Life Hacks That Will Make You Feel Like You’ve Got Some Parts Of Your Life Under Control
To those out there who have their life together, I salute you. For the rest of us, we welcome any tip or trick to help us make the day a little easier. No one ever warns you that in the midst of balancing a career, friends, family, and maintaining your sanity, that you also have to learn on your own how to remove deodorant stains from your clothes. They should really have a class in high school on how to organize your e-mails.
For those of you who also didn't grow up with an innate knowledge of how to avoid ruining your brand new jeans, or how to speed up your cooking, here are some actually useful life hacks that we're sure you'll adopt ASAP.
Dryer Sheets Are Your Best Friend
Dryer sheets are the unspoken hero of your workweek. First of all, they stop the frizz in your hair without weighing it down with products. Keep a small box of sheets in your purse, or you can press a sheet into your hairbrush and be frizz-free for life.
What else can dryer sheets do? Everything. Shoes smell bad? Stick a dryer sheet in overnight. Have a greasy pan you can't clean? Soak the pan in water and a dryer sheet and it wipes away. Users online have even sworn that dryer sheets are the best way to get dead bugs off your car.
Need Some Monday Motivation?
Life hacks are meant to give you more time in your day for doing things you love, like getting up and doing that morning workout you know you should be. One small life hack that makes that easier is sleeping in your gym clothes. Many people swear that this is one hack they use to avoid making excuses when their alarm goes off.
Plus, you won't have to worry about extra laundry from your pajamas. There's nothing to think about when you get up like what to wear, and who cares if you wore it to bed because you're about to get sweaty anyway.
Don't Lose Track Of Time
Most of us love to press that snooze button until the last possible minute, but that means that the mornings can end up on a tight schedule. One way to avoid this is taking five minutes the night before to curate the perfect playlist. Music is shown to wake you up and put you in a positive mood, but exploit this fact by making your playlist the length of time you have to get ready in the morning.
By the third or fourth day, you'll know that once your playlist is over, you should be finishing breakfast and on your way out the door. This is an easy way to build a habit and get to dance while you do it. Who knew repurposing this common item can help declutter the most annoying household object.
Avoid Unexpected Shopping Sprees
One way scientists have proved you can spend less is by not touching anything while you shop. Apparently touching an item enacts what is called the "endowment effect." This means that most people value a product more once they own it. So if you pick up an item, you feel more of a connection to it then are more likely to buy it.
While shopping centers may be becoming a thing of the past thanks to online shopping, many of us still love to take a trip to the mall to treat ourselves or unwind. But that trip can become a lot more stressful when you accidentally spend way too much, so keep it stress-free by keeping your hands off.
Giving A Gift On A Budget
With so many of us at different financial stages in our lives, it can be a lot of pressure not to buy a "cheap gift" for an event. One way to avoid this feeling is by taking the time and finding a really good card. Studies have shown that adding a card to a gift can make it seem more personal and thoughtful, no matter the price or quality of the gift.
It seems like life can be a neverending cycle of birthdays, holidays, anniversaries, baby showers, and every other event that includes finding the perfect gift. At least a cute card will make the candle you bought seem a lot nicer.
Stop Finding Bobby Pins On Every. Single. Surface.
One way to keep your bobby pins in check is to repurpose an old Tic-Tac container. The container will easily store your bobby pins and let you take out one at a time. Not only is it a good way to stay organized at home, it's an easy way to take your bobby pins on the go and avoid a bobby pin graveyard at the bottom of your bag.
No one knows how they find their way onto every surface of the house, but they do. They're basically the adult version of toddler fingerprints. Continue reading to figure out a cheap and eco-friendly way to make your entire house smell good.
Finally Achieve Some Sort Of Closet Organization
Most people have limited closet space, which means items like purses, scarves, and belts can often find their way onto the floor. One budget-friendly way to avoid the closet clutter is buying shower hooks to hang your items off of. Hang them right off your closet bar, or add a small towel rack to one of your walls.
Most of us can only dream of owning an IKEA storage closet unit, but in the meantime, we must make due with the two-door closet and dresser. By using this shower hook hack, it will at least give the appearance that we've got some sort of organization.
Never Forget Your Lunch Again
Is there anything worse than forgetting your lunch after you finally took the time to make it the night before? One easy way to combat this is put an item you never forget on top of your lunch, like putting your car keys on top of your sandwich container.
Not only will this life hack stop you from being disappointed when you get to work, but it will also save you money, as you won't have to eat out as often because of a simple early-morning mistake.
Banish Bad Smells Without Chemicals
While Febreeze is the easy way to rid your house of odor, it is essentially spraying a can of chemicals into the air and onto all the surfaces of your household. An easy, environmentally friendly, way of combatting bad smells is by placing tea bags where it smells. Whether it be a closet, gym bag, shoes, car trunk, or fridge, adding a teabag will release the scent of tea, but the bag also captures the bad scent. Apparently dry, green tea leaves work best.
Teabags are also as useful as dryer sheets. Depending on the tea, they can be used to rid puffy skin and reduce under-eye circles. Learn how to get rid of these annoying things and keep that sweater looking brand new.
Wash Delicates Without A Trip To The Dry-Cleaner
Dry that cashmere sweater in a pinch by taking it for a go it in your salad spinner. It sounds weird at first, but it makes sense when you think about it. Not only does it dry your delicate garment quickly and safely, but it avoids are stretching or misshaping that can occur when your hang-dry an item. It also avoids a possibly pricey and definitely time-consuming trip to the dry cleaners.
Plus, the salad spinner gifted to you by your mom will finally get some use.
