Jay Anthony - Life Hacks

LIFE HACKS

***

The Ultimate Lifehacker Guide to

Productivity, Frugality, and Professionalism

(VOL. 1)

Volume 2 is now available in the Amazon Store!

Grab your copy *HERE*

Copyright 2015 by Jay Anthony

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof

may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever

without the express written permission of the publisher.

WELCOME TO LIFE HACKS

I would like to thank all of my friends and family who have taught me these tricks over the years. My life is so much easier because of your advice.

If you enjoy this book, be sure to leave an honest and detailed review on the sales page.

Thank you, and happy hacking!

Contents

-

-

-

-

-

-

Pro Tip: Use your Kindles highlight feature to keep track of your favorite Life Hacks.

Life Hacks: 1-10

• If a baby or toddler appears to hurt themselves, and they look to you, always meet their gaze and smile. This is a mistake which is constantly made by far too many people. If a child hurts themselves, they usually look to others in order to subconsciously gauge the severity of the situation. If they see an adult with a look of terror on their face after they bump their head, they are going to react accordingly by screaming and crying. If you instead simply make eye contact, smile, and divert their attention away from what just happened, then they will feel reassured not to cry. If you dont provide them with confirmation to begin throwing a fit, then they are far less likely to do so.
• Buy an empty jar, and fill it with notes of good things that happen to you on a monthly basis. This is also something that can be done weekly or yearly; however, I find that month-to-month works best for me. At the end of the month, I empty it out and read every good thing that has happened to me. Not only does it boost my confidence and fill me with happiness, it also provides me with a solid, positive foundation for the month to come. Instead of dreading the first of the month because of bills, stress, and uncertainty, I look forward to it because sometimes I entirely forget all of the positive things that had happened to me the month before. A simple trick to keep you enthusiastic and encouraged throughout the year.
• Catch up on current events with Wikipedia. If you are ever away from any form of news media for a length of time, and wish to catch up on important things that are happening throughout the world, simply type the month and year into the Wikipedia search bar. For example, if you go on a lengthy camping trip during the month of June, type June 2015 and it will give you a comprehensive list of every important event that has happened that month. This life hack definitely beats rummaging through news websites and T.V. channels just to grab bits and pieces from what you missed. It is also helpful to catch anything important you may have missed. I usually use this feature at the end of each month to keep myself up-to-date on current events.
• Fill a room with ambient light. If you need some soft light in your camping tent, or even when your electricity goes out, instead of fumbling with hanging a flashlight in a precarious place, simply attach it to a gallon jug of water. You can use any method to attach the light as long as it is placed on the side of the jug. The water inside the jug along with the opaque material of the jug itself refracts the light in a way which provides you with a perfect amount of ambient lighting, which is neither distracting nor blinding. One thing I may suggest is using a headlamp which already has a strap attached to it. This makes it much easier to keep the light snuggly fitted onto the jug. A perfect solution for all of your emergency lighting needs.
• Load YouTube videos more efficiently. Note: the Chrome browser does this automatically; however, if you are using a different browser, add the extension /html5 at the end of any YouTube video to load it more efficiently. To make it even easier, you can also type www.youtube.com/html5 to automatically play every video this way, instead of individual videos. If you dont already use the Chrome browser, I highly suggest doing so, but if you prefer other browsers over Chrome, then this is a fantastic way to bolster your YouTube viewing experience.
• Best way to find a missing dog. As you all know, dogs are famous for their keen sense of smell. Posters are great, asking around the neighborhood is fantastic, but one surefire way of finding your dog is to leave a piece of clothing (worn for at least a day or two) at the last place your canine companion was last spotted. If done correctly, your pooch will pick up the scent of your clothing and remain nearby the area it was placed. In order to keep him/her around, you should also leave a familiar object like a favorite chew toy or doggy bed along with the clothing. Lastly, leave a bowl of water for your dog. (Dont leave food, as this can attract unwanted attention from wild animals.) Sometimes your dog is trying just as hard to find you, as you are him. Utilize your best friends sense of smell to direct him back to your loving arms.
• Use the phrase my understanding was rather than I assumed This life hack is helpful in any situation, especially when it comes to professional conversations with your boss, your clients, and even your co-workers. Saying I assumed is the commonplace phrase to say when you misunderstand someone, however, it does not have a very professional connotation. It leads others to believe that you jumped to a hasty conclusion, which can only be seen as a fault of your own (even if it wasnt). People will be much more understanding and forgiving if you use the phrase my understanding was because they will more than likely attribute it to a mutual misunderstanding based on the original instructions. Conveying a lack of general clarity is much more beneficial in conversation than pinning the blame on yourself by saying I assumed.
• Learn keyboard shortcuts for word processing software to increase productivity and save time. Do you find yourself clicking around a lot whenever you sit down to write a research paper or format a document? If your answer is yes, then consider learning the basics of hotkeys and shortcuts to make your experience more streamlined. A few common shortcuts I use quite a bit are: Ctrl+C (copy text), Ctrl+V (paste text), Ctrl+Shift+V (paste text without formatting), Ctrl+B (bold text), Ctrl+I (italicize text), and Ctrl+U (underline text). Obviously, there are far more that exist, but I find myself using these most often. You can find an entire list of keyboard shortcuts for Microsoft Word *here* . Also, dont limit shortcuts to just word processors. Every type of software utilizes these shortcuts to make your experience easier, and it is definitely in your best interest to use them. If you are struggling to find these shortcuts on your softwares help page, you can always find them with a quick internet search.
• Colored background? Make any font POP. Have you ever been commissioned to create a poster, or even needed to make your own for a special event? If not, there is definitely a possibility you will in the future. Regardless of your design background, always remember this: white text with a black outline is always legible no matter how busy the rest of your image is. This font scheme is readable in every background color, design, or picture, and no matter what you throw at it, the words will always POP. There is nothing more frustrating than trying to make out what a poster is trying to say because the background amalgamates with the text. You can easily avoid this problem yourself by simply remembering to include a black outline with your white text.
• Job security is a double edged sword. Having the comfort of knowing your job isnt going anywhere is fantastic to have, but understand that if you work an irreplaceable position, it also means you are essentially un-promotable. Even with job security, you should always have a future plan for your success. Usually, the only way that people with irreplaceable positions earn promotions is by switching companies altogether. Forbes has even found that if you work in a competitive job market, keeping your salary higher is easiest to do if you switch jobs every two or so years. Obviously, it is wise to do your research pertaining you your specific field before making any drastic moves. It is also important to note that most of these jobs are referring to fields such as IT and engineering. No matter what you do, always remember to work hard.