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Young girl who had the cops called on her for studying lanternflies wins a major award

“We were thrilled that she was doing that.”

bobbi wilson, lanternflies, gordon lawshe
Caldwell Police via Gregory Mascera

Body cam footage of the police approaching 9-year-old Bobbi Wilson and her mother.

On October 22, 9-year-old Bobbi Wilson was excited to go out into her Caldwell, New Jersey, neighborhood to see if a mixture she put together would be effective at killing spotted lanternflies. She had learned about the dangers that the lanternflies pose to the local tree population during the summer and created an insecticide that she learned about on TikTok.

Spotted lanternflies are an invasive species dangerous to trees because they feed on their sap.

“That’s her thing,” Wilson’s mother, Monique Joseph, told CNN. “She’s going to kill the lanternflies, especially if they’re on a tree. That’s what she’s going to do.”

While Wilson was peacefully working on her sustainability experiment, her neighbor, Gordon Lawshe, called the police on her. “There’s a little Black woman walking, spraying stuff on the sidewalks and trees on Elizabeth and Florence. I don’t know what the hell she’s doing. Scares me, though,” he said, according to CNN.

Lawshe told the dispatcher she was a “real tiny woman” and wearing a “hood.”

When the police arrived, they were calm and did their best not to upset the young girl. They assured Wilson and Joseph that they had done nothing wrong. But the mother couldn’t believe that the police were called on them by a neighbor they knew.

“Mr. Lawshe told Mrs. Joseph that had he known that it was her daughter that he had seen, he certainly would not have called the police. Mrs. Joseph did not accept Mr. Lawshe’s apology," Lawshe’s attorney, Gregory Mascera, told CNN.


Rebecca Epstein, the executive director of the Georgetown Law Center on Poverty and Inequality, says that the incident may have been an instance of “adultification bias” where young Black girls are treated like they are much older than white girls of the same age.

“It’s a very pervasive form of bias that does not know boundaries, in terms of which fields it occurs in. In emergency rooms, we’re seeing it affect the treatment and diagnosis of Black girls. In schools, we’re seeing it come up in the form of harsher and more frequent discipline against Black girls,” Epstein said in an interview with CNN.

The fact that a 9-year-old girl had the police called on her for any act is a depressing sign of the times in America. But thankfully, that’s not the end of the story. In the aftermath of the incident, a community of people stood up for Wilson and praised her for her dedication to sustainability.

A group of Black female scientists at Yale hosted Wilson and her family in November. She toured various laboratories and was invited to submit lanternfly specimens to the university's entomology department.

The Association of New Jersey Environmental Commissions honored Wilson with its Sustainability Award after it learned about her work with spotted lanternflies.

“We were thrilled that she was doing that,” Ann Marchioni of the ANJEC told the Daily Beast.

Wilson was given the award on Tuesday, December 6, and science communicator Jason Bittel was on hand to talk about spotted lanternflies and how he got into science writing.

“When I saw what happened with Bobbi, my heart immediately just sank," Bittel said, according to New Jersey Hills, "because what I saw in her I was doing as a young boy. We were celebrated, if anything, no one called the police on us or chided us in any way."

Bittel said that Wilson’s dreams could have been crushed the day the police were called on her. But the community stepped up to preserve her passion for science. To promote her interest in science, Bittel presented Wilson with a tub full of interactive materials and gave books to her mother so her daughter could learn more.

"When this incident originally happened, I had one goal. It was to change the trajectory of that day for Bobbi," Joseph said. "I can't say I've done it all myself. It wasn't just me, it was the community. … It was friends near and far that understood what happened."


This article originally appeared on 12.13.22

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A mom showed her Gen Z kids 'Ferris Bueller' and was surprised who they think the real hero is

Gen X and Gen Z apparently see the hero's journey very differently.

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A photo collage from the movie Ferris Bueller's Day Off.

It's really interesting what nearly 35 years does to the lens of perspective. When my friend invited me to join her family for their once-a-month movie night, she asked which John Hughes movie she should show her 14-year-old twins. The answer was obvious. It had to be something fun, school-related, and iconic. Ferris Bueller's Day Off seemed to be the perfect choice as we Gen X-ers loved it when we were exactly their age in 1986.