Speed Up All Your Cooking
Dryer sheets, teabags, and now salt. Salt is one of those things that once you master all its useful life hacks, it can literally help you in every aspect of your kitchen-life. Adding salt to water, or coating a bottle with salt-water, can make it freeze faster. This is because salt lowers the freezing point of water.
Salt can also stop oil and grease from popping in your frying pan. By adding a little salt, it disperses heat more evenly throughout the pan.
Don't Throw Out That Old Sweater
Pilling is the easiest way to ruin that sweater you love dearly. A pill — or bobble, fuzzball, lint ball, etc — will form over time when a garment is worn frequently., Basically all fabrics pill and no one ever teaches you how to get rid of them. A simple life hack to revamp your favorite garment is to take an old razor and carefully scrape them off.
Even though it can be time-consuming, it beats trying to replicate that favorite item. Just make sure to be careful not to cut yourself when removing the pills from the razor blades. Keep reading to find out the easiest way not to fumble with your keys when you get home.
Clean Out That Junk Folder For Good
No one likes marketing e-mails but we all get hundreds of them a month. A simple way to cleanse your e-mail without having to search through all the important e-mail addresses is to search "unsubscribe" in your toolbar. This will bring up all marketing e-mails that have an unsubscribe option at the bottom, and the cleanse will be much easier.
They always get you with that "20% off one item when you subscribe to our e-mailing service" but when you sign up for 30 different e-mails... it's a little overwhelming.
Untangle Your Wires
It seems like there are a million products and life hacks out there for items to keep your wires, chains, and strings from getting tangled, but somehow they still manage to weave themselves together. Use the kitchen product cornstarch to easily untangle these items.
The cornstarch will reduce oils that often contribute to knots, and stop the items from rubbing together. Sprinkle cornstarch over the knot and then lay them out on a flat surface to quickly untangle.
Never Use The Wrong Key Again
Rather than go get a new key cut with a different pattern or style, use nail polish to decorate the tops of each key. Not only will you add some life to your keychain, there will be no more sifting through six different round, silver keys. Upgrade this hack further by using glow in the dark nail polish for keys you may need to find in the dark, such as your house key.
Nail polish can also be used to help differentiate wine glasses by painting a ring around each stem, or phone chargers so no one ever steals yours again. If you're in a pinch getting a dress, this life hack will save you time and keep you looking fresh.
Keep Cookies Fresh, For Emotional Support
With all the things to juggle during a day, the last thing you want is to worry about the cookies at home going stale. Many people know the trick to keep brown sugar from going stale, and the same thing works for baked goods. Add a slice of apple to your cookie jar and you'll be guaranteed fresh cookies whenever you need them.
Adding a slice of bread to the jar is also said to help keep the moisture in. Some have even placed an apple slice or slice of bread on top of a cake to keep it moist before icing it.
Don't Worry About Overwashing Your Jeans
Retailers have long terrified us on how to take care of jeans. Some say they're fine to wash, others say that washing too frequently will make them lose their color and shape. If you're like me and worried about over-washing your jeans, but still want to get rid of any smells, place your jeans in the freezer overnight and they'll be good as new.
Apparently, this easy life hack works for more than just jeans. Many people also put smelly shoes in the freezer to get rid of the smell. Hopefully, the smell of the clothing doesn't sink into any of the food in there.
Never Have To Change Because Of Wrinkled Clothes Again
It is rare for people to have the time or space to set out an ironing board and iron out the small wrinkles in their clothes. If you need a quick fix and own a flat iron, you can use this to easily press your collar. The tables have truly turned since the 1970's where women used irons to straighten their hair and not their clothes.
Have a garment that is covered in wrinkles that can't simply be flat-ironed? Mist the item with water and blow dry out the wrinkles. Your hair products can go a long way.
Prevent Your Sideview Mirror From Freezing
It can be difficult enough to arrive on time with traffic and the rest of the daily grind but having to scrape ice off your car is the pits. Prevent your side view mirrors from freezing with this hack.
Use a ziplock bag and rubber bands or tape to cover your mirror and secure it, once you're parked. This will prevent the condensation sitting on your mirror and causing it to freeze over when the temperature drops.
Putting Aspirin In The Laundry Helps Remove Stains
People have found that Aspirin helps remove clothing stains and can help brighten the appearance of clothes, bringing them back to their former glory. So if you have clothing that has seen brighter days, lighten them up using this trick!
Put the laundry in the washing machine and throw in around five tablets of Aspirin along with it. Fill with hot water and set it to soak for 1-2 hours. Make sure all of the Aspirin tablets dissolve. Then, drain and run the laundry through a wash cycle as you normally would.
Be Able To Concentrate On Adult Tasks, Like Taxes
When your brain is ready to be shut off and done for the day, concentrating on tasks outside of work can be difficult. Studies have shown that listening to music will help you concentrate, but only if it's not music you really like. If you listen to one of your favorite artists and songs, it can actually be distracting, as most people are likely to sing along rather than concentrate on their work.
Whether it's getting the grocery list together or finally doing those taxes, listening to an unknown band or instrumental playlist will make you most productive.
Don't Run Away From Runs In Your Pantyhose
Most women utilize two essentially life hacks to help stop this infuriating problem of runs and holes in pantyhose. Spraying your nylons with hairspray after putting them on is an easy way to stop them from ripping. If you do manage to rip them, the tear can be stopped by dabbing clear nail polish at the ends of each run.
While this can never stop the eternal problem of torn nylons, it will certainly help in a pinch. You'd think by now manufacturers would find a way to stop pantyhose from getting runs.
