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To quote fellow Uproxx writer Melanie Gordon, “It’s very rare that someone doesn’t want to travel.” The desire to embark on some sprawling, wild, worldly travels and meet a few of the billions of people who walk this planet surges through most people’s veins.

When we’re not traveling though, it’s the mundanities and routines of everyday life that help us get there. How exactly? By maximizing our most common purchases through credit cards to get us on that first-class, round-trip flight to Europe.

Whether you want to score one of this week’s last-minute nonstop hacker fares and cheap flights or set out to visit one of this season’s most coveted desert destinations, we asked for some insight from leading travel gurus and point experts on how to maximize points on your everyday purchases.

Sierra Smith (@highsierrapoints): Use Different Cards For Different Purchases & Look Into Stacking Opportunities

I think the best strategy is to make sure you have the right cards for your specific situation. It is important to look at your finances and identify your top spend categories for everyday expenses, things like groceries, travel expenses, utilities, etc. Your expenses may not be the same as everyone else’s, so don’t feel like you have to apply for a card that everyone else has if it’s not doing anything for your points strategy.

Once you identify your top spend categories, try to find cards that will earn additional point multipliers in those categories (like 4x points per dollar on groceries/restaurants with the Amex Gold card). Also, look for cards that will help you earn the point currency that you value most. If you are a frequent flyer with American Airlines, maybe an AA card makes sense for your situation.

And finally, if you really want to up your game by earning additional points, look into stacking opportunities with websites like Rakuten, Rocketmiles, and airline shopping portals.

Kyle + Kenz Parks (@adventure_parks): Stack Non-Card Bonus Opportunities

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While we always try to use the card that earns the most on the purchase (i.e. 4x on dining or groceries with the AMEX Gold, 2x at gas stations with the Citi AAdvantage), the best way to maximize points is by “stacking” non-card bonus opportunities. Airline shopping portals, dining programs, and merchant offers are some of the best ways to multiply your points every single day!

Adam Hill (@adamhillyeah): Use Gift Cards At Stores where You Hit Bonus Spend Categories

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Some of the best and easiest ways to maximize points return is going after gift cards at stores where you hit bonus spend categories for purchases at office supply and grocery stores as well as using shopping portals. During Black Friday, I managed to use Rakuten to buy a few things I needed, like tires, identity theft monitoring, and more, and managed to pull in over 60,000 Amex points.

Furthermore, using a Chase Freedom card, I was able to use PayPal at checkout and stack the rotating 5x back promotion they offer each quarter. So anytime you are using shopping portals, do your very best to stack the rewards if possible.

I have a rule, never settle for less than 2x back on ANY purchase. I am constantly looking at shopping portals and comparing the best returns as well as how I stack rewards. If you want to earn points quickly, you should be doing the same.

Allison Tackette (@luckytictac): Utilize Dining Programs & Shopping Portals

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Welcome offers and points earned from spend are great but don’t forget about the easy wins. Dining programs and shopping portals are a great way to stack your purchases and earn more points on top of your credit card spend. Almost every airline or hotel program has a dining program. Just link your cards and you’ll automatically earn points with a participating restaurant. Shopping portals require a few extra clicks to track your purchase.

Both are worth the additional set-up time to earn between 1 to 25 additional points per dollar spent.

Angel Trinh (@pennywisetraveler): Use Different Credit Cards For Specific Purchases

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Use a credit card that has a spending category for that specific purchase. For example, I use my American Express Gold card because I can get 4x points at US Supermarkets and 4x points at Dining. I would not use my Amex Plat card because I would only get 1x at supermarkets and 1x at dining.

Capital One Venture X is good for 2x at everyday purchases in stores that do not have a spending category.

Ryan Horn (@profitsandpoints): Use The Right Card For The Right Situation

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It’s all about where you spend most of your money. According to a study by Transunion, the average person only has two or three credit cards. With only two credit cards, it’s unlikely that the average person has the right card for every situation that will maximize the points they’re earning in the categories (e.g., dining, travel, gas stations) where they’re spending money.

I suggest first having a 2x points earning card like the Capital One Venture X. This ensures you’re always earning at least 2x points on all your purchases. After that, I would look at cards that maximize the categories you spend in the most.