The fraternal twins (one boy, one girl) sat down on a rare early Saturday evening when neither had dance practice or a sleepover. We gathered in our comfy clothes, popped some popcorn, and hit "rent now."

They were excited by the opening scene, where an adorable Matthew Broderick (doesn't matter what generation one is, he transcends them all) is pretending to be sick in bed with worrying parents. His sister Jeanie is suspicious and exhausted by his antics, but Ferris prevails. He then proceeds to give a brilliant monologue about eating life up and living in the moment. His now-famous line, “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it,” is still plastered in quote books and on Bumble profiles.

The twins seemed inspired, and one of them actually teared up in the first five minutes.

The opening scene from Ferris Bueller's Day Off.www.youtube.com, Paramount Pictures, Film Studies Fundamntals

Spoilers ahead: the movie is pretty simple. Ferris is a super cool high school kid with a beautiful girlfriend, Sloane, played by Mia Sara. His best friend is a depressed hypochondriac named Cameron, who is played to perfection by Alan Ruck. Ferris skips school a lot (nine times!) and grabs each day by the neck. There are themes of Hedonism, Nihilism, and Taoism, but neither of the twins mentioned that.

The first thing both kids DID bring up (after being delighted by the shower monologue) was how privileged the characters were. Affluent Chicago suburbs, after all, was the setting John Hughes knew best. They also noted, as many have over the years, that Ferris seemed rather selfish and insensitive to what others in his life wanted and needed.

Ferris Bueller, 80s movies, Gen X, Gen ZA Ferris Buellers Day Off Film GIFGiphy Paramount Pictures

There have been many conversations over the years about Cameron being the true hero of the film. He has a story arc, unlike Ferris, that is unwavering. He's sad, but pushes through it and even gets the guts up to stand up to his father after a Ferrari incident.

In fact, there was a theory that Ferris was a figment of Cameron's imagination—a Fight Club scenario, if you will. Robert Vaux writes on CBR, "The theory holds that the entire day is a fantasy taking place in Cameron's head while he lies sick in bed. His sickness actually supports the theory: once Ferris comes over, it vanishes, and Cameron plunges energetically, if reluctantly, into the events of the day. According to the theory, it's because there are no events of the day. He's still sick at home, and the whole thing is a daydream."

cameron, ferris bueller's day off, 80s movies, john hughes, gen x, gen zCameron GIF in Ferris Buellers Day Off 80SGiphy, Paramount Pictures

I fully expected the twins to have similar thoughts. If not the Fight Club part, at least the idea that Cameron was the true protagonist. But what they (both of them) said instead was shocking. "No," the daughter told me. "I mean, I liked Ferris and I loved Cameron. But it's Jeanie who's the hero here."

Jeanie, the sister mentioned earlier, was played with pure rage by Jennifer Grey. She spends most of the movie attempting to narc on Ferris rather than enjoying her own beautiful day. She is angry and determined until…she meets a "bad boy" at the county jail, played complete with bloodshot eyes by Charlie Sheen.

Taken aback, their mom pushed back. "Jeanie, the sister? Why?"

The son answers, "She just changes the most. She starts out, like, having it in for Ferris. Really, having it in for EVERYONE. And then she just like figures it out." The daughter adds, "Yeah, in the end she was rooting for Ferris. She came the farthest from where she started and she's the one who kinda saved him."

Jennifer Grey meets Charlie Sheen in Ferris Bueller's Day Off.www.youtube.com, Paramount Pictures, Tvoldy23

Gobsmacked, I turned to Reddit for more answers. In the subreddit r/movies, someone recently posted, "Something I noticed about Ferris Bueller's Day Off." They then proceed to drive the Cameron theory forward. "At the start of the film, Cameron is in bed sickly and not really confident in himself, but as the movie progresses, he starts to get more confidence, and by the end, he gains the courage to stand up to his father."

A Redditor replies with this thoughtful answer: "I've heard it called a flat character arc when the protagonist doesn't change but is instead the catalyst for those around them to change. It's hard to pull off but is often the most satisfying kind of character. Ted Lasso (especially in season one) is a good example."

Others echo that idea, offering up characters like Forrest Gump and The Dude from The Big Lebowski. They stayed exactly the same while the world or others in their lives changed around them. It's described on a YouTube clip as "The moment you realize the main character is not actually the main character."

