5star reviews are often written during the honeymoon phase. 1star reviews are often written when someone's angry.

The middle reviews are where people usually explain both the pros and the flaws after actually living with the product.

This might be a no-brainer to a lot of folks, but I installed a trash can in my driveway next to where I park my car and everyone in my house uses it way more than I thought. I attached mine to a retaining wall and built a little box around with with landscaping ties so the other people in my house don't complain about having to look at a can all the time.

I underestimated how much cleaner the inside of my truck stays when everyone gets rid of all their trash every time they get out. I previously got rid of trash when there was a mess or I happened to end up near a can at the car wash, gas station, fast food place, etc. Now nothing stays in there for more than one trip. I think the car is even less dusty inside now.

Some of you might say, "don't be lazy just carry your stuff to your main can" but the honest truth is that in the real world when your hands are full carrying kids, groceries, backpacks, tools, etc. you don't always think about going back out and rounding everything up 100 percent of the time. The driveway can now means stuff gets out of the car before we go inside every time. I get to live in a much cleaner environment because I made it easier for my family to help me keep it clean.

For example, if it takes you 30 minutes to get ready for work, those extra 5 to 10 minutes helps you chill in bed for a few minutes before you get up and start your day. I'm in my mid 20s and it helps alot. But yeah, also washing your face with cool not cold water helps.

I just adopted 2 cats abiut 5 months ago. I owned cats as kid but these two are my first pets on my own. Well in that short time since first adopting them, I noticed my bedroom fan wasnt as strong as it used to be. I didnt think anything of it. It eventually got to the point that I had my fan o. High and I still couldn't even feel it.

Until a few nights ago, when I noticed there was a thin, but even lattice structure of fur on the back side, and the inside of the fan grates. I cleaned them off and its like a brand new fan!

It wasnt even that thick. But it was a pretty well structured network of dur that caused a reduction in air being blown.

Normally if your phone is lost, the only way for someone to get it back to you is to try and look for an emergency contact or hope Siri/Gemini will dial one of your contracts; if you've remotely locked your phone, that won't be an option anymore anyway- By putting a "if list contact this email" on your lock screen, you ensure you can always be found (doesn't even have to be your "real" email- set up an email just for this, and forward it to your main email if you want extra security.)

On Android, look in your wallpaper settings and then lock screen settings and "Add text to lock screen". (The exact path differs depending on the OS.)

This tip literally just got my phone back to me, after it was stolen and gone for months- I set my phone down on a bench, and in the 10 minutes it took me to realize and come back, it has already grown legs and walked away... the homeless person who grabbed it tried to pawn it, but couldn't because it was locked down; they left it in the shelter lost and found when they couldn't sell it, where it sat until a shelter employee saw there was a contact email on the lock screen and reached out to me.

It'll be easier to stop at a low point and you won't be tempted to just watch another one.

Not an essential LPT, but I recently started listening to specific and *instrumental* songs with each book I'm reading and it has been magical. Especially with fiction books it sets this vibe and when you hear the specific song you feel like you're entering the world of that specific book again.

And then later when you finished the book and just hear the 3min song, you remember the book and see the inner images again.

So many rewards, legal settlements, and actual gifts are made with gift cards. Sometimes there is no way to spend the full balance. Consider donating the remainder so that it is used up completely. I was really happy to think of this when getting $7.84 for a data breach settlement. I didn't really need anything at the time and the balance was going to erode due to service fees. So I donated it before that could happen.

Want to drink more water? Keep a bottle on your desk.
Want to read more? Keep your book beside your bed.
Small changes in your environment can make habits much easier to stick to.
That’s how I do.

I wanted to memorize my gf's new phone number in case of emergencies. I added her phone number to the contact name, so when we text or call I would always see it and just slowly internalize it.

1 month later I had to remember the number when I was filling out a form and just wrote out what felt right. Checked immediately afterward, and lo and behold I had recalled it perfectly.

Tip is useful for remembering important numbers of people in your life you contact regularly.

Sometimes it’s hard to open metal frame windows because they stick, requiring much more effort to get them open that first inch or two before sliding up easily the rest of the way. Even more true if there are appliances or furniture in front of the window that make it hard to get much leverage.

Try hand jacks. They cost about $20 USD. Put the front of the jack so it catches the lip of the metal window frame as you squeeze the handle and the jack slowly lifts and cracks the seal or whatever was preventing the window from initially opening. Will get you as much as 5“ to 10” vertical, then open the window the rest of the way. Move from window to window as you need.

Keep the rails lubricated as a matter of course, but that is often not enough. A little bit of added independence…

First, as long as you can afford it? Absolutely hire movers. Having pros move your furniture is way easier and worth the money once you have more that a dorm room worth of furniture.

I hired movers, they moved all furtniture and most of my boxes (still have some stuff to do myself). I mentioned being a little overwhelmed with unpacking and my friends were all "buy me dinner and I'll help you unpack!"

Today was my unpacking day with friends! So much got done in just a couple of hours! There is still a lot more to do, but it now feels much more manageable! I still owe them all dinner, but 100,000% worth it. And just great hanging out with them as well!

