What are some life hacks that you practice?
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Confession: my best life hacks are mildly annoying. Each one costs me a minute today and saves me an hour of searching, worrying and apologising tomorrow. Curious which five inconveniences I swear by? They are waiting on the blog.
My Best Life Hacks Make Life Slightly Harder
A life hack, as the internet sells it, is a clever way to skip a step. Peel the garlic by shaking it in a jar; fold the shirt in two seconds. Save time, money, effort and stress. The promise is always subtraction.
Yet when I list the small practices that have genuinely improved my days, I notice something odd. Almost every one of them adds a little effort rather than removing it. They do not skip a step. They insert one, deliberately and early, so that I am spared many steps later.
That, I have come to believe, is what a real life hack is. It is not a shortcut but a small inconvenience chosen in advance. Here are five I practise.
1. A fixed place for everyday things
My keys, spectacles and pen each have a home. Returning them there costs something every time, especially at the end of a tiring day when it would be easier to drop them anywhere. But that small discipline has nearly abolished one of life’s most pointless activities: searching. The friction is paid in seconds; the saving is paid in calm.
2. Writing things down
Trusting memory feels faster. It is not. A task held in the head does not sit quietly; it keeps tapping the shoulder. Writing it down takes a moment longer, but a written list does more than organise the day. It gives the mind permission to stop remembering everything and start thinking about something.
3. Doing the small task at once
A two-minute reply, a bill to file, a call to return. Postponing each seems harmless, but small tasks do not stay small once they gather. A pile of trivial things weighs far more than the sum of its parts. So I do the small thing immediately, even when I would rather not. The reluctance lasts a minute. The relief lasts the day.
4. Taking a moment before responding
This is the hardest of the five, and the most valuable. When a message or a remark irritates me, I let it wait before answering. Most irritations lose their heat within the hour. The reply I would have sent in the first minute is rarely one I would still defend by evening. Centuries ago, the Tamil poet Avvaiyar compressed this whole practice into two words: “Aaruvathu sinam”, let anger cool. [1]
5. Saying no
Agreeing is the easy path. Refusing costs a moment of awkwardness, perhaps a flicker of disappointment on someone’s face. But every unconsidered yes is a loan drawn against my future time, and the interest is steep. A courteous no, given early, is kinder to both sides than a reluctant yes honoured badly.
Old counsel, new name
None of this is new. Aesop’s tortoise did not win by cleverness; it simply kept going while the hare, sure of its speed, lay down for a nap. The Book of Proverbs sends the idle to study the ant, which gathers its food in summer though no one compels it. A saying often associated with Zen observes that before enlightenment one chops wood and carries water, and after enlightenment one chops wood and carries water. A well-known hadith advises tying the camel first, and then trusting in God. Across these traditions the counsel is the same: attend to the small thing now, and the larger things grow lighter.
A fair objection
Not every shortcut is a vice. The washing machine, the calendar reminder and the recipe that halves the cooking time are gifts. Refusing them out of pride would be its own kind of foolishness. The question I ask is simple: does this shortcut remove drudgery, or does it remove attention? The first deserves a welcome. The second usually returns later, carrying a bill.
What a life hack really saves
A clever hack saves a few minutes. A good habit shapes the person who spends them. None of my practices is ingenious; a child could follow any of them. Their value lies in choosing a small inconvenience early, so that life does not hand me a larger one later.
Perhaps that is the only life hack worth passing on: pay the small price now, willingly, before a bigger one arrives unasked.
Note
[1] The Aathichoodi is a collection of single-line moral maxims in Tamil, traditionally attributed to the poet Avvaiyar. Its lines follow the order of the Tamil alphabet and have been taught to children for generations. “Aaruvathu sinam”, its second line, may be rendered as “anger is what should subside”.
John Britto Kurusumuthu
Rise & Inspire · riseandinspire.co.in
In response to the WordPress Daily Writing Prompt — 26 September 2026
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