​Life Hacks of the Past

By Trayce Duran

There are new terms being thrown around on a daily basis. I’m of an older generation and it can be hard to keep up with the latest trends. So let’s go exploring and pick a relatively new term that came into popularity around 2004-2005 and see where it leads.

What comes to mind when you think of life hacks? 

Are they a current trend? 

Have generations used them for centuries? 

What are ‘life hacks’ anyway?

Here is Wikipedia’s definition: Life hack (or life hacking) is any trick, shortcut, skill, or novelty method that increases productivity and efficiency, in all walks of life. [1]

OK, that makes sense to me, and I love the idea. But is this really new to me, and do I actually use them? Maybe even use them everyday? Have I seen others take advantage of these time saving options? Have I seen life hacks in the lives of those who have passed on prior to 2004, like my parents, aunts, uncles, even my Grandmother (who passed away in 1974)? She had never heard of life hacks!

So first let’s ask what life hacks do I personally use today? 

• When I look to store an item for future use, I find a place in the actual room that I will use the item. This way, when my head is covered in grey (oh wait, it already is!) and I simply cannot remember where I put something, I know to simply look in the room where I will use it. 
  • We have an office and a laundry room both with drafty windows. I put plastic over the windows each fall to keep out the cold, and so I store the re-useable plastic in the rooms where I will need them so that I don’t have to work at figuring out which window each piece will fit. I keep the double-sided tape in the office for easy access. I don’t have to think about where those items are when the cold winds start to blow.
• We have a loveable orange tabby names Hobbes. But sometimes he isn’t always so loveable, especially when he decides that my Apple cord is the most dangerous snake on the planet, or that it is the most fascinating toy ever devised by man. Recently I bought a new cord for $75 to replace one that had died. I had it for no more than 1 day when Hobbes, in an attempt to get my attention, gnawed my cord. It worked; he most certainly got my attention! The attention, however, only elevated his need to kill and the pleasure of playing with the expensive Apple cord! Hobbes was relentless! Even if I tucked most of it under the couch, the cat INSISTED on digging it out. How could I handle this?  Banish the cat to the basement? No, he would have found a more creative way to draw me in. So what did I do?
  • I plugged the cord into a surge protected power strip that I ran next to the couch. The mesmerizing cord now runs under the middle of the couch where paws cannot reach, then up the back of the couch which has a dresser behind it, lastly it’s tucked behind the couch cushion where kitty eyes can’t see it. Hobbes will still try to grab the cord if he sees it sitting by my leg, so I tuck it under my thigh, and we’re good. Hobbes can sleep peacefully next to me knowing that I am not about to be attacked by a skinny white snake.

Now let’s take a look back to my Grandmother, affectionately known as Mom, born in 1891:

• Mom had some great life hacks! Here is one that this generation could use that involved the care of her fur coat and hat. (Not everyone agrees with wearing furs, but understand, Mom was born at a time when wearing fur wasn’t objectionable.) Well, it’s expensive to store furs at a special facility, so what did Mom do with her furs?
  • She stored her fur coat and hat at home. I remember watching her wrap them in tissue paper, stuffing the hat so it would retain its shape, put them in a cardboard box, and put them on the bottom shelf of her refrigerator.
• As Mom got older, her bunions grew and hurt from the pressure of wearing shoes. She didn’t want to go through surgery. How did she handle that one?
  • She took a pair of scissors and cut a hole in her leather shoes where her bunions stuck out. Now they were free and feeling much better! When she went out, she wore canvas shoes that would flex with her feet. 
• Mom had beautiful snowy white hair that had lost its curl with age, but she wanted curls, so what did my smart grandmother do?
  • She took electrical wire that was covered in cloth, cut it into 24 two inch lengths, and used that to wrap her hair in ‘curlers’ after her shower. Now that’s a life hack if I ever heard of one!

What did we learn as we explored ‘life hacks’? While the term is relatively new, the concept can be found throughout generations, often seen in old magazines under a moniker such as ‘tips for housewives,’ and as we look back in time we are sure to find some pretty useful ways to become more efficient and better organized.
 
 
[1] Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., Life Hacks, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_hack (accessed 30 May 2019).