We all have daily chores that take up our time and try our patience. Many of these tasks are things that we do routinely and we simply take it for granted that we have to waste some time in order to get things done.
Regardless of whether you want to use your extra minutes or hours reading, playing with your kids, flipping tiddly-winks, watching TV or playing your favorite casino games via your PC or mobile gaming device, you can make use of some of the shortcuts that others have discovered and give yourself the break that you deserve.
Some of the best life hacks for home, work and play include:
Studying
Students try to commit in as much as much information as possible to memory in as little time as possible when they are studying for an exam. Obviously, if you spread out the studying over weeks or even months, the days and hours before the test will be much easier. But…..that usually doesn’t happen.
So what can you do to maximize your study time so that you absorb the most amount of information in the least amount of time?
Researchers have discovered some tricks to optimize your study time. They include:
- Drink coffee to improve memory consolidation.
- Chew gum to make stronger memories.
- Exercise to improve memory recall.
- Sleep more to consolidate memories.
- Study in the hours between 10:00a.m. and 2:00p.m. and 4:00p.m. to 10:00 when the brain is in an acquisition mode.
- When you’re trying to memorize something, assign meaning to concepts that you’re trying to memorize – an example, an experience, etc.
- Speak the information aloud to help integrate the information.
- Recite the material loud in your own words until you don't need to refer to your notes. Reword the information so that you say the same thing differently. Teach the information to someone else or talk to yourself as you “teach” yourself.
Kitchen
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average spending on food at home is about 10.3% of an average family’s disposable income. Add to that the time spent cooking and cleaning up and it’s clear that the kitchen accounts for a large chunk of time and money. What can you do to minimize that?
- Write out a weekly menu plan.
- Double up on preparation and then freeze. For instance, you can make a double batch of tomato sauce and then use part of it for a lasagna dinner and the other half for pizza night later in the week. You can also double up on preparing specific items and then freeze – for instance, chop enough onions and garlic for several meals and then store them in the freezer so you can pull them out as needed.
- Check your pantry and vegetable bin before you set out on your shopping expedition so that you don’t buy extra, especially extra perishables.
- Be inventive with leftovers. One night’s chicken leftovers can turn into the net day’s chicken casserole or chicken tacos.
- Learn as many one-pot meals as you can and then get a slow-cooker to save even more time. Stews, soups, dhili, stir fries and other one-pot meals are generally healthy and time-effective.
- Get good containers for storing your food. Your food will be better preserved and more edible if it’s been properly preserved.
At Work
Most employers don’t want perfectionists as employees, they want employees who get things done. That means that you should look for ways to accomplish your tasks as efficiently and effectively as possible.
Are you struggling to stay on task? Do you ever feel a little incomplete at the end of your workday, feeling like you could've done more? Well, it doesn't have to be this way.
You can leave work feeling euphoric and fulfilled with what you have accomplished. It takes a few productivity hacks to help you work more efficiently and, most importantly, leave you with more free moments every day.
- Plan out your day so you know what you need to accomplish. Then, it’s easier to schedule each part of your day so that you know that at the end of the day, you can complete everything that needs to be done. Note, on your daily planner, the most important tasks so you’ll be sure to complete those tasks first.
- Find productivity techniques that work for you. Each technique has its own plusses and minuses but overall, you want to find a tool that allows you to prioritize tasks and help you set goals.
- Start out your day with a specific goal for that day.
- Don’t check your texts and emails constantly throughout the day. Set aside specific times to read and respond to your messages. This allows you to work uninterruptedly on the tasks that you need to complete.
- Say “no” when you need to. If you get used to being the office “yes” person, you’ll be the one that everyone goes to whenever they need something done. Meaning that you’ll be overwhelmed and won’t get your own work done.
- Use templates for routine tasks so you save time by not needing to recreate those forms every time that something similar comes up.
- It may sound good to say that you’re a multitasker but you should avoid describing yourself as a multi-tasker and avoid doing two things at the same time. Research shows that people are less productive when they multi-task to stay focused on a single task so that you get it done quickly and correctly.
- If you’re working from home, make sure that you have a dedicated work space where everything that you need is an arm’s-reach away. Make sure that you have a comfortable chair to sit in and that your position is suitable to your height.