I love going to restaurants, so I make sure to have an American Express Gold Card in my pocket which nets me 4x American Express Membership Rewards points on all dining purchases. Having the right card for the right situation can dramatically accelerate your points earning and can get you to your next trip booked with points so much sooner.

Spencer Howard (@straighttothepoints): Focus On Using Cards With Bonus Categories To Earn 3-5x Points On Common Purchases

Sign up for business and first-class flight alerts here.

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When I’m not using a new card to earn a sign-up bonus (the fastest way to earn points), I focus on using cards with bonus categories that earn 3-5x on my most common purchases. For purchases that don’t fall under a bonus category, I use a card that earns 2x on everything.

As a bonus, if I’m shopping online, I make sure to use a shopping portal such as Rakuten or an airline shopping portal to earn even more points.

Thomas Lonergan (@travelliketommy): Optimizing Your Return On Spend

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This is the most important aspect of the travel hacking game that 99% of people get wrong. Everyone is so concerned about sign-up bonuses and completely overlook the points-earning potential from dialing in their everyday spending and doing this first! When you get your everyday spend dialed in you can generate significant amount of points so that trips can be taken every year.

The key is to identify the two or three things that you spend the most money on an annual basis and have a specific card for each of the categories that will maximize your points earned! I call this optimizing your return on spend.

For example. Let’s say you spend $75,000 and spend the most money on the following three items…and you have one credit card for everything.

Let’s say you earn an average of 1.5x points per dollar on all purchases:

– Food 1.5x (dining, grocery, delivery apps)
– Travel 1.5x (flights, hotels, Ubers, tours, etc.)
– Gas 1.5x
– All other purchases 1.5x

Your earning potential is 112,500 points per year!

If we have a strategy we can triple that!

– Food 4x points per dollar
– Travel 3x-10x points per dollar
– Gas 3x points per dollar
– All other purchases 2x points per dollar

Once you have your foundational cards in place to maximize your everyday spending then you can chase sign-up bonuses!

Victor Cheng (@travelhackvic): Consider An Amex Gold x Chase Freedom Unlimited Combo

I use the Amex Gold and Chase Freedom Unlimited combo. This will ensure I get 4x on my top everyday spending, which is food and groceries. Then I will use Chase Freedom Unlimited for the rest for the 1.5x. Chase Flex is a secret weapon I use from time to time — since it will offer 5x on selecting categories in each quarter. Citi Premier is my go-to gas card.

Another secret sauce is to use Rakuten or shopping portals to earn even more points on top of your credit card points.

Vivian Tu (@your.richbff): Pay Your Credit Card Balance In Full Each Month

Order “RICH AF: The Winning Money Mindset That Will Change Your Life” here.

I think the reason why we call it personal finance is because it is so personal. There is a credit card out there for everyone. The main thing to remember is that the only way that credit cards and reward points work is if you pay your balance off in full each month. If you’re rolling a balance over month-to-month, interest charges on your purchases are going to outweigh any benefits you would be getting. Points and rewards are great but they aren’t going to outweigh interest payments.

It’s really important to remember that when you’re choosing a credit card, it’s important to get one that fits your lifestyle. I live in a major city, I’m in my 20s, I’m young, and I know the vast majority of my spending goes toward travel and dining out. I don’t own or drive a car so I don’t buy gas and I would say I buy groceries but it’s just my fiance and I so it’s not too much. We also don’t do too much retail shopping. We focus our own credit cards on maximizing points on dining and travel. That said, if you’re head of household, a mom who commutes to work via car, gets gas twice a week, buying groceries for your family, you would want to get a completely different credit card.

It’s also good to have more than one credit card; the sweet spot is typically three to five cards and then you want to make sure to use the card that gives you the maximum amount of points and rewards for every purchase. It might take an extra five minutes of thought when you first are using three to five different cards to decide which is the best one to use but you’ll start building greater rewards in a short amount of time.

Damon McMahon, better known as Amen Dunes, has announced his upcoming album, Death Jokes. The album marks the New York indie-pop artist’s sixth album, and first since 2018’s Freedom. Ahead of the album, Amen Dunes has shared the song “Purple Land,” on which, he ponders his existence, and examines the fragility of life.

