Everyone aspires to improve their lives in some manner, whether it's by becoming smarter, more successful, or simply changing their circumstances for the better. Three life hacks adopted by Quora writers have made a significant difference in their personal lives. These tried-and-true tweaks will inspire you, from shifting their perspective on the weekend to an easy smartphone hack to a complete life change.
1. Stop treating weekends like mini vacations.
Todd Busen, a Quora contributor, set out on a mission to wake up on time for work. He discovered that sleeping in on weekends interfered with his sleep schedule throughout the workweek. So he decided to treat weekends as work days, waking up at the same time every day of the week. His experiment was a success. He hasn't seen weekends the same way since then.
According to Busen, weekends should be handled as any other day of the week, and instead of wasting those precious minutes, you should use them effectively to grow, progress, and improve your life.
When approaching your next weekend:
Try waking up at the same time you do during the week.
Use the extra hours of leisure time to read or exercise.
Instead of viewing a movie, try a documentary.
Instead of viewing cat videos on YouTube, watch videos that will help your business expand or teach you a new skill.
If a full weekend seems like a huge task, take little measures to make your changes.
2. Move where to charge the phone.
Smartphones are often the first thing people reach for in the morning, and Quora writer Matt Sandrini recognized his own technological addiction and knew he needed to overcome it. Matt wanted to read more, write more, and get more sleep, but his smartphone's siren call was too appealing. He concluded that the best line of action was to remove the distraction, so he started by putting his phone charger away from his bed. This minor adjustment appealed to his lack of willpower. It used to take willpower to put his phone down; today it takes willpower to get up and reach his phone.
Matt is now reading more than ever, writing more, and sleeping more. He recommends placing the phone as far away as possible, even in a different room.
How can you charge your phone in another room if it is also your alarm clock?
Choose a stronger alarm tone on your phone so you can hear it from a distance.
Consider purchasing a standard alarm clock.
Set the alarm on your watch.
3. Quit all things that don’t create value.
What would happen if you altered your perspective on life? Perhaps the most game-changing modification comes from Quora contributor Josh Fechter, who learnt his lesson the hard way.
Josh, broke and living in his father's flat while struggling to launch his writing career, turned to self-help books for inspiration. He learned from the literature that "success and happiness parallel how much value people create for others." Josh realized that in order to be successful, he needed to focus on his writing, which meant eliminating unimportant distractions from his life.
Josh took the plunge and chose to let rid of everything that did not add value to his life. He quit watching television and Netflix. He stopped viewing his Facebook feed. He no longer followed politics and quit eating out. He refused to accomplish anything that did not offer worth to his life. He focused solely on what would benefit or add significance to his life and career. With the distractions removed, he was able to focus on his writing, and his career began to flourish. Three years later, Josh is the head of growth at a $50 million venture capital firm.
So, how can you figure out what has no value?
Before proceeding with any life circumstance, ask yourself whether doing so will benefit me, my business, or my personal life.
If the answer is no, decide not to do it and fill the time with something that will benefit your personal development, health, and business.
If the answer is affirmative, proceed with the confidence that you are improving your life.
Move your phone, reconsider how you spend your weekend, or remove unnecessary distractions from your life. Three tried-and-true changes that can have an impact. Try one, utilize them all, or select the best pieces from each. It's your life; make it good.