The movie Ferris Bueller's Day Off is dissected. www.youtube.com, Paramount Pictures, CinemaStix

This would give credence to the twins' opinion. But I'd never heard anyone choose Jeanie before, and they weren't swayed by Grey's performance in Dirty Dancing because they haven't seen it yet. When pressed one more time, their answer didn't change. "No doubt, it's the sister. She should have a spinoff." Their mom was so proud and we all totally agree.

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Sustainability

A guy planted two potatoes in an Amazon shipping box to prove a point. Mission accomplished.

You should see how many potatoes he got out of this experiment.

The Gardening Channel with James Prigioni/YouTube

Can you grow vegetables in a cardboard box?

In the era of supermarkets and wholesale clubs, growing your own food isn't a necessity for most Americans. But that doesn't mean it's not a good idea to try.

A household garden can be a great way to reduce your grocery bill and increase your intake of nutrient-dense foods. It can also be a good source of exercise and a hobby that gets you outside in the sunshine and fresh air more often. However, not everyone has a yard where they can grow a garden or much outdoor space at all where they live. You can plant things in containers, but that requires some upfront investment in planters.

container garden, growing plants in containers, growing vegetables, homegrown, producePotted plants and herbs can thrive in a container garden.Photo credit: Canva

Or does it? Gardener James Prigioni set out to see if an Amazon shipping box would hold up as a planter for potatoes. He took a basic single-walled Amazon box, lined it with dried leaves to help with moisture retention, added four to five inches of soil (his own homegrown soil he makes), added three dark red seed potatoes, covered them with more soil, added a fertilizer, then watered them.

He also planted a second, smaller Amazon box with two white seed potatoes, following the same steps.

Two weeks later, he had potato plants growing out of the soil. Ten days after that, the boxes were filled with lush plants.

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

Prigioni explained how to "hill" potato plants when they grow tall enough, which helps encourage more tuber growth and protect the growing potatoes from sunlight. Hilling also helps support the plants as they grow taller so they don't flop over. He also added some mulch to help keep the plants cooler as the summer grew hotter.

After hilling, Prigioni only needed to keep up with watering. Both varieties of potatoes flowered, which let him know the tubers were forming. The red potato leaves developed some pest issues, but not bad enough to need intervention, while the white potato plants were unaffected. "It goes to show how variety selection can make a big difference in the garden," he explained.

The visible plants have to start dying before you harvest potatoes, and Prigioni checked in with the boxes themselves when they got to that point.

vegetable garden, growing potatoes, grow potatoes in a cardboard box, Amazon box, farmingFreshly harvested potatoes are so satisfying.Photo credit: Canva

"I am pleasantly surprised with how well the boxes held up," he said, especially for being single-walled boxes. The smaller box was completely intact, while the larger box had begun to split in one corner but not enough to affect the plants' growth. "This thing was completely free to grow in, so you can't beat that," he pointed out.

Prigioni predicted that the red potatoes grown in the larger box would be more productive. As he cut open the box and pulled potatoes from the larger box, they just kept coming, ultimately yielding several dozen potatoes of various sizes. The smaller box did have a smaller yield, but still impressive just from two potatoes planted in an Amazon box.

People often think they don't have room to grow their own food, which is why Prigioni put these potato boxes on his patio. "A lot of people have an area like this," he said.

"I will never look at cardboard boxes the same," Prigioni added. "There are so many uses for them in the garden and it's just a great free resource we have around, especially if you're ordering stuff from Amazon all the time."

cardboard box, container garden, amazon box, growing vegetables, gardeningDo you see a box or do you see a planter?Photo credit: Canva

People loved watching Prigioni's experiment and shared their own joy—and success—in growing potatoes in a similar fashion:

"I have been growing potatoes in every box I can find for several years now. I have had excellent success. I honestly think potatoes prefer cardboard. And yes, most of my boxes were from Amazon."

"I live in an upstairs apartment with a little deck and I have a container garden with containers on every single stair leading to the deck. I grow potatoes in a laundry basket. It's amazing how much food I can get from this type of garden!! Grateful."

"I literally got up and grabbed the empty boxes by our front door, the potatoes that have started to sprout, and soil i had inside and started my planting at 1am. Lol. I will take them outside today and finish. Thank you James!"