“’Purple Land’ is one of the album’s interstitial character portraits: first of a child, then the narrator, and then of an empowered figure as they all navigate and find liberation from the disconnection and disenchantment of an uncertain world,” said McMahon in a statement. “It begins first as a song to my daughter about life on earth, offering platitudes, warnings, and guidance through its various stages, until it becomes a reflection on the narrator’s own uncertainties as he moves through the world, ending finally with a character Rhea Anne who exemplifies liberation from it all in a moment of simple reckless freedom, as the beat drops in the final minute of the song.”

Since the release of Freedom, Dunes has been through the wringer. He dealt with COVID-19 for a large part of 2020, which resulted in lingering respiratory issues. According to a press release, Dune had 21 planned collabs fail, which then prompted him to change his direction. He moved from Los Angeles to Woodstock, New York, collaborated with a small group of producers and instrumentalists, and the result manifested into Death Jokes. In support of the album, Dunes will embark on a small tour across North America and Europe. Tickets are available for purchase here.

You can listen to “Purple Land” above and see the Death Jokes artwork, tracklist, and tour dates below.

1. “Death Jokes”
2. “Ian”
3. “Joyrider”
4. “What I Want”
5. “Rugby Child”
6. “Boys”
7. “Exodus”
8. “Predator”
9. “Solo Tape”
10. “Purple Land”
11. “I Don’t Mind”
12. “Mary Anne”
13. “Round the World”
14. “Poor Cops”

05/08 — San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore
05/10 — Los Angeles, CA @ The Bellwether
05/15 — Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel
07/01 — Paris, FR @ Trabendo
07/03 — Berlin, DE @ Gretchen
07/05 — Roskilde, DK @ Roskilde Festival
07/07 — Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso
07/09 — London, UK @ KOKO

Death Jokes is out 5/10 via Sub Pop. Find more information here.

On Thursday, Feb. 8, 2024, the Los Angeles Lakers paid tribute to the legacy of Kobe Bryant with the unveiling of a statue outside of the team’s arena in Los Angeles. During the ceremony, Vanessa Bryant not only spoke lovingly and helped to unveil the statue, but she also revealed that there will actually be three statues of Bryant outside Crypto.com Arena.

“Because fans all over the world and the City of Angels loved Kobe so much, he will have three statues in front of the arena also known as ‘The House That Kobe Built,’” Vanessa said. One will be a statue of Kobe wearing No. 8, with another of him wearing No. 24, and another with Kobe alongside his daughter, Gianna. While only one was shown on Thursday, the others will be unveiled in the future.

Several individuals spoke during the ceremony, including Bryant’s former coach Phil Jackson. However, the main event was Vanessa setting up the unveiling itself.

Vanessa referenced a quote she attributed to Kobe, saying “Leave the game better than you found it, and when it comes time for you to leave, leave a legend. And that he did.” It was a fitting end to the ceremony and the No. 8 statue will be joined soon enough by two others.

The Los Angeles Lakers celebrated the life and legacy of Kobe Bryant on Thursday night by unveiling a statue that will exist outside of Crypto.com Arena. As part of the ceremony that ended in the statue getting unveiled, a number of individuals who were part of Bryant’s personal and professional life spoke.

One such person was Phil Jackson, the Hall of Fame coach who won five championships in Los Angeles alongside Bryant. At one point, Jackson told a story about a meeting he set up between Bryant and Michael Jordan, who won six rings under Jackson in Chicago and has likened Bryant to a little brother. It is a story that will not surprise anyone if they know anything about Bryant’s perpetual sense of self-assurance.

“I arranged a meeting between Michael and Kobe to give him a little impression of how to handle being in a restricted basketball system that relied on passing the ball to available teammates and wanting to go 1-on-1 with this guy in front of you,” Jackson said. “So, I arranged, we had a little meeting in the cigar room off the bar downstairs, and Michael and I were sitting there and Kobe walked in after a shower and the press and what not. He sat down, and he said, ‘Michael, I can take you 1-on-1.’ And Michael said, ‘Well, I think you might, I’m 37, you’re 22.’”

It is unclear if they went on to play 1-on-1, but I really hope they did.

Ten percent of the land area on Earth is covered with glacial ice, which includes ice sheets on Greenland and Antarctica, ice caps and glaciers. Unfortunately, 750 billion tons of Earth’s ice is melting yearly due to climate change.

If climate change isn’t stopped, this will lead to disastrous consequences for the entire planet.

“As a result of this, ice around the world is melting and raising the planet’s sea level. The oceans already rose 6 centimeters during the course of the 19th century. But they rose by 19 centimeters during the 20th century, over 3 times faster than they rose in the previous century,” says a video produced by Real Life Lore. “NOAA estimates that global sea level could rise by up to 2.5 meters by the year 2100. Which would have devastating consequences.”

Real Life Lore has over 7 million subscribers to its videos covering geography and world populations.

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The video speculates that if all the ice on Earth melted, it would raise the global sea level by an incredible 68.3 meters (224 feet).

This would have a disastrous impact on the United States.

How Will Earth Change If All the Ice Melts?

“In North America, Vancouver, Seattle, Portland, and most of San Diego and Los Angeles would be underwater. San Francisco would be an island and San Jose would be destroyed by the waves,” the video says.

There would be catastrophic damage to the East Coast as well. The ocean would expand to swallow the entire states of Florida and Delaware, almost all of Long Island, and the cities of New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington D.C. and Boston.

This video depicts a rather grim future, but the positive side of the story is that it can be avoided. Each of us has the responsibility to take whatever measures we can to revert the effects of climate change and to push for policies that stop the creation of greenhouse gasses.

Some stories are wholesome. Others are hilarious. Others still restore some faith in humanity. This one is a combination of all three.

A teacher shared on Reddit how he took his student’s torn coat home so that his crafty daughter could mend the pocket. As he explained in his post, the student didn’t seem to have the funds to fix it on his own or replace the jacket.

His daughter didn’t only sew up the jacket, but left her own cheeky bit of “11th grade advice” in note hidden in the coat’s pocket.

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“Hey child, it is me, the magical coat fixer. Hope it holds up and please send it back if it doesn’t. Sorry I couldn’t make it as invisible as I hoped, but I did my best,” the note read. “Also since you’re in 8th grade (I think — I’m not 100% sure what grade my dad teaches) I thought you could use some 11th grade advice.

The note then concluded with “MIDDLE SCHOOL SUCKS. YOU’RE ALMOST FREE. YOU CAN MAKE IT. GOOD LUCK,” written in all caps.

I asked one of my students who is very poor to give me his torn coat so I could bring it home for my daughter to sew. He came to class and showed me that he found this in the pocket.
byu/thedeadwillwalk inMadeMeSmile

The teacher shared in the comments that even though his student was “embarrassed at first,” he kept pulling out the note and smiling through class.

The teacher shared in the comments that even though his student was “embarrassed at first,” he kept pulling out the note and smiling through class.

Folks who read the story commended the daughter for not only helping the younger student through an act of service, but also with some encouraging words.

“Such a small act of kindness will probably be something this child carries with him for the rest of his life,” one person wrote.

“Your daughter has a HUGE heart. What a gift. ❤️” added another.

Another noted how this story hits on multiple emotional levels, writing:

“There are so many wonderful things about this. You thought to help out a kid in your class who didn’t have the resources to help themselves/They weren’t afraid of too proud to accept help when they need it/You know your child’s skills well enough to know they could help/Not only did your kid go out of their way to help, they thought it might be nice to include a note, a word of wisdom, and a promise to keep helping in the future if needed/The kiddo who needed help recognized how special this note was and thought to share it with you/And now you share it with your internet friends!”

In an interview with TODAY.com, the teacher (who remained anonymous) shared that this kind of behavior was typical of Brianna—his daughter. And apparently, her creativity was contagious, as the little boy gave her his own handmade thank-you card.

Yep, something the biggest acts of generosity are small enough to find in a coat pocket.

There’s always advice out there for parents that promise to be the game changer everyone’s been looking for but since every child is different, the claim rarely rings true. But this piece of advice might just do the thing it claims because it’s such a simple shift and allows for both parent and child to feel validated in tough situations.

Anjuli Paschall recently posted a video sharing a phrase her mom used with her as a child that changed her life. She shares that over Christmas break she was washing the family’s antique china, five of the fragile dishes fell to the floor and shattered. At the sound of the noise, Paschall’s mom screamed from the other room, “I love you more than those dishes.”

A simple reassuring phrase that Paschall has heard all of her life reassuring her that mistakes happen but her mom will always love her more.

