Do not judge a life hack by its cover. Sometimes the most bizarre, last ditch attempt to solve a problem was the one that actually worked.
A recent Reddit thread asked users to share the things they've discovered that finally worked. Some responses related to productivity. Otherwise were geared toward health and wellness.
And a few dealt with more abstract concepts and ideas. They probed why some things in life are the way they are, why they work.
The catch? For all the effectiveness of the examples offered, they sure would seem dumb at the outset. The Redditors accepted that critique proudly. They agreed that the solution or idea absolutely does seem stupid.
But ultimately, the solution gets the last laugh. It works. Enough said.
NecessaryPrudence asked, "What is so stupid but it actually really works?"
Throwing Off the Scent
"Putting a piece a duct tape on your bike seat so people won't steal it. Who wants to try and sell a potentially ripped bike seat, let alone buy one." -- EliBeatch
"Living in NYC in the 90's bike shops would offer a service to 'ugly' your new bike. Basically they would beat the sh!t out of your new bike so it would be less likely to get stolen." -- rumpusbutnotwild
"Hehe, that's the same as placing a bag outside your door with a note on it saying 'Jimmy, i couldn't wait any longer. Here's your stuff.' Someone will steal your trash within 10 minutes." -- RandomLuddite
Not a Recommend Form of Paid Leave
"I drank creek water and got eight days off of work" -- eternalrefuge86
"I got bit by a mosquito in Africa and 'got to' retire early" -- heybrother45
"And a +2 to resistance ability" -- BoofLlama
Varying Levels of Success
"For me personally, I make a to-do list but put like 3 or 4 things that are just mind-numbingly simple. I knock them out, cross them off, feel productive, and feel motivated to hammer out the tougher pieces." -- boyvsfood2
"Here's the problem....I get through the 3 or 4 simple things, and stop because I feel that I've been productive enough today. Then I put off the real tasks until tomorrow....after 3 or 4 more simple tasks...." -- NightwingDragon
If You Can't Beat Em, Make Em Utterly Uncomfortable
"Long story short: A boorish guy was bullying my grandfather at a movie theater. My grandpa turned around and literally blew air on his face. The man was so weirded out that he left the theater." -- jollysystem75
"That's what I do when my cat tries to bite the sh** out of me." -- Rude_Dragonfruit
Home Remedies
"Putting hand sanitizer on bug bites. It's the most glorious feeling and it works better than any itch spray!" -- stoneyevora
"Another thing that works great on itchy bug bites: use a hair dryer. Set it to hot, blow it at the bug bite from 6" away until it just starts to hurt (you're not looking to scald yourself here!), then turn it away. Repeat two more times."
"Strangest thing, but it totally relieves the itch for a good 24 hours. Vastly more effective than anti-itch cream." -- fishsupreme
Stuck in the Past
"Stay at least a year behind in technology and gaming. Better, yet, two. You'll save a sh**-ton of money." -- DFSdog
"This has been my MO for almost 10 years now. I rarely pay more than $15 for a game."
"The only thing that sucks is most games with multiplayer components are usually pretty dead by the time I get to them" -- OakLegs
Living the Life
"On hot days, our neighbor turns on his lawn sprinkler and sits next to it in a lawn chair in his bathing suit." -- Back2Bach
"When I wanna be outside on a hot day, I hook the nozzle of the garden hose on the side of my hammock, than spray myself whenever I get too hot. Next year I'm getting a pool." -- Aikrose
"Before I had air conditioning my wife and I put a couple inches of hose water in a plastic kiddie pool and sat in lawn chairs soaking our feet. Turns out if your feet are comfortably cool then you will be comfortable overall."
"Over subsequent years we built it up - bought a projector and watched Netflix cast on the side of the house while watching from lawn chairs with feet soaking. Living the high life!" -- acefreese
Never Stop Questioning!
"Working a full-time office job."
"If you think about it, it's completely f***ing insane. You spend so much time, getting ready to go there, getting there, and then being there. Between all of that it's easily 60 hours a week, if you're only 'working' 40."
"Then, you get your work done in a fraction of that, maybe 6 hours--total, like for the week; not each day--but you have to look busy the rest of the time when you could be outside. Or playing with your kid. Or painting. Or choking the chicken on PH, it really doesn't matter."
"The point is, you could be doing a million other things that would make you happy but instead you're staring at a fake spreadsheet or a progress bar or sitting in a meeting that could easily have been an email."
"It's the stupidest sh*t I've ever heard of."
"It works though. You get money and so you can have a house and a car and whatever other crap you want. You can futz with these things on your time off."
-- hereticjones
Look Good, Feel Good
"Dressing well at work. You can be an amazing worker but people really do judge you by how you look. And by well I mean looking put together and professional. This applies for trades/blue collar work as well as white collar. I've worked both." -- lefouilly
"This is verified fact. Always been one to dress up for work and - routinely - folks in the elevator lobby who don't know me assume I am headed for the top floor, where the finance & C suite folks live." -- Midas_Artflower
Casting a Wide Net
"Today I fixed my refrigerator's water dispenser by forcefully pushing random buttons until it started working again. This was after reading the entire manual front-to-back twice didn't help at all." -- ostentia
"Of course the manual was no help. The person who wrote it most likely never even saw the fridge." -- HyperSpaceSurfer