Life Hack Culture is Dumb

I'm often scrolling through Twitter and come upon a video or article that describes some way of doing something that is supposedly better than the way the general population does a thing. The article or video is usually supposed to be "mind blowing" but just usually looks ridiculous. The comments read something like "Wow! I've been doing this wrong my entire life!" on a video that's like "Here's how you are SUPPOSED to drink out of a water bottle" or something stupid like that.

These are usually more entertaining than anything I feel. I don't take them literally, uprooting my entire life and changing how I have always put shoes on for example. Aside from these quick and flashy ways to do mundane things differently, I just don't like Life Hack "culture". I went through a time in my life where I was constantly looking for ways to hack my life and make everything more efficient. I would get these ideas from articles shared on social media that would be like "10 Things to do to Boost Productivity Now" or "If You aren't Incorporating XYZ in Your Learning Process, Then you are Doing It Wrong". Seriously though, I wanted to know the best way of doing everything. I was trying to learn code at the time and looking back, I spent way more time stressing about doing everything the RIGHT way.

Time management "hacks" were probably the biggest thing I struggled with. For example, I'd listen to podcasts and watch YouTube videos that would talk about increasing the amount of time one has in a day by waking up at 4am. I'd go to bed early and tell myself: "Ok. I will set my alarm for 4am and I will get up and go to my desk and do a bunch of tutorials or work on a side project." There were very few times I actually did this successfully, and instead spent most of the day hating myself because I woke up 6 or 7 instead of 4 and lost all that "extra" time. Surely I just wasn't as dedicated as everyone else, lacking the drive to do this thing that my body just did not want to do. I tried applying similar methods to exercise, which never worked. Despite these supposed failures, I kept trying to buy in.

If I wasn't listening to a podcast or watching a video that was informative or would help me learn to be better at life and my career, then I would carry around guilt and shame because I thought I was wasting precious time I could otherwise spend "improving." Because of this guilt, I became very steadfast in trying to always engage in media/doing activities that would help me get better at whatever I was interested in the time. I became obsessed with the idea of the hustle, but could never live up to the standards being prescribed by those creating and evangelizing this lifestyle.

Nowadays, I see how unhealthy this was for me. It definitely took a toll on my mental health I realized when I found myself feeling burnt out. I actually spend time doing things I enjoy now, like playing video games or just chilling on the couch with my wife and cats and watching TV. I realize that I don't always have to be trying to hack life in order to make everything as efficient as possible. I think taking time to just relax and/or do something fun and entertaining is a very important part of a healthy life. When I'm not constantly focused on self-improvement, I feel like I find myself coming up with more creative ideas and actually pursuing them. If I'm not feeling "productive", I'm not as hard on myself as I used to be. If I miss a day at the gym, I don't get upset. If I'm too tired after work to sit at my desk and pursue a creative interest, I won't force myself. I try to just enjoy whatever it is I'm doing, even if that thing is just sitting on the couch watching Chopped.