Whether it’s studying for math or curing nasty cases of morning breath, there’s a life hack for it.
“Life hacks” are pieces of advice given to make life easier than it can seem. Many creative internet users have brought these life hacks to the spotlight through social media sites, and have been famous ever since.
Together, we managed to find the best life hacks to give for high school students with busy lives in 12 categories.
1. Facial cleansing
One of the greatest struggles high school students face is the battle against puberty. Even if it’s a continuous struggle until adulthood comes along, there are life hacks that can be used to battle against the worst of it all—acne.
Using the gel from Advil capsules or Listerine breath fresheners, softly pad the liquid or gel on the affected areas to decrease swelling. Be sure to wash away the chemicals with warm water, which opens up the pores.
Even if these life hacks do decrease swelling, it is still highly recommended to wash the facial area twice a day with warm water.
2. Curing headaches and sore throats
It’s that time of the year where illnesses are in the air. While there is no “cure-all” medicine, life hacks an assist with such symptoms of migraines, headaches, and sore throats.
Migraines, despite popular belief, are not synonymous with headaches. They consist of nausea, light sensitivity, dizziness, and head pains.
Inhaling peppermint or lavender oil can help relieve the nausea in migraines, while taking pain pills before the symptoms worsen helps tremendously for either one. Placing an ice pack on the back of the neck and hot water on the feet is also known to cure the same pains.
Sore throats can also be decreased not only with cough drops, but marshmallows as well. Consuming two or three marshmallows helps relieve the sore pains.
3. Food
When the parents are away, many face the first world problem of “There’s nothing to eat!” To the surprise of many, there are actually ways to not go starving while satisfying those picky taste buds.
Myfridgefood.com is an easy-to-use-website consisting user-submitted recipes based on what food is available around the house.
If leftovers are available, it is often seen that adding a cup of water in the microwave helps rehydrate the food. If possible, you can also arrange foods like spaghetti in a circle to best get all of the food heated.
4. Gum
There are many useful ways that the elastic chewing food called gum can be used, even with the occasional sticky messes it can cause.
Gum has been proven to help neutralize stomach acid, and chewing it in your sleep can “cure” morning breath.
Aside from these bodily issues, gum can also help the mind. Studying while eating a particular gum flavor and chewing the same flavor during the test helps recollect memories from the studying session. Chewing it during a presentation also helps calm the nerds; do to innate human instincts, danger cannot be sensed when eating, which is why chewing gum instills calmness.
5. Clothes
Fashions are always changing, but there are even life hacks for this frivolous trend.
Wornontv.net is the fandom paradise for shopping. Clothes worn by characters in The Big Bang Theory, Dr. Who, Supernatural, and many other shows can be found and purchased, as referenced from the website.
In addition to this glorious website, there are other ways to show your personality; through colors, for example. Black and grey are seen as sophisticated colors, but wearing to much black can be seen as overbearing, and wearing to much grey shows a sense of blandness. White is a great color for background clothing, such as shirts under blazers or sweaters.
Yellow is an attracting color; it grabs the attention of many, which is why it is a popular color to use as a sharpie. Red is also seen as an elegant color; studies indicate that women who wear red are often seen as more “edgy” by onlookers.
6. Recycling containers
Instead of throwing away empty containers, they can be reused in multiple fashions.
Ketchup bottles, once rinsed out and sanitized, can be used to hold pancake mix and make less of a mess than common pancake making procedures. These containers can also be used for holding paint.
Mio bottles are nice and travel-sized to take to school in a lunch bag to carry sauces and salad dressings that are normally sold in bottles too big to take without looking awkward.
Egg cartons, as unfashionable as they may look as a decoration, can be used for holding jewelry and prevent tangling with necklaces or chains. If you own a laptop, it can also be used as a laptop pad to give the bottom of the travel computer some air and prevent it from overheating.
7. Social skills and reading body language
Everyone at one point or another can have difficulty reading body language. Since body language speaks more than oral language in most conversations, there have been studies to help further expand human comprehension as to what the body is saying.
It is said that reading the language of feet direction helps well. When a person’s feet are directed to you in a conversation, they want the conversation to continue and are interested. If they are pointed away, it means they would prefer the conversation to end. If they are directed to someone or something is, it is more likely that they are more interested in that object or person.
It is stated that the greatest means of showing undivided attention is through steady eye contact. While many high school students still avoid this, it is seen as a preferable trait in the work place.
8. Sleep
– To reset your “internal clock” and hopefully help your fall asleep more easily, try holding a flashlight to the back of your knee.
– The fast-paced, stress-filled life many are living can negatively affect a daily sleep schedule. One week of camping, could thoroughly relax you and allow you more precious hours of sleep, but that’s assuming you leave behind unnecessary materials (i.e., a cell phone).
– Try inducing sleep via rapid blinking, which causes droopy eyelids and may make you feel more tired.
– If you’ve managed to have a good-night’s sleep, but you’re still feeling exhausted in the mornings, it may be due to dehydration. Drink a bottle of water as soon as you wake up to feel more awake.
– Instead of setting your alarm to jolt you out of bed with an obnoxiously loud sound, set it 15 minutes earlier with noticeably calmer music. This will wake you up less suddenly; therefore make you feel less exhausted.
9. Diet/Exercise
– If you’re trying to eat smaller portions, try using a smaller plate and filling it in moderation. The image of a fuller, smaller plate will make you feel fuller than an emptier, larger plate.
– To lose 8 pounds in the span of a year, drink 2-3 cups of green tea a day, which helps to regulate your metabolism.
– Choose fruit smoothies over diet sodas. Compared to a diet soda, fruit smoothies have a greater amount of natural sugars and can overall help quicken the metabolism.
– To give your metabolism a head start every morning, try drinking a few bottles of water as soon as you wake up.
10.School
– Study in intervals! Giving your mind periodic breaks to process the information you’ve reviewed has proven to be much more effective than continuously cramming words into your brain and crossing your fingers.
– Make sure that you truly understand the material by pretending you’ll be teaching it to a friend. Would you be able to explain the material well enough for your friend to understand?
– When it comes to essays, anything to get the odds to be in your favor is helpful. To boost your chances of getting a better grade, type your essay in size 12, Georgia; this has been proven to be given the best grades.
11. Social Networking/Internet
– If you’re bored and find yourself near the Google search bar, type in some of the following terms to be entertained:
– Image search “Atari breakout” to play the classic game
– “Google in 1998” will allow you to time travel
– Get Google to launch an attack on itself by searching “zerg rush”
– “BletchleyPark” will give you a taste of history if you know a bit about World War
– search “askew” to get the page to tilt slightly, well, askew
– If you can’t get your entire picture to fit in the little square Instagram provides, try tilting your phone on its side, then screenshot the picture. It should fit right into the square without affecting the quality.
– Looking for a search engine to use? For your own safety and privacy, steer clear of Bing! That website keeps record of all of your search history and shares it with the world, while Google keeps your search preferences a secret from the public eye.
12. Removing Sharpie
– Skin: nail polish remover on a cotton ball
– Clothes: apply some hand sanitizer, and then rinse it out
– Whiteboard: go over the Sharpie with a dry erase marker
– Furniture: pour some milk onto the stain, and then rub it out
– Walls: scrub it with some toothpaste
– Glass: mix equal parts toothpaste and baking soda, then scrub
– Bonus: revive a dried-out Sharpie by dipping the tip in rubbing alcohol