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But her mom didn’t just use it when mishaps occurred, she used it even when accomplishments were achieved. The purpose was to continually remind Paschall that nothing she could do or achieve would diminish her mother’s love. Children can absorb so much and internalize things that may come out in perfectionist tenancies, so the phrase “I love you more than…” is meant to build confidence and self forgiveness. Commenters tell Paschall how helpful that phrase is and how their plans to use it.

“Decorating birthday sugar cookies with my 7 year old today and the platter we loaded them on dropped and broke as she carried it… my immediate reaction, ‘It’s fine… I love you so much more than that platter and cookies… we’ll make more.’
Your post was so timely, friend. Thank you,” one mom writes.

“As someone whose expertise is mind and nervous system development and how this influences adult life, this is so powerful. When they feel this as kids they don’t NEED to hear it from the world, because it is encoded within them as embodied truth already,” someone else shares.

“You know what’s the best part? This sentence is very real, logical, and gives even the parent themselves a reality check that they may need in a moment when they’re angry. Yes, I love those dishes. But do I love them more than I love my child? Hell no. So yeah, better tell them in that moment when they are in a doubt,” another says.

While this little phrase may not be for everyone, it is certainly one that a lot of commenters are wishing they heard as children. Watch the entire video below:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Anjuli Paschall (@lovealways.anjuli)

Job hunting literally can feel like you’re out in the Sahara scavenging for your next meal…all the while knowing that there are dozens of other hunters just as starving as you are, and that there doesn’t seem to be enough morsels to go around. It all makes one anxiety-laden psychic landmine, forgive the mix of metaphors.

Even after you’ve used all the tips and tricks to make your resume stand out in a sea of other applications, using every viable SEO keyword you can scrounge up, and you do finally get the coveted interview, the stress is far from over. Certain questions feel more like traps than anything else.

But just like everything in life, a little prep, along with some expert advice, goes a long way.

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But just like everything in life, a little prep, along with some expert advice, goes a long way.

Erin McGoff, aka “your internet big sister,” has all kinds of strategies for building a fulfilling career, not least of which being acing interviews.

In her mind, salary expectations are one of the “trickiest” parts of the interview to navigate.

While it might be tempting to try to give a direct number, McGoff explains how that might not be the best route to go, since that puts you at risk of being “low balled” by the company, or being written off as too expensive.

In addition, McGoff advises against:

• Telling them what you currently make
• Saying you “hope” or “wish” for
• Being unprepared
• Saying you’ll take whatever

Instead, McGoff offers a few other polite, professional scripts to use that invite more “negotiation power.”

When potential employers bring the subject up, respond with “Thank you so much for bringing that up. I would love to know the approved salary range for the position.”

If the response to that is something to the effect of “there isn’t a set range” or “it depends on the candidate” you can say: “Got it. Well, my salary range is flexible but I’d like to learn more about the specifics of the role before giving out a solid number.”

You can also give the price range of other companies you’re applying to, McGoff says. And perhaps most importantly, she recommends reiterating that you’re “flexible on salary depending on other elements of the compensation package.”

This all comes with the caveat that employers “should” be listing the salary range upfront in the job description.

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This mentality is seconded by Joyel Crawford, a career coach and host of the podcast Career View Mirror, who told The Muse that giving a finite number “limits your ability to make something work with the company.”

In the same interview, Crawford mentions that it’s also worth noting that compensation can be given in other ways, depending on your values. Perhaps you can be flexible in salary to a job with a high amount of paid time off, year end bonuses, childcare benefits, etc.

Bottom line: job interviews are tough, but that’s why having some strategies in place to bring your best, even when nerves are triggered, is so important.

Fifth-grade teacher Emily E. Smith is not your ordinary teacher.

She founded The Hive Society — a classroom that’s all about inspiring children to learn more about their world … and themselves — by interacting with literature and current events. Students watch TED talks, read Rolling Stone, and analyze infographics. She even has a long-distance running club to encourage students to take care of their minds and bodies.

Smith is such an awesome teacher, in fact, that she recently received the 2015 Donald H. Graves Award for Excellence in the Teaching of Writing.

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It had always been her dream to work with children in urban areas, so when Smith started teaching, she hit the ground running. She had her students making podcasts, and they had in-depth discussions about their readings on a cozy carpet.

