23 properly helpful life hacks that you might actually use (no, seriously)

There’s one life hack we’ve always found especially effective, which is to ignore anything or anyone who goes on about ‘life hacks’.

Except – stick with us – these simple but very effective changes to your daily routine might actually be a good thing.

It all started when Redditor Accomplished-Rough36 asked this.

“What life hack became your daily routine?”

And the suggestions came pouring in. We’ve read all of them – well, quite a few of them – and here are 23 our favourites.

1.

‘Saying “thank you” instead of apologizing for things that dont need apologies. I’m a chronic apologizer and it’s helped a lot.

‘For example, if I have a bad day and vent to my husband, instead of saying “sorry for venting and bringing down the mood” I’ll say “thank you for listening and being supportive.”

‘It puts a much more appreciative and positive light on your relationships!’
thegracefuldork

2.

“Don’t put it down, put it away”
acardy

3.

‘I bought 24 pairs of the same socks and threw the rest of miss matching ones away.

‘I have a couple “winter socks” and that’s it.’

familiarfate01

4.

‘Having a notepad on my pantry door. When I take something out I jot it down voila instant shopping list.’
that_other_goat

5.

‘I stopped doing any kind of work in my dorm room at college and only did it at the libraries. Not only did I become way more productive, but I enjoyed being in my room a lot more.

‘It’s way more comfortable (and easier) to fall asleep when you’ve taken a 15 minute walk home then when you’ve been working at your desk in the same room for 4 hours.’
NoLifeMax

6.

‘Preparing/getting stuff ready the night before. For example:

‘Getting my shoes and putting them by the front of the door

‘Packing my backpack with all the things I’ll need for that day

‘Getting my underwear, shirt, pants, etc. out and folding them in a pile

‘Packing lunch(es) for that day
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‘No more running around in the mornings looking for stuff on a time crunch! It’s become so much less stressful when I know where everything is and I can just get everything (on) and leave.’
KomodoJo3

7.

‘A work from home life hack I adopted was using break time from work to do low mental energy chores.

‘Stuff like dusting furniture and vacuuming the pool is a nice break from the mental energy of working and I’m getting stuff done.’
drakeallthethings

8.

‘Getting all the sleep I need. I noticed a while back how literally everything is better when I am well rested and I don’t care if people make fun of me for sleeping 9h every night.

‘I have never pulled an all nighter in college and when I do hikes that start really early I just go to bed for the night in the late afternoon the day before and still get my sleep.

‘Nothing standing between me and my bed lol.’
vanillax2018

9.

‘Washing dishes while cooking. Now it’s at a point where I just do it because I want a clean kitchen.’

xdevatrox

10.

‘The chef who taught me to cook said at the get go, 90% of cooking is cleaning.’
LAGreggM

11.

‘When I’m trying to sleep in bed at night I go over what I did that day and think of everything I did in a positive light or as if it’s part of a goal I’m working towards.

‘I’ve never been depressed (or at least diagnosed with it!) but this helps feeling like I’ve accomplished something and I can feel better about what I’ve done.

‘Celebrate every little thing you did, and also it helps me fall asleep a little bit faster too.’
anderoogigwhore