"I grew potatoes and tomatoes on my tiny balcony in Germany (in buckets and cardboard boxes). Now I have a big garden here in America. I so love to grow my own food."

"I grew sweet potatoes in cardboard boxes. It’s so much fun."

Next time you're stuck with an Amazon box that you don't have a use for, consider whether you could use it as a planter for potatoes or some other edible harvest. Gardening doesn't have to be fancy to be effective.

You can find more of gardening experiments on The Gardening Channel with James Prigioni.

This article originally appeared in April.

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Millennial mom gets real about 'absent boomers' who won't make time for their grandkids

They always seem to have time for vacations. Grandkids? Not so much.

via Canva/Photos

A stressed millennial mom and her parents.

The baby boomer generation is often called the "Me Generation" because after the social upheaval of the ‘60s, they began to focus on themselves, prioritizing wealth accumulation, personal growth, self-help programs, and fitness. Now that baby boomers are grandparents, some millennials aren’t too happy that the Me Generation has taken that ethos into their golden years.

Although it’s important not to paint every generation member with the same brush, many older millennial parents feel that their baby boomer parents, known for being the least involved in recent history, are acting the same way as grandparents. Mother Phyllis, a popular TikToker with much to say about boomer grandparents, recently shared a video about how her parents live 40 minutes away and put very little effort into being grandparents, but brag about how much they love their grandchildren on social media.

The crux of Phyllis’ point is that older millennials had grandparents involved in their lives, but their parents don’t have the same dedication.

@motherphyllis

Can anyone else relate?????? I should’ve said absent grandmother’s not grandparents but y’all know what I mean 🤣 #fyp #fypシ #fypage #viral #fyp #viral #millennial #boomer #momlife #mom #sahm #funny @laneige_us

“My mom comes over for her yearly visit and snaps a picture of the kids. Or sometimes she doesn't even do that. She'll just take a picture off my Facebook page, post it to her Facebook page, and say, 'I love hanging out with my grandkids so much,'" Phillis says in a video with over 200,000 views. “They're so amazing. And then her friends comment and say, ‘Being a grandparent is so amazing, it's just so great.’” Phyillis adds that when she had a child, her boomer parents didn’t show much interest in helping after her birth, saying that helping out was her husband's job.

millennials, baby boomers, baby boomer grandparents, absentee grandparents, generational complaints, active grandparentsA boomer grandma ready to post on Facebook.via Canva/Photos

The post resonated with many people in the comments who are having the same struggles with their boomer parents. "Their parents raised us. They didn’t even want to be parents, so they’re sure as hell not gonna be grandparents," Kim wrote. "I mean, you think having boomer grandparents are bad, try having them raise you. Generation X basically raised ourselves because they’re busy," Queen added.

A big reason why parents like Phyliis feel betrayed by their parents for refusing to be involved in their children’s lives is that they probably had grandparents who were involved in theirs. Many older millennials and Gen Xers had grandparents involved in their upbringing, providing daycare, babysitting, and making social visits, because their grandmothers were raised to be homemakers and didn’t have jobs. So their lifestyle was more geared to taking care of children. Boomer women were much more likely to have had careers and still work to this day.

@motherphyllis

Millennials just can’t understand the way some boomers act If I’m being honest ##fyp##foryoupage##fypシ##fypage##mom##sahm##momlife##honest##truth##relatable##millennial##boomer##generation##millennialstothemoon##phyllis

“Here’s the thing, though: it’s statistically more likely that your own grandmothers were homemakers, at least from the time they had children,” DeeDee Moore, a grandparenting influencer, writes for Scary Mommy. “They were home to watch you after school, or host you and your cousins for weeks during the summer. Starting with the baby boomer generation, women were more likely to be in the workforce, making babysitting grandkids and cousin camp harder to pull off.”

While parents like Phyllis have a good reason to be upset that their parents aren’t involved in their children’s lives, everyone’s situation is different, so we can’t bash all boomers for being uninvolved in their grandchildren’s lives. However, their accusation does follow a significant generational trend: Gen Xers and older Millennials, known by some as Generation Goonie, were raised in a world with very little parental involvement. So, it's unsurprising that their children have grandparents who may not be around much.