But in her acceptance speech for her award, she made it clear that it took a turning point in her career before she really got it:

“Things changed for me the day when, during a classroom discussion, one of my kids bluntly told me I “couldn’t understand because I was a white lady.” I had to agree with him. I sat there and tried to speak openly about how I could never fully understand and went home and cried, because my children knew about white privilege before I did. The closest I could ever come was empathy.”

Smith knew that just acknowledging her white privilege wasn’t enough.

She wanted to move beyond just empathy and find a way to take some real action that would make a difference for her students.

She kept the same innovative and engaging teaching methods, but she totally revamped her curriculum to include works by people who looked like her students. She also carved out more time to discuss issues that her students were facing, such as xenophobia and racism.

And that effort? Absolutely worth it.

As she said in her acceptance speech:

“We studied the works of Sandra Cisneros, Pam Munoz Ryan, and Gary Soto, with the intertwined Spanish language and Latino culture — so fluent and deep in the memories of my kids that I saw light in their eyes I had never seen before.”

The changes Smith made in her classroom make a whole lot of sense. And they’re easy enough for teachers everywhere to make:

— They studied the work of historical Latino figures, with some of the original Spanish language included. Many children of color are growing up in bilingual households. In 2007, 55.4 million Americans 5 years of age and older spoke a language other than English at home.

— They analyzed the vision of America that great writers of color sought to create. And her students realized that our country still isn’t quite living up to its ideals. Despite progress toward racial equality with the end of laws that enforced slavery or segregation, we still have a long way to go. Black people still fare worse than white people when it comes to things like wealth, unfair arrests, and health.

— They read excerpts from contemporary writers of color, like Ta-Nehisi Coates who writes about race. Her students are reading and learning from a diverse group of writers. No small thing when they live in a society that overwhelmingly gives more attention to white male writers (and where the number of employees of color in the newspaper industry stagnates at a paltry 12%).

— They read about the Syrian crisis, and many students wrote about journeys across the border in their family history for class. The opportunity particularly struck one student; the assignment touched him so much that he cried. He never had a teacher honor the journey his family made. And he was proud of his heritage for the first time ever. “One child cried,” Smith shared, “and told me he never had a teacher who honored the journey his family took to the United States. He told me he was not ashamed anymore, but instead proud of the sacrifice his parents made for him.”

Opportunities like this will only increase as the number of children from immigrant families is steadily increasing. As of 2013, almost 17.4 million children under 18 have at least one immigrant parent.

Smith now identifies not just as an English teacher, but as a social justice teacher.

Smith’s successful shift in her teaching is an example for teachers everywhere, especially as our schools become increasingly ethnically and racially diverse. About 80% of American teachers are white. But as of last year, the majority of K-12 students in public schools are now children of color.

As America’s demographics change, we need to work on creating work that reflects the experiences that our students relate to. And a more diverse curriculum isn’t just important for students of color. It’s vital for everyone.

As Smith put it, “We, the teachers, are responsible for instilling empathy and understanding in the hearts of all kids. We are responsible for the future of this country.”

This article originally appeared on 12.07.15

Life hacks are tiny nuggets of wisdom that can make our daily lives easier and more enjoyable. They’re clever shortcuts and ingenious solutions to everyday problems that we sometimes don’t realize are unique to us until we share them with others.

They can save us time, money and effort, all while adding a dash of fun and creativity to our routines.

At Upworthy, we love sharing life hacks to make our readers’ lives a bit easier. We’ve done them on tips people wish they knew in their 20s, “simple but effective” life hacks, “life advice,” how to make your refrigerator smell better and even hacks that help you find a lost kid.

One would think that we’ve heard every hack known to man. However, a group of Redditors have come together to share the “completely original” life hacks they came up with and there are many new ones that we’ve never heard.

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It all started when a Redditor with the username reddit_API_is_sh** posed an awkwardly-worded question to the AskReddit subforum: “What are some of your personal life hacks that you came up with yourself, not necessarily completely original?” The question received over 1,400 responses from folks with life hacks that can help people with nearly every phase of their lives, whether domestic responsibilities, education, or raising kids.

So here are 17 of the best “completely original” life hacks shared on Reddit.

1. Teach ’em Spanish

“If your child watches the same DVD over and over so many times that they know it by heart, switch the language and let them learn Spanish.” — BulletDodger

2. Cleaning motivation

“When I don’t feel like cleaning, I put on a ‘Watch Me Clean’ show on YouTube, and somehow, within 10 minutes, I get up and start cleaning. I need to try that with exercising next.” — Affectionate-Big5784

3. Friends are plants

“You really have to invest in friendships the older you get. The analogy of them being like a plant that needs watering is so true.” — Wirsteve

4. Poo trick

“I put a little bit of tp in the toilet before number 2 to combat splashing.” — TraditionalLadder473

5. Develop interests

“The best way for me to deal with loneliness is actually not to pursue platonic or romantic relationships actively, but to keep myself busy working on and developing my interests. (Additionally, it’s important for me to do this both in a solitary and semi-social way – taking classes, joining groups, etc. However, I don’t use these semi-social outlets to make friends per se, but as a way to just be around like-minded people.) I find actively pursuing relationships when I am in a state of loneliness stress is a recipe for bad outcomes. I always meet the best people when I am more at peace with my life. Also, one of the big perks of having a relatively slow social life is time for personal development and working on interests.” — Zazzlekdazzle

6. Duvet hack

“No matter what size bed you have, get a duvet that’s at least one size bigger.” — Meganetism

7. Memorization

“For upcoming exams that require memorization, I just read through the paper once in morning, noon, afternoon and evening. Don’t try to forcefully remember; just read, maybe out loud if you can’t focus. Over several days, the brain naturally remembers it effortlessly. This, of course, requires doing it ahead of the exams for at least 1 week; try to break the bad habit of studying rushed the night before the exam the next morning with this. Repetition is mother of all learnings.” — Reddit_API_is_sh**

8. Shop satisfied

“Don’t go to the supermarket hungry.” — Posiotive_Judgement581

9. The night before

“Always set up your outfit, lunch, bag, keys, etc. the night before.” — H3rata

10. Always show up

“Just show up. Whether for your job, your BF/GF, your sports team, your parents, or whatever. Just showing up, even if you’re empty-handed, even if you can’t play, even if you’re not totally prepared for the meeting, just show up. Bailing on stuff and not being present is the worst thing you can do. Always show up.” — Gottapeenow2

11. Be quiet

“Say less. People will over-explain and give you the advantage.” — Arseblaster420

12. Why worry?

“I adopted a snippet of conversation from the movie, ‘Bridge of Spies.’ At three, separate points in the movie, there is this fragment between Hanks (the Lawyer) and Ryland (the Spy) (whose birthday is today, too):
Lawyer: You don’t seem to be worried about «event».Spy (after a short pause): Would it help?
I like that. There’s no point to getting your knickers in a twist over events you have no control over, cannot influence, etc.
My life is considerably more relaxed with that attitude.” — DeeDee_Zee

13. Stay silent

“When someone says something outrageous (racist, mean, hurtful, whatever), do not respond at all. Go completely silent. Leave their comment hanging there like a fart. Let them marinate in what they just said.” — jimstirlingssurgeon

“Repeat exactly what they’ve said out loud back to them. Say nothing else after. It gets them thinking. As a Black woman who recently moved to Australia, I’ve had to adopt this approach instead. It’s been a wonderful strategy.” — kymikeobabe

14. Touch grass

“If you’re feeling sluggish or down in the dumps go for a walk or get out in nature, even if it’s the last thing you want to do.” — Cherrycola250ml

15. No sugar in the AM

“Don’t start your day with sugar—it helps reduce cravings throughout the rest of your day, and your snacking will take a back seat. I think it’s spiking your glucose early that does it. Start with something savory and packed with protein.” — Emotional_Camp_7681

16. Clean for 10

“Every morning I spend 10 minutes cleaning something before I go to work. Dishes we left to soak overnight, folding laundry we air dryed, organizing the coffee table. A little adds up to a lot.” — k_lo970

17. Space heater

“In the winter, I put a small space heater in my bathroom and put it on only when I’m in the shower. When I get out, it is so pleasant in the room. No chills, no goosebumps. I can dry off and put on my lotion in comfort. It’s glorious. If you want to do this, you have to make sure to buy a space heater that is designed for the bathroom and has one of those safety plugs.” — lordmattimcauthon