24 "Wish I Knew This Yesterday" Life Hacks That Changed Everything For The People Who Tried Them
by Hannah Loewentheil · BuzzFeedLife is exhausting, and there's hardly enough time or energy to complete all of the tasks that are required of us. Unfortunately, there is no cheat code to make household chores, paying taxes, and cooking dinner disappear, but there are some tips and tricks that will make these things easier.
Luckily, members of the BuzzFeed Community and Redditors had a lot to say about life hacks. Here are some easy tricks people swear by to massively improve everyday life.
1. "I will say it out loud when I turn stove burners off, unplug my hair straightener, etc. I've found this helps me eliminate those moments where I leave the house or am in bed and I'm suddenly like, 'Did I leave that on?'"
2. "Pour your liquid coffee creamer into your coffee cup BEFORE you pour in the coffee. The coffee pouring stirs up the creamer, so you don't dirty a spoon!"
3. "Instead of scrubbing dishes, fill the sink with water, some dish detergent, and some OxiClean. Let them soak for a while, then just rise. No scrubbing is required. It even takes care of inset stains in plastic."
—Anonymous
4. "For chores that I don't like to do (like washing a big pile of dishes), I set a timer for four minutes and tell myself I will do it for four minutes, and after the time goes off, I can stop if I want to. Just giving myself an out makes it seem less cumbersome. Sometimes I quit after four minutes and pick it up again later, but I just keep going. Getting started is the hardest part."
—Anonymous
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. Store potato chips, tortilla chips, etc., in the freezer, opened or unopened. They will NEVER go stale. They don't freeze —they just get cold."
7. "I have ADHD and children and travel a lot, so I'm prone to the phenomenon of 'I packed four kaleidoscopes and no underwear.' My hack is to choose and lay out every single outfit that I or my kids will need..."
"...Shirt goes on the bottom, layer pants on top, layer undergarments (including socks!) on top, fold in the shirt sleeves, roll the whole thing up, put a rubber band on it, and use a slice of a Post-It Note tucked under the rubber band, labeled with whatever outfit it's for (either by day or occasion). Yes, it's a bit more work upfront, but for me, it's faster than endlessly rifling through my drawers trying to pick stuff only to overpack. And it's SO amazing to get where I'm going and have exactly what I need — not too much, and not forgetting anything. Bonus: These outfit rolls pack like a DREAM in a suitcase, saving so much space, and despite being very type B, I get so much dopamine from the organization!"
8. "I keep chalk markers on the fridge and write the 'throw out' date on anything that is a 'use within X days' product when I open it (shredded cheese, jams, etc.), so I’m never wondering if something is still good."
9. "My grandmother always said that if you feel terrible, get out of bed, shower, do your hair and put on clothes, down to your shoes, and have a good meal. Either this will fix it, or at least you're dressed and fed and in a better place to deal with the problem. She was right."
10. "Read the three and four-star reviews for the most reliable information on Amazon items."
11. "If you have an itchy mosquito bite, heat up a spoon under hot water, dry it off, and tap or press it on the bite. Do this for as long as you can tolerate. The heat dissolves the protein that makes the mosquito bite itch."
12. "Write on the Ziplocs with a magic marker. Put similar things together. It makes the junk drawer much less junky. I do the same thing for the little extras with furniture or appliances: label the Ziploc and store them in a shoebox-sized bin. About every 12 months, I go through the bags and toss anything I no longer need."
13. "Corn starch or baking soda on goopy or oily messes. It helps solidify it a bit, and then it's easier to 'scoop' it up and throw it away."
14. "Get into a routine of stretching your hip flexors and chest if you sit for long periods. It's an absolute game changer for people who suffer from chronic lower back pain as a result of being hunched over a desk."
15. "If you purchase something that comes with a unique charger/power cable, label it with what it’s for."
16. "Always write down momentarily good ideas. Don’t rely on your memory alone."
17. "If you hold bedsheets up to the light, you’ll notice that the fibers all run in one direction. When making the bed, if you put the sheet on with the fibers running horizontally, you’ll never put the sheet on the wrong way again!"
—Anonymous
18. "Sometimes, if I want to remember something in the future, I'll send a text to myself and schedule the text to be delivered to myself on the appropriate date."
19. "Bring Tupperware containers to farmers markets for small, delicate things like berries. Most vendors just bag such things, and then they get smashed."
20. "If you put something down temporarily, say, 'I've put the screwdriver by the microwave' or whatever. This engages many more areas of the brain (particularly the language centers), which creates a richer memory, making it less likely you'll forget where you put it."
21. "Always do a really good cleaning job right before you leave for a trip. There's nothing worse than returning to a dirty home when you're exhausted, and that's on top of all the laundry you'll need to do from your trip."
22. "When I buy sheets, I use a permanent marker and put a big 'X' on the bottom corners of the fitted sheet. Going forward, I always put the sheets on the right way on the first try."
—Carrie, 39