This article originally appeared in April

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Robin Williams saw a struggling comedian bomb on stage. He changed her life with one sentence.

They had never met but Williams knew exactly what to say.

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Robin Williams performs on stage.

Robin Williams once beautifully said, "I think the saddest people always try their hardest to make people happy. Because they know what it feels like to feel absolutely worthless and they don't want anybody else to feel like that."

One night at a comedy club in Los Angeles, a new, nervous stand-up comic was called to the stage by the emcee. In one hand, she casually had a beer that she propped up on the piano. In the other, was her notebook full of scribbled, half-written joke premises and a few wine stains. She did her opening joke and the response was so quiet, she could hear the ice machine crackling in the kitchen. Joke two — a slight spattering of nervous laughter. Joke three got a heartier laugh, but then it went back to deafening quiet by joke four.

She mercifully got through her final joke, and said "That's my time" long before the red light in the back of the club even went on. She scurried off stage with her beer, like that rat in New York carrying a piece of pizza. Panicked, embarrassed, and frankly — a little hungry.

It was just one of those nights. The last time she'd done this act — same words nearly exactly — she'd received an applause break. This time, she was left questioning every one of her life decisions. Why had she come to Los Angeles? How was the next month's rent supposed to get paid? Why had she cut her hair in the "Rachel-styled" haircut?

As she was about to enter the hallway that led into the bar area, she could feel actual tears forming behind her eyes, like little faucets that were slowly turning on. "Don't cry at the comedy club," she told herself. Rather, "Don't cry at the comedy club AGAIN." But as the tears came anyway, she looked up and lo and behold, there was Robin Williams. She stuttered, "You. Are. One of my favorites. Ever." He looked at her, his blue eyes warmly crinkling and said, "You were amazing."

It hadn't been true. But the fact that he would go out of his way to make this total stranger's awful night into one of her best at that time, was just the kind of person Robin was.

I know this because that woman was me.

I wanted to tell him about the Mork and Mindy poster on my wall as a kid, and how I had cut out Mindy's face and put in my third-grade class photo. I wanted to tell him how much I loved his care for animals and for the unhoused and for the less fortunate. Or that because of him, I had a weird fetish for suspenders. (The last one wasn't quite true, but I still wanted to say it.)

But instead I merely laughed and said "Oh, thank you. But I can do better." He gave me a gentle look like, "We're all in this together," and even though I knew I'd never have a career like his, it dawned on me that it didn't matter. That being kind to others actually DID matter and that he was a lighthouse in a really stormy, pitch-black ocean.

I stuck it out and just a few years later, got to perform in the super cool and coveted "New Faces" show at the Just for Laughs Montreal Comedy Fest. Didn't kill there either, but I was able to step back and look down from an aerial view. How we uplift others, whether through laughter or kindness, is really the only control we have in this world.

Years later, after Robin passed away, I had heart surgery and was feeling down. I had read that cardiac issues could leave a person biochemically depressed and the first person I thought of was him. I messaged our mutual friend from San Francisco and asked if he remembered Robin speaking to him about heart surgery and depression. He only affirmed that yes, it was a very real side effect and that I should take it seriously.

I have always thought of the neurotransmitter Serotonin like it was a flowery perfume. Notes of honey, lavender, rose. When someone has a good amount of it floating through their synapses, it leaves trace of itself wherever it goes, as if the tunnels it burrows under pumps it out through a steam grate. But from what I've heard, Robin struggled with that too. And yet he still found a way to leave a lovely and inviting scent behind him, because he wanted to make sure OTHERS were okay.

heart, robin williams, comediansA heart shaped neon sign in the dark Photo by DESIGNECOLOGIST on Unsplash

I guess, even in his death, I was looking to Robin for answers. But one puzzle remains solved: making others happy is the kindest thing we can do, even when our own valves --- whether heart or perfume pumps --- fail to work.

This article originally appeared in April.

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25 'bizarre but effective' life hacks that have actually made people's lives smoother

Creating an email for your kid when they're born to create time capsule of memories is pretty genius, gotta admit.

Photo credit: Canva

A person tying their shoes on inside.

Streamlining our days is simply a necessity as life brings us more and more to-dos with each passing moment. But luckily, necessity is the mother of invention, and people have found clever ways to make mundane tasks more efficient, more enjoyable, and more likely for us to fit into a routine.

