those mesh garment bags. I never lose them and it’s so much easier to put them away when you’re only sorting through them out of the bag than across the whole pile of shirts and whatever else out of the dryer.
Robert Trebor 11 months ago
I also put my sheets in mesh bags. One sheet per bag. That way they cannot gather other stuff up into a ball that stays wet.
#29
Do you have children that have yet to lose their teeth? 1) decide what the tooth fairy will leave under their pillow (half dollar, $2 bill, etc.) 2) go to the bank and get at least 20. Your kiddos teeth will fall out at the most random/inconvenient times 😬…doing this will have you prepared.
Bored Trash Panda 11 months ago
We did this with special coins like half dollars, Susan b Anthony's, gold dollars. Now he loves collecting special coins and has a ton of them that people have given him from all over.
#30
The act of showing up, again and again and again.
We all want to do new stuff, or get better at things, or master something etc.
So we start, we try some, and then we quit because its not easy or the results are not showing up fast enough.
My take - if its something you really want — you just need to show up to it, whatever it is, again and again and again.
You WILL get better at it, and at some point, things will get easier and the returns will start to compound.
Show up and do your best, again and again and again, and if you flop around, fail at it for a time — good - that’s part of the process, the bump in the road you have to work around, or thru, to get to where you want.
It’s life, forging you, molding you, into that YOU that you want to be.
El Dee 11 months ago
I would say that you must be perfectly willing to fail. I once went on a course where I was struggling and said to someone on our break. She was glad she wasn't the only one who felt like that and was happy to share that she felt the same. I struggled but managed to pass, but the lady I spoe to on our break never came back - she was scared she would fail..
#31
Stainless steel can remove the smell of garlic from your hands. When you rub your hands on stainless steel, the sulfur compounds in garlic bind to the steel's surface, transferring the smell to the metal.
#32
If you're making coffee in an automatic drip coffee maker, especially a cheap one, leaving a little bit of water in the carafe (about an ounce ir so) will significantly improve the flavor.
It prevents the first bit of brewed coffee from becoming scorched from the hot plate and flavoring the entire pot.
#33
Create a routine for BEFORE exercise. I do the exact same things every time I go to the gym. When I'm not motivated, those little pre workout habits just trigger me into action.
#34
When you finish a bath or shower, before toweling off, rub your hands over your body like a windshield wiper in a car to get off excess water. You brush off a ton of water, meaning there's a lot less to towel off after and less dripping into the floor. Takes only a few seconds and keeps your bathroom from getting soaked while you dry yourself with a towel.
Couragetcd 11 months ago
Other options include towelling off mostly before getting out plus these new fangled things called bathmats.
#35
Hang dry your shirts inside out to avoid the little shoulder horns.
What do you think ?
Janet Howe 11 months ago
I really enjoyed these. Lots of good tips. Had a lot of laughs, too. But I've forgotten a lot of these already.
Ricardo Ferreira 11 months ago
Machiavellian life hack: if you have a bunch of thing to donate, give one of them at a time. If you give them all at the same time, the place where you donate will forget you. Give a few of them once or twice a month, and people will remember you and treat you better, give you discounts when you buy there etc. It's better for YOU to be a constant benefactor of some place than to be a once-in-a-lifetime benefactor.
D. Pitbull 11 months ago
I like the way you think! *furiously scribbling down tip to put on post-it notes everywhere*
Load More Replies...
mhoulden 11 months ago
Life hack: you can find out about so many more life hacks if you look out for "handy hints" and "top tips" columns.
General Anaesthesia 11 months ago
To their credit, though, BP didn't call them 'mind blowing' this time.
Load More Replies... Janet Howe 11 months ago
I really enjoyed these. Lots of good tips. Had a lot of laughs, too. But I've forgotten a lot of these already.
Ricardo Ferreira 11 months ago
Machiavellian life hack: if you have a bunch of thing to donate, give one of them at a time. If you give them all at the same time, the place where you donate will forget you. Give a few of them once or twice a month, and people will remember you and treat you better, give you discounts when you buy there etc. It's better for YOU to be a constant benefactor of some place than to be a once-in-a-lifetime benefactor.
D. Pitbull 11 months ago
I like the way you think! *furiously scribbling down tip to put on post-it notes everywhere*
Load More Replies... mhoulden 11 months ago
Life hack: you can find out about so many more life hacks if you look out for "handy hints" and "top tips" columns.
General Anaesthesia 11 months ago
To their credit, though, BP didn't call them 'mind blowing' this time.
Load More Replies...
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