Life Hacks
By Kayla Cohen ‘17
Life Hacks Become a Trend
Over the course of the last decade, You- Tube has evolved into an online sensation. People from all over the world can watch almost any video on topics ranging from makeup tutorials to cute animals through a single website. 2015 saw the rise of “Life Hack” videos as a new trend. Life Hacks are de ned as strategies or techniques ad- opted in order to manage one’s time and daily activities in a more ef cient way.
Famous YouTubers with millions of sub- scribers create these videos in an attempt to show their audience more convenient ways to live their lives. There are also YouTube channels speci cally geared towards Life Hack videos. YouTuber Shane Dawson, with over eight million subscribers, has done nu- merous life hack videos; most of these hacks are for pure entertainment. British YouTuber Dave Hax posts these types of videos to his two million subscribers, demonstrating that the Life Hack trend is expanding beyond the United States. Additionally, a YouTube chan- nel titled “HouseholdHacker” posts short ve-minute videos that the creators feel will bene t the viewer’s life to some capacity. Dawson is most known for his outrageous sense of humor which he demonstrates in his Life Hack videos. Some of his Life Hack video topics include how viewers can use crayons as candles, eat a bowl of Oreos for breakfast if one does not have any breakfast food, pop popcorn kernels with a straighten- ing iron, and make an iPhone speaker using a toilet paper roll, duct tape, and two solo cups. These “hacks” are obviously among those deemed for entertainment. Most of Dawson’s Life Hack YouTube videos are in- tended to be humorous rather than practical. However, channels speci cally tailored to making Life Hack videos are advanta- geous to viewers. These short videos show the audience quick tricks to living a more favorable life, such as home security Life Hacks and cleaning hacks for one’s house- hold. Channels like this are gaining pop- ularity at a fast rate. The subscriber count goes up, and the viewers’ stress level goes down because of the expansion of the Life Hack videos and channels on YouTube
Food Life Hacks by Nicole Reich ’17
Life hacks are little tips and tricks to use one’s time in the most ef cient way possible. Techniques are all over so- cial media, and there are even accounts designated to posting different strat- egies for various activities. The most popular life hacks are related to food.
The Do It Yourself Revolution by Meghan Kimberling ’17
Type “DIY” into the Google search bar and almost 2 billion results pop up, ready to be explored. These links guarantee to make your life easier and more ef cient with a sim- ple Do-It-Yourself attitude. However, DIYs and “life hacks” now go beyond this simple principle to encompass a broader explanation of what it means to do something yourself. The term “DIY” used to strictly include tasks and “how to” projects. A DIY then, for example, would be classi ed as learn- ing to cook something new, extending one’s knowledge and technical skills, but more recently, the idea has coined a new de – nition as a broader development of ideas. Self-proclaimed “DIYers” are popping up around the nation, as DIY becomes more of an umbrella term and grows to include many more innovative and hands-on projects.
For example, when it was discovered in 1983 that a potato could be made into clock, it was viewed as a marvelous invention, with an unlikely object acting as a generator for a pow- er source. Nowadays, putting a watermelon in icy salt water acts as a phone charger, generat- ing enough power to slowly bring that battery back up to 100 percent. So why is it that a potato clock then was an invention, but a water- melon as a charger today is a DIY/life hack? As Americans, we look for conve- nience in all spheres of life; we like to cut corners. In turn, we look for alternative solutions to almost all normal tasks and ac- tivities to keep things interesting. Addition- ally, DIYs can be considered a creative out- let and a basis for a growing community. DIY is one of the most commonly searched categories on Pinterest, and it’s the focus of many Twitters and Instagrams. There are even companies like Quirky and Kickstart- er that will help individuals turn their other- wise impractical ideas into realistic products. This creative and innovative revolution is kickstarting a DIY movement that could make a more engaged population. Many young women shop the brand Free People, which now hosts craft nights at Anthropologie store locations to get their clientele more creatively in touch. Soon there will be no more book clubs and no more bingo nights; DIYs are becoming the new norm as well as a new economic fad. The new generation of hands-on learn- ers have a new creative outlet to help fo- cus their attention, and companies have a new advertising approach. Welcome to the Maker Movement; it is just getting started.
School Life Hacks by Naomi Lawrence ‘17
Use scholar.google.com to nd more relevant information when writing essays.
• The most ef cient way to retain information when studying: study for 30-50 minutes at a time, then take 10 minute breaks in between.
• When you’re nished writing an essay, copy and paste it into google translate to listen to it—that will make it easier to nd mistakes.
• You’re more likely to remember something that you’ve written in blue ink.
• Mathway.com solves homework math problems with step-by- step explanations
• When trying to study a subject, teach it! The better you can teach a subject, the better you know it.
• Peppermint stimulates the brain and helps with concentration.
• Struggling to stay awake in class? Hold your breath as long
as you can and breathe out slowly. Doing so will increase your heart rate.
• When taking notes in class, leave a few pages in the front
blank for a table of contents. This will make it so much easier to review.
• When learning new things, write it down! This is exceptionally more effective than just reading it.