I recently stumbled upon this useful Reddit thread that asked users, "What life hack seems to be fake, but it's a true lifesaver?" I know variations of this question are asked all the time, and some of the same tips appear time and time again. Well, this thread introduced me to some tips that actually surprised me! Here's what people shared:
1. "Put your hard drive in the freezer to get it to spin up one more time. I swear to god I thought it was BS until I was out of options and tried it. The damn thing came back on a few more times, and I got the data off of it that I needed."
"I'm not sure there is a better answer for this question. It is such a goofy solution that shouldn't realistically work. The number of times I've successfully extracted data from a dying drive using this technique is ridiculous. When a good friend of mine gave me this advice over the phone, I remember being genuinely annoyed that he wasn't offering any real guidance. He had 20+ years in IT at that point, and he was my go-to in times of crisis. I was absolutely gobsmacked when it worked. Over the years, I perfected the method by first freezing the drive in a Ziploc bag, then placing it (with all cables connected) into a cooler of ice and water. Occasionally I found lightly tapping on the top right corner of the drive with a hammer allowed me to get over that last hump of extraction."
2. "When you don't know what to gift someone, look through who they follow on Instagram, such as artists, bands, etc. to buy something from them!"
3. "Sniffing rubbing alcohol gets rid of nausea."
"I thought there was a mention that you shouldn't sniff it straight from the bottle since that can be dangerous."
"Yeah, I use the 1"x1" squares for this, and they work beautifully in a pinch!"
"A nurse told me this when I was in the hospital once, and now it is my go-to trick."
4. "Try raising one foot a little off the ground to test how long you can stay awake in class or during a meeting if you're experiencing problems staying awake."
5. "If you're still in an office and are just walking around, always carry a piece of paper and walk briskly. Look at it when a superior is approaching. They'll assume you're on your way to discuss something, the copier, etc."
6. "How to get rid of cold callers at your door or on the phone quickly without being rude. I discovered this by accident. Someone knocked on my door selling a service I already had, and they asked if I'd like to talk about their service. I said, 'Oh, I'm already a customer. I'd love to talk about it.' I was being genuine, too. They could not get away quickly enough, which I thought was odd. Then, it occurred to me that by saying I was a happy customer already, they knew there was zero chance of a sale, so any further time talking to me cost them potential sales."
7. "Many years ago, I had the fans go out on my Macbook, which rendered it nearly unusable. I was pretty strapped at the time and wasn't looking forward to a pricy Apple store repair job, so I went to YouTube to see if there were any fixes. I found a video where some guy said to just punch it a few times above the number key row where the fans were packed in beneath. This felt like a complete troll, but I figured that even if it did further damage, I was going to have to shell out for the repair anyway, so I might as well give it shot. I gave it a few love taps, and sure enough, the fans whirred back to life, and I was back in business. Apparently, what happens is that over time, you get dust, crumbs, and other tiny pieces of debris into the gears of the fans, and they stop spinning. Apparently, bashing them a few times moved the shrapnel out of the way and allowed them to work again. Never had another issue with it the entire rest of the time I owned that computer."
8. "If you have a door that’s sagging because the hinges are screwed into a wood doorframe and screws won’t stay tight, take the screws out of the doorframe, break toothpicks in half, and jam both halves into each hole, then screw the hinge back in. The wood from the toothpick in the compressed space should hold on and keep it from moving again."
"I did this for our loose doorknob. The whole thing wouldn't stay in the wood of the door anymore because it was so old and worn. I removed it completely, pushed a few halved toothpicks in, screwed it back on, and ta-da, it never ripped off again."
9. "Warheads Extreme Sour Candy for when you're panicking. It doesn't solve all your problems, but it does snap you out of the panic for a minute."
10. "If you’re drunk and go to bed and the room is spinning, put one foot out of the bed and on the floor, and it immediately stops the spins."
11. "If you live alone, you should buy an anti-choking device. Some brands are DeChoker, LifeVac, etc. Do some shopping research and pick whatever you see fit. Thousands of people die every year due to choking because of food, liquids, small swallowed objects, etc. People that live by themselves are at a higher risk since usually there is nobody around to assist them. With this apparatus at home, you've got a chance."
12. "Yell at your vacuum cleaner to get your dogs to stop barking at it. Apparently, it helps your dogs realize that you are dominant over the vacuum, so they stop trying to protect you from it. Sounds like BS, but I literally did it once, and it was never a problem again."
"This works! I felt ridiculous telling my vacuum to sit and stay, and saying 'bad boy' in front of my dog. After that, the dog didn't care about the vacuum."
"The opposite works, too. My dogs were scared of a balloon, and I spoke sweetly to it while petting it and saying, 'Good balloon!' They were totally fine with it afterwards."
13. "I like the 'two-minute rule.' If it takes less than two minutes, just do it right now. It greatly helps for people like myself who are prone to procrastinating. Whether it's folding a few shirts, making a phone call, putting away groceries, putting something in the kitchen away, cleaning something, etc. — if you put off trivial, small things, over time, they stack up and all become too overwhelming to do. If you follow the two-minute rule, you will find that you're more organized and there are less annoyances that get in the way of the real things to do."
14. "When calculating how much you're getting paid for your job, include the potential costs you saved from using insurance, transit passes, etc. You might, for example, find a job that pays a bit more in the future, but you could be actually taking a massive reduction if the benefits don't line up."
"When I started at my current job, I took a pretty massive pay cut and still came out further ahead because my current company pays 100% of my benefits for my entire family. The match on the 401k is about the same, but the profit-sharing they put in there when it's a good year puts it massively ahead."
15. "White vinegar is great for washing clothes."
"And removing odors. I used white vinegar on pet bedding and blankets to get rid of the smell."
"Dilute it by half and put it into a spray bottle. Lightly spray the material, let it sit for 90 seconds, then use a cloth or paper towel to give it a rub. The vinegar smell dissipates quickly."
16. "If you hold your car key fob up to your throat, the signal goes farther."
17. "If you have an iPhone, hold down the space bar and you can move the curser all over the screen."
18. "If you are one of the types that gets anxious about leaving the iron on or similar stuff, do this: Remove the plug from the socket, point at it, and say out loud, 'Iron is off.' You WILL remember that you did, in fact, turn it off."
"I used to do this, but the repetitive 'iron off' would become a blur since I did it every day, so it stopped working after a short amount of time. Now, I make funny faces in the mirror every time I turn off my straightening iron. Works like a charm."
"My coworker takes a picture of his stove or door when he leaves for a trip to give himself the reassurance that the things are off, locked, etc."
19. And: "Baking soda is a miracle cleaner and unpleasant odor remover. You can clean ovens, clear up slightly clogged bathroom and kitchen drains, remove grease, remove stinks from furniture and clothing like shoes, etc."
What are some handy tips or tricks that have made your life easier/better? Tell us in the comments!
Note: Submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.