Odds are you’ve come across a list or two sharing some of these strategies (we’ve certainly written a few), and might be thinking you’ve seen it all. That certainly seemed to be the thought going through someone’s head when they asked folks online, “What's your weirdest but most effective life hack in 2025?”

This person clarified that they didn’t want “obvious” answers, like automating bills, and used one friend’s hack of bulk-recording “angry customer rants” to play when they were put on hold too long as an example.

“Just looking for fun, clever hacks, especially for the kind of tasks you always put off, like chasing refunds or fighting with a warranty department,” the OP added. Over a thousand people responded with their kooky ways of making life more livable.

Laundry seemed to be one of the biggest dreaded tasks that people tackled. But once they found a system that worked, there was no going back.

productivity, life hacks, cleaning hacks, productivity hacks, chatgpt for productivity, health hacksA person folding clothes.Photo credit: Canva

“If you hate putting away laundry as I do, this is the absolute best way to do it. Fold and put away like two shirts at a time then gtfo.”

“Once I recognized that you are never done with laundry it was a game changer… I identified anything that doesn't need to be folded (socks, underwear, athletic clothes, etc) and gave them bins that I can toss in laundry as I get to it. Towels were the same way. Who am I folding towels for? This ain't a hotel…I have a process flow too. When the hamper is full, do laundry. Clean and dry laundry goes into a big hamper I named the "laundry inbox". If the inbox is full...I sort. If I touch the clothes in my hamper I fold them (or at least a few)…No more rifling through clothes to find something to wear and leaving them in the bin. I probably spend a few minutes on laundry every day and this works so well. It's never done. I just keep moving things forward.”

“As soon as washing machine finishes, clothes go straight onto hangers, then hangers go straight onto the line. I even hang my underwear around the ‘neck’ of the hanger. When clothes are dry, I just grab the whole lot of hangers (with the clothes on them) together on the line, and they go straight into my wardrobe.”

“That laundry folding technique…the one where you fold items neatly and symmetrically, and then I fold the T-shirts in half again so that they slot into my drawers - you almost ‘post’ them into their slot in the drawer, and you can see your entire wardrobe at once from above.I can see all my clothes, and simply pick out the one I want without disturbing any of the others…No fumbling, unfolding them, etc. The whole process of getting dressed takes half the time it used to, and you’re never hunting for anything, turning anything inside out, getting the wrong T-shirt because you didn’t see the pattern, etc. Of course, folding the clothes takes a bit longer, so I do that in one go whilst watching TV. Time spent up front, time saved later on.”

Cleaning was also a big one. Several folks had tips for keeping things tidy despite being busy, organizationally challenged, unmotivated, neurodivergent, etc.

productivity, life hacks, cleaning hacks, productivity hacks, chatgpt for productivity, health hacksTwo people doing chores. Photo credit: Canva

“One tiny thing I like to do is that every time I leave a room, I make an attempt to leave it tidier than when I entered it. Just tidy one thing as I leave.”

“Laundry and clean the house on Thursday night so I don’t have to do shit on the weekend.”

“I work in a school, and my house gets pretty gross during the school year because my husband and I get too busy/burnt out to clean. So I invite people for a dinner party the second weekend after school ends, so I'm forced to clean up right away and we start the summer with a clean house.”

“I sweep my floor daily before bed…That way the amount of dust is bearable every day instead of clumps of cat hair from the whole week. “

“I tidy/clean every day for 15 minutes. I set a timer and stop when it goes off. This has all but eliminated the need for hour-long cleaning sessions with bigger intervals.”

Perhaps unsurprisingly, many people found success by sourcing some of their time management to AI. We don't need to debate the environmental or ethical implications of those (that’s another conversation), but it is worth noting how a major obstacle keeping so many of us from streamlining in the first place is mental exhaustion, plain and simple.

productivity, life hacks, cleaning hacks, productivity hacks, chatgpt for productivity, health hacksA person using AI to streamline their workflow. Photo credit: Canva

“I struggle with decision making fatigue…I've trained my Chatgpt to be my productivity coach. So every time I struggle these days - I just go to it and type in short hand what I'm supposed to do and what I'm feeling. And just blindly follow it's advice. Like..’heyy as my productivity coach, I've been procrastinating planning this upcoming meeting. I feel like I don't have all the pieces and keep pushing it away. I have 25 mins now, help me fix it.’ Works like a charm.”

But it’s not just this kind of tech that people have used to streamline their life.

productivity, life hacks, cleaning hacks, productivity hacks, chatgpt for productivity, health hacksA person doing all their emails at once. Photo credit: Canva

“I keep a burner email address just for warranties, returns, and shady sign ups, and I forward all receipts there manually right after a purchase.”

“I struggle with waking up, especially when an alarm is involved. Often because I have a hard time falling asleep in the first place. But I noticed on a vacation where the bedroom had skylights that couldn’t be covered that I woke up well with natural sunlight…So we installed automatic blinds in our bedroom, where it opens up a little bit at sunrise, and halfway at 8am, etc. I wake up SO much better now, which helps with the rest of my day!”

“When your kid is born…start an email address just for them. Whenever you have a thought, take a picture or video, or want to save a memory send it to that email. Over the years you will have a perfect little journal of your life with them that is safe from fires or getting lost. And when they turn 18 you can surprise them with it and give them the password as a present and they can read / see all the times you were thinking of them over the years :)”

And never underestimate the power of a good list.

productivity, life hacks, cleaning hacks, productivity hacks, chatgpt for productivity, health hacksA person writing a to-do listPhoto credit: Canva

“I wrote a list of meals we actually all like and realistically cook all the time anyways. We pick out a meal per day on Fridays, make our shopping list and are set for a whole week without thinking once ‘whats for dinner.’”

“I make my to do list, sit down to do a leisure activity (read, watch tv, play a game), and set a 15 minute timer. When the timer goes off, I pick a task to complete from my list. When it’s done, I set a new timer, and chill for another 15 minutes. Works every time!”

“To do list for every. Single. Thing. Even the smallest, dumb things like ‘google that:...’ I don't have to store it in my brain… SO satisfying.

People also swore by doing away with daily routine tasks and consolidating them to one designated, optimal time.

productivity, life hacks, cleaning hacks, productivity hacks, chatgpt for productivity, health hacksA Now & Later list. Photo credit: Canva

“Instead of answering messages, email, answering phone as things come in… I do it in small time blocks 3 times a day. morning, afternoon, evening. 99.9% of things aren't urgent and can wait.”

“Identify weekly tasks that can be changed to monthly. Identify monthly tasks that can be changed to every two months.”

“I invoice monthly instead of at the end of each project…I only have 1 day each month I need to check for outstanding payments rather than every day or week. You do have to get better at buffer and cashflow though.”

Finally, we saved the best, most unique ones for last:

productivity, life hacks, cleaning hacks, productivity hacks, chatgpt for productivity, health hacksA person tying their shoes inside. Photo credit: Canva

“My biggest hack is making commitment bets with friends when I’m in a high energy state…If I have a bet I never fail it’s crazy.”

“This is a common one in the various ADHD subs but- keep your shoes and pants on until all of the tasks are taken care of… If you take your shoes off at the door, get a pair of house sneakers. If you struggle with being productive at home, put some shoes on. For some reason, having shoes on kickstarts my energy and makes me want to do things. I even bought some light sneakers I only wear inside now.”

“For the past two year, I have committed to learning one new skill every quarter. This means I focus on four skills in total each year, ranging from networking and communication to personal finance and investing, Phyton programming, running etc. To dive into each skill, I choose one high-quality book or podcast that resonates with the topic. I dedicate time to not just consume the content, but also to engage with it through listening, reading, and writing. This approach has allowed me to gain a solid understanding of each subject and apply what I've learned to real-world scenarios. The results have been remarkable! Not only has my perspective on various aspects of life expanded, but I've also seen significant growth in my professional network. Engaging with new concepts has sparked meaningful conversations and connections with like-minded individuals.”

“Get whiteboard erasers and write on the lid of your freezer everything that is inside. No need to go rummaging around trying to see what you have. Any time something new goes in, add it to the lid. Any time you take something out, erase it.”

“Take the time to consume art. Whether that’s finding artists you like and literally going to galleries, or even it’s just going to the garage or a different room with the sole reason to listen to music…But try and see the beauty in it. After a while, you start to see the beauty in everyday life.

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