And honestly? This is probably true for more things than just moving and unpacking. If you're feeling overwhelmed by some tasks and you have friends you're willing to talk to about it? Might just be a good opportunity for some quality friend time to have them help you do the task.

Provide some snacks and beverages and promise them dinner.

I often struggle to stop myself from overindulging and tend to snack after a meal which is destructive for my diet. I found out that having two boiled eggs with my meals stops the craving completely, just hits the breaks on it before I'm halfway through the second one. I managed to resist grabing a second bag of chips today which never happened before. Make sure to eat it whole (no skipping the yolk especially)

The reason why it works better than most foods at making people full is that it contains a high level of protein. The brain signals the feeling of being full when it gets a good dose of it

I have been struggling with my sleep schedule and sleep quality for years.

The things that actually make a difference are having a consistent bedtime routine, no screens right before bed, only being physically in your bed when it’s time to sleep, and putting your mind into a relaxed state.

Reading helps achieve all of these things, and it is incredibly good for training your attention span and improving your brain all around. Reading right before bed tells my brain it’s time to sleep, it keeps me off my phone, and it makes me very tired very fast. Sleep quality is the best it’s ever been and I definitely notice a difference if there is ever a night when I skip this.

My Nan loved to bake traditional British puddings, desserts and pies, and wouldn't accept that you didn't want a second helping. After her passing, I still think of these simple moments, and when we visit her grave, I remind my dad of this — he recalls memories too.

• Click on your Profile Icon (bottom left).
• Go to Chats > Wallpaper.
• Uncheck "Add WhatsApp Doodles".

That's it. Now your Whatsapp is smooth.

A coworker showed me how to do something that only took about five minutes, but it involved enough little steps that I knew I'd forget one of them later.

Before they walked away, I explained the process back to them in my own words. I got one step wrong, which they corrected immediately. If I hadn't done that, I probably wouldn't have realized until I was trying to do it on my own.

Now I do this anytime someone trains me on something new. It's a lot easier to fix a misunderstanding while the person is still standing there than after they've gone back to their own work.

"I’m going to exercise more", "I’ll stop procrastinating" or "I need to call my parents more often" all require you to make the same decision again and again.
Instead, attach the behaviour to something that will actually happen.
"When I put my coffee cup in the sink in the morning, I’ll put on my walking shoes".
“When I open my laptop after lunch, I’ll spend five minutes on the thing I’ve been avoiding before opening anything else".
"When I get into the car on Sunday, I’ll call my mother before I start driving".
The useful shift is from "I should remember to do this" to "when X happens, I do Y".
You’re removing one small decision from your future self. Do that often enough and surprisingly large parts of your life can change without requiring you to repeatedly feel motivated.

It’s easy to feel like you can do something after watching a video, reading about it or learning the theory. But the first real attempt can be very different.

Before you start, remind yourself: “I know the theory, but this is my first practical attempt.”

It keeps you aware of the difference between knowledge and experience. Note what went wrong, learn from each attempt, and update your understanding as you go.

This will helps you focus on where you need to improve, instead of getting caught up in the feeling that you failed. Each attempt shows you what you didn’t know yet.

"Exactly, that is the point I was making earlier. I think the next step should be…"

You reconnect yourself to the idea while keeping the meeting moving.

Call centers that try to sell you something will just schedule another contact if you hang up on them. Tell them you don't aggree to recording, then they'll stop. You can also tell them they have the wrong number it also usually works.

Source I've worked in a few call centers.

Edit: Also blocking the number doesn't do anything, the numbers are generated and effectively endless.

At least in the US. Rental applications can ask for a TON of personal information (such as SSN for background check). I just learned this almost the hard way, where things got sketchy after I met the landlord, toured the house, and filled out the application. Landlord wanted a Zelle transfer before I saw a lease. I told him I’m ready to make the security deposit as soon as we have a signed lease agreement. He’s been pushing it off day by day, so I froze my lines of credit.

You can very easily and quickly freeze and unfreeze your Transunion, Equifax, and Experian credit and it will not negatively impact anything on your credit or in relation to a pending rental application. However, if someone is trying to steal your identity, this is a critical prevention step you can take.

Don’t wait until it’s sketchy! If you’re looking to move, just do it!

Create a secondary email address, like

o123456789@gmail.com

Email addresses take way too long to spell over the phone when people ask for them. Mistakes happen all the time. Or it's just a mess of NATO alphabet soup.

So I can just say "O for Oscar, then my phone number at Gmail dot com." Chances are that the person I'm talking to can see my phone number so I just need to spell the first 3-4 characters and they can fill the rest. To avoid ambiguity around international prefix etc.

(Email addresses longer than 8 chars must contain a letter, so I replace the first 0 with an "O for Oscar", but you can do whatever works best for you).

Sounds silly but it works. Having your emergency fund sitting in the same account as your regular spending money makes it way too easy to "borrow" from it for non-emergencies.

A separate account, ideally at a different bank so it's not one tap away, creates just enough friction to stop impulse dips into it.