Thursday, December 11, 2014

Lifehacks? Spare Me!


 A month long  blog event hosted by

Today's Prompt: 5 Most Useful Digital Lifehacks or 5 Fave “Insert something non-bookish here –link-up hosted at Estella’s Revenge 

Lifehacks? Sounds like something out of Fargo - you know, with the wood chopper.

I'm choking (hack, hack, hee-hee)

Definition (from Wikipedia): Life hacking refers to any trick, shortcut, skill, or novelty method that increases productivity and efficiency, in all walks of life. It is arguably a modern appropriation of a gordian knot - in other words, anything that solves an everyday problem in an inspired, ingenious manner.

This usage has been around since the mid 2000s, according to Wikipedia. Why did I not know it?

Sorry, I've never utilized this particular term.

I don't think I'll start now.

I'll go with the second option:  5 Fave “Insert something non-bookish here 

5 Fave things to do when I'm taking a brief break from reading:
  1. Swimming/water exercise: I try to go to the pool three times a week. When I swim laps my mind clears and I think of nothing except the motion of body through water.
  2. Listening to music: I rarely listen to music while reading. Like swimming, listening to music blots out everything else.
  3. Playing games: I don't mean those complicated role playing games, just simple games on Pogo.com and trivia games on Sploofus.com and Sporcle.com. This morning I was insanely pleased to break into the top ten for the month on Sploofus' trivia question of the day leaderboard. Also once a week I play Mah Jongg face-to-face with three friends. We rarely discuss books (though we meet in a library).
  4. Surfing the net for non-bookish things: Google images here I come! Toss a noun or a phrase (for example, basketballs in art) in Google search and click on images.
  5. Figuring out what to have for dinner: This is an enjoyable joint activity with the daughter who lives with me. 
These are faves for brief (less than a day) breaks from reading. I can't remember if I ever went more than one day without reading. I think I must have, that time I had dysentery, on the train, in Mexico when the only thing I read was the sign, in Spanish, in the bathroom, reminding people that they shouldn't flush when the train was in the station. It was a very long train trip, followed by a couple of days in what I'm told was a very nice hotel. I don't know if that's true, I slept the whole time.

Oh, yeah,  the time when I was ten years old and had measles and they kept the room dark--but maybe that doesn't count 'cause my brother sat out in the hall and read to me. (Maybe this is why I don't like audio books--I associate being read to with being sick?)

Enough! Back to reading!

16 comments:

  1. I can't listen to music when I'm reading either, but I love listening to it the rest of the time. I've never heard of Sploofus, but I love trivia. I might have to check that out some time, but I already take too many breaks from reading, so maybe not? LOL Sounds like a good brother, reading to you when you can't read for yourself, even if he *did* ruin audiobooks for you. ;-)

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    1. Oh I love trivia, too. Besides watching Jeopardy every day, I also have the Quiz Up app on my phone which is super awesome fantastic for wasting time.

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  2. I do water aerobics and when I can't get to a class, I've started water walking. I find water walking too quiet, though, so I'm looking to invest in a cheapie shuffle/mp3 player so I have something to listen to in the pool. I imagine it might be different if I were a swimmer.

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  3. I go to a water exercise class - not at all the same a swimming laps. We are a very sociable group so there's a lot of chat. I do my laps before or after the class.

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  4. So cool you get to swim so often. I would really love to that. Swiming is definitely great. But I hate figuring out what to have for dinner, or lunch, or any meal. It's so hard. I don't want to repeat myself but I'm not that creative. What's your trick?

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    1. One thing is that there are only two of us--my daughter and I and we share the shopping and cooking. Another is that we lived abroad for a number of years so we have variety in our food experience. The are very few foods that either of us dislike.

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  5. I do love a good round of meal planning and dinner figuring out. Pinterest is my best friend in that regard. Also, I adore swimming! It used to be my favorite form of exercise when I belonged to a gym with a pool. Now I live out in the sticks and there's no such amenity. Oh well! Thanks for playing along today!

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  6. It's been fun! Thanks for all the work you put into it (and Deweys too)

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  7. I'm envious that you get to a pool three times a week! We don't have a pool around us and I miss swimming!

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    1. It's a nice set-up at a YMCA, a full gym, two pools, and a hot tub, about a five minute drive from home.

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  8. I LOVE MUSIC. I listen to it all the time- except when I'm reading & sleeping!

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    1. I love to listen to music when I'm driving.

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  9. What a good fill-in-the-blank idea! Put an iPad in my hand, or an iPhone, and I'm so distracted from reading or anything else. One could spend hours surfing for things to eat, look at, buy, prepare for dinner...or, how about games? I could play Candy Crush for hours! I love your list. Bellezza (dolcebellezza.net)

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  10. I'm quaintly old fashioned. I...don't...have...an...iPad nor do I have--are you ready for this?--a smart phone! I'm really not a Luddite, I've been on the Internet since before graphical interface, but I just don't feel the need to be constantly connected.

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    1. a very wise feeling, indeed. Sometimes it all becomes way too much.

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  11. My 5 year old started swim lessons a couple months ago, and she is obsessed. I've been thinking it looks really relaxing! (I only know how to swim underwater and doggie paddle, ha!)

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