College Hