What is life hacking and how can you optimize every aspect of your life? Read on to learn more.
A few years ago I struggled with making changes, improving myself, defining what I want in life, getting things done, being social, having self-esteem and much more. But then I turned to life hacking.
I got tired of not seeing progress because I was absolutely sure there was more to life than this unproductive version of myself that had no confidence or clear vision.
Getting tired of something while doing it for a long time is actually a great thing. It makes you take the decision to change and finally take action in your desire to live a better lifestyle.
Plus, if others could achieve a lot in life in any area, so can I. I just needed to find smarter ways to do it and use different approaches.
What is Life Hacking?
According to Wiki it “refers to any trick, shortcut, skill, or novelty method that increases productivity and efficiency, in all walks of life.”
It doesn’t mean skipping important steps on the way to success, or the lack of hard work and consistency.
To hack something means to find a way to do something faster, better and with less effort.
It means finding what works best, using the right tools and making the most of the opportunities around you.
Life hacking helps people use body language to appear more confident, the right words and intonation in order to make the person in front of them say yes, techniques to get more done in less time, tools to organize time better, and much more.
It leads to saving time, effort, worries and eliminating anything unnecessary in your life that doesn’t get you ahead.
It’s all about working smarter rather than harder, taking things to the next level, getting results, being efficient and making the most of your time.
What areas can you hack in life?
All of them. But keep in mind a few things first:
You need to be selective.
That’s a time management hack too. Prioritize and choose to learn about hacking the areas that interest you the most and which will help you improve and see progress.
Be an eager learner.
It’s worth spending a lot of time now brainstorming, doing your research and creating a strategy. Then you put all that into practice and make adjustments in the process.
Let go of perfectionism.
It’s important to leave your ego behind so that you can learn from others and listen to their advice and feedback.
And also to be okay with failure and accept it as a sign that you’re trying new things and finding out what doesn’t work, so that you can move onto the next thing which can be what works.
A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable, but more useful than a life spent doing nothing. – George Bernard Shaw
Life hacking goes together with making mistakes and learning from them.
Now that you have an answer to the question ‘what is life hacking?’, let’s talk about what areas of life you can hack.
6 Areas You Can Start Hacking Today
1. Productivity.
Every next year is the most productive year in my life so far. I learn a lot and keep improving.
But I didn’t give everything I read a try simply because it wasn’t the right fit for my daily schedule and life goals.
It’s important to remember that everyone’s walking a different, unique path. And what works for others may not be the best option for you.
But in terms of productivity, you can hack so many things.
You start by understanding the principles of getting things done and the reasons why we procrastinate and move onto smart time management and productivity techniques to improve your performance.
2. Building habits.
Ingraining a new behavior is a process that takes a lot of time, mental preparation, the right mindset and consistency and motivation. But it can easily be learned.
Small things like working on one habit at a time, giving it 30 days, doing it at a certain time during the day, are all habit hacks.
3. Confidence.
If you have no confidence in self, you are twice defeated in the race of life.
Marcus Garvey
It’s a skill and requires practice.
But things like faking it, using the mirror exercise, repeating affirmations and surrounding yourself with people who only lift you higher are simple ways to hack building self-esteem and believe in yourself and overcome shyness in no time.
You can use the power of your mind and trick it into believing you’re more confident right now. Here are 5 confidence techniques using your subconscious mind you can try today.
4. Focus.
We can’t really get anything done and do our job well if we can’t concentrate.
That can happen by defining distractions and finding a way to remove each once and for all, doing one thing at a time instead of multitasking, creating a nice working environment, and so on.
5. Language learning.
It’s proven that you can learn a foreign language and speak it fluently (even if it’s Chinese, for instance) in around 3 months.
But the masters of life hacking have already hacked language learning and found the ways in which our brain gets used to the new things faster and easier. So let’s listen to their advice.
Tim Ferriss is one of the best in the niche. Check out his post 12 Rules for Learning Foreign Languages in Record Time – The Only Post You’ll Ever Need.
6. Travel.
Today many people are living on the road. Some are digital nomads working from anywhere and traveling the world. Others may just be frequent travelers and adventure seekers.
But they all love it so much and do it so often that it was smart to find a way to find cheaper flights, avoid delays, choose the best destination faster, get deals and bonuses, and more.
The Internet is full of blogs about travel hacks that share tips on how to travel on a budget, pack like a pro, get free miles, stay productive while doing all that and find cheaper accommodation.
All that adds up to a much greater experience once you get to your destination. And allows the travelers to keep doing what they love.
These are just 6 of the countless things you can hack in life. And that’s just the beginning.
You can hack eating, fitness, social life, writing, reading, waking up early, longevity, creating products, building businesses, approaching new people, health, relationships, determination, willpower, any sport, etc.
I can go on like that forever, really. But you get the picture.
So what do you think about life hacking? What is life hacking for you? What do you want to hack? Which skill would you like to get better at faster?
