Ever noticed how much you spend on trivial trinkets that only have one purpose? Think about it. How much do you spend for air tight containers for cereals, storage units for wrapping paper, and cable organizers? Have you ever hosted a grill night and realize a half hour before the guests arrive that you lack dishware for the condiments? Then you probably haven’t discovered the trippy and ingenious tricks known as “life hacks”.
Whether it’s using bread tags to organize wiring or using dental floss to cut soft food perfectly, these quirky tips and tricks definitely are money and sanity saviors. Life hacks are clever tips, tricks, and novelty methods for increasing productivity and efficiency. Simply put, life hacks are there to make our lives easier, (usually) for a fraction of the cost.
Now, people are starting to discover life hacks that use everyday things. Old box lids are turned into cupcake carriers, muffin pans are turned into craft caddies, and old tension rods are turned into spray bottle hangers. But in today’s techno era, people are also figuring out ways to hack life with their gadgets. Today, mobile phones aren’t just business phones, social tools, or entertainment gadgets, they’ve become so much more.
Test A Remote
We all know how annoying it is to buy a remote and take it home, only to return it the next day because it doesn’t work. Worry no more. Just point your TV/DVD remote at a mobile phone camera and press any button; if you can see the infrared light, it works!
Go Green Speakers
Speakers break down? Not willing to buy a replacement because you’re saving up for something important? No biggie: just place your smartphone in a glass or bowl it can fit into while you’re playing music. The glass acts as an acoustic chamber, which magnifies the sound. Voila! Instant speakers while saving Mother Earth. It works just as well if you want a louder alarm.
Always On Time: A playlist
If you’ve ever cursed yourself as you rush out of the door because you’ve spent too much time in the shower and are about to be late, then you are going to like this one. Make a playlist that runs exactly as long as it takes you to get ready for work, and play it every morning when you wake up (just place your phone in your “Go Green Speakers”). You’ll have a rough idea of how much time you have left to prepare by the current song playing.
DIY Lamp
Isn’t it annoying when there’s a sudden power outage and only then do you realize that you haven’t bought batteries for your flashlight or replenished your stock of candles? Well, life hackers have found a solution for that as well. If your mobile phone comes with a flashlight mode, just place a filled water bottle on top of it. The water disperses the light evenly, creating a makeshift lantern. It’s so easy and so inexpensive that you can even have a little fun with it on normal non-emergency days. Add a drop or two of food coloring to the water, and you have a colorful improvised lantern.
Emergency Cash
While there are several phone cases with a built-in wallet, stashing your bills in a jelly case or plastic case works just as well. That way, you’ll still have cash on hand in case of emergencies, like if your wallet gets stolen or you simply lose it (but let’s hope that doesn’t happen).
Of course not all of these life hacks are solid replacements for true-blue equipment. However, in times of emergency (and given the rough economy), it’s nice to know that you can always turn to life hacks.
13 Comments
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Marianne
February 23, 2013 at 3:08 pm
We all know how annoying it is to buy a remote and take it home, only to return it the next day because it doesn’t work. Worry no more. Just point your TV/DVD remote at a mobile phone camera and press any button; if you can see the infrared light, it works!….
The above tip is absolutely genius. I just replace 2 remotes for the kids and yes only to find out 1 was crap. So guess who will be testing this out 🙂
Gareth
June 11, 2013 at 5:13 pm
Or just use your mobile as a remote!! My mate built an app for that 🙂
Fran
March 14, 2013 at 7:54 am
Some very good ones listed.Test remote and speaker for phone works good. The idea about cash in phone case is no longer needed since you can make cash payments with smart phones now and even accept credit cards for payment to you. The only thing they don’t have is instant cash loans by cell phone yet.
Prakash
May 17, 2013 at 12:45 pm
Yes you are right test remote and speakers for phone really works good.
Frank
March 20, 2013 at 9:44 pm
I have been doing the playlist thing every morning for the last 5 weeks and never missed the train. Thank you for the great idea.
Prakash
May 17, 2013 at 12:44 pm
Mobile phone is the best thing in todays world. We use it all the time so we can say that we have hacked our life with the mobile phones.
Jim Delgado
May 18, 2013 at 2:38 pm
I’ve seen cell phone instances that also double because wallets, or have pockets for storage. Even should you don’t have a wallet like a cell phone case, you are able to still use your mobile phone case to store several extra bills. If a person ever lose your pocketbook, you can still come with an extra supply of emergency money in your cell phone.
Kristy07
June 8, 2013 at 3:40 pm
Nice post. Thank you for sharing with us. I think it would be effective for all which people are want to sale their foods. I like this post indeed.
Gabrielle
July 22, 2013 at 7:11 am
I am not only educated but also entertained by this post.I am simply enthralled at how inventive and creative one can be using simple tricks in day-to-day life.Mobile is the favourite gadget of the young generation.But apart from using it for verbal communication and internet,one can make use of its flash lights during power cut-off,amplifying smart phone sounds in case of failure of speakers,testing TV remote.This post is very educating as well as inspiring for the readers as it makes them learn things smartly and intelligently to achieve meaningful and effective results.
Becky
July 26, 2013 at 6:30 pm
Hi, I read your other post a few days ago about mobile marketing. After reading this, mobile marketing seems like an even better idea. Everyone is using their smartphones for so many things nowadays. If smartphones become even more popular then computers it seems like the big advertising companies will start taking notice.
I never would have thought about putting it in a bowl to increase the sound! I will have to try that tonight and see how it turns out.
Adams Victoria
July 30, 2013 at 10:12 am
Hacking or surrendering life to mobile phones for bringing some creative,positive and some unprecedented amusing change is definitely not wasteful,in fact is very much worthy.We should utilize the mobile phones and all of its applications in all possible ways.I was unaware of many such things where mobile can be used other than just verbal communication.In our locals,we frequently experience power cut off during monsoon.Though we kept candles and torches,they are sometimes not found in dark.I kept water bottle on mobile flash lights as you suggested and it worked just great.I have shared this trick with my friends and neighbours and have put it on facebook too.
Arran
December 5, 2013 at 2:40 pm
Not really a hack, but if you switch the mobile phone setting to Airplane Mode with it is time to charge it up, the phone is able to charge twice as fast.
Molly Taylor
April 10, 2019 at 1:34 pm
These are the best hacks that you can do with your smartphone in your daily life.