Life Hacks:

Sahil Bloom’s Most Powerful Life Hacks - a series:

Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.

Confucius

The spirit of this quote rings true: We humans have a tendency to manufacture complexity. We make progress in our lives—personally or professionally—and decide that the best way to celebrate that progress is to sprinkle on a new bit of chaos.

It's a rather frustrating (and hilarious) species-wide trait:

We book the relaxing vacation, only to fill every moment of it with activities that leave us more drained at the end than we were at the beginning.

We get the promotion that will reduce our money stress, so we celebrate by buying the boat that is constantly in need of servicing and repairs.

We feel busy and stressed, so we cut something out of our lives, only to feel stressed about not feeling busy, so we add something back in.

We can all come together and laugh at our "complexification" of life. But after we have that good, hearty laugh, let's talk about ways to simplify it.

Here are some short, timeless insights for simplifying your world—"hacks" for your life, careers, relationships, health, money, and more...

16.   Spend 15 minutes on Sunday evening preparing for what your first focus tasks are going to be on Monday morning.

That 15 minutes will save you 2 hours and a whole lot of stress. Don’t over-engineer it. Get one small thing done that makes the next morning look and feel easier.

17.  When trying to break a bad habit, wear a small rubber band on your wrist and snap it (lightly) on yourself each time you do the thing you're trying to stop.

The action creates awareness that starts the breaking process.

18.  When faced with a difficult decision, ask yourself what your 80-year-old self and 10-year-old self would want you to do.

Your 80-year-old self is most concerned with the long-term compounding of the action, while your 10-year-old self will remind you to have some fun.

Everyday Home Hacks:

Boil your pasta in a shallow frying pan. It takes less water and it cooks faster.

If you’ve got a splinter below your skin surface, wrap a banana peel around it.

Wet side against your skin. It will draw the splinter out most of the time. 

If you're having trouble staying awake in class or at a meeting, see how long you can keep one of your feet lifted slightly off the ground.

If you have hard butter but want to bake, use a cheese grater to quickly soften it.