17 Life Hacks And Real-Life Cheat Codes That People Recommend Doing

We all have life hacks that we've either learned about or picked up throughout our lives. Those "hacks" range from practical ones, like putting ice cubes in your dryer along with dry clothes to remove wrinkles, to more important ones, like having some money hidden in your home in case of an emergency.

Recently, Reddit user itsliightz was interested in people's favorite life hacks when they asked: "Which real-life cheat codes do you know?"

The thread got thousands of replies. Below are the top, best, and most-often repeated comments:

1."Being polite increases your odds of getting what you want 🙂."

2."Clean while you’re cooking."

3."Talk positive about people behind their backs."

4."Managers: Give your employees the credit they deserve for everything they do, especially talk them up to your bosses. This is a literal win/win. Your employees love you for respecting them, and your boss loves you for successfully managing a great team."

5."Have friends generationally older and younger than yourself."

6."To learn something, repeat it to yourself three times on the day you learn it, two more times the next day, once the day after that, and you'll know it (most of the time)."

7."Automated phone systems don’t understand nonsense. If you need to speak to a person answer the prompts with things like 'chicken nuggets' or 'shoelace.' It will assume an error in its language system and route you to a person."

8."Listening > talking."

9."Cutting out daily drinks with sugar, like sodas or Frappucinos, really helps with weight loss if you do nothing else."

10."People like talking about themselves more than they like hearing about you. If you interact with people for work, memorize one thing about them, it could be a kid's name, a sport they like, a hobby they do, their job, etc. Ask them about it every once in a while. People are always surprised and appreciate your interest in them."

11."When reheating rice in the microwave, put a little bit of water in the bowl so it heats up fluffy again."

12."Worked at a call center for a credit card company. If you ever get hit with a late fee, politely call customer service and ask if there’s a possibility of getting it waived. We didn’t have to ask a supervisor or anything, and we just pushed it through. I have done this multiple times now for my own cards. Don’t pay late fees!"

13."When your alarm goes off in the morning, do not think. Only react. If you sit up immediately and start getting out of bed, it becomes a reflex. No more lying in bed for hours 'trying to wake up.' Now I hear my alarm, and my brain is alert and ready."

14."When job hunting, one does not need to fulfill ALL of the requirements listed. Most job applications are "wishlists" of what an employer wants. Having 60–70% of the skills necessary is often enough.

15."Don't put who an email will be sent to until after you have it ready to send so you can't accidentally send an unedited or unfinished email."

16."The second button on the right is to mute those annoying ass gas pump TV adverts."

17.And lastly, "When someone's wrong on the internet, type out what you want to say, then delete it once you've got it out of your system. It's incredibly cathartic. As you organize your sources and logic, you get the time to sort out what you think and why, and you can calm down a bit as you let reason take the wheel instead of your emotions, which lets you realize that nothing you say matters to them anyway."

You can read the original thread on Reddit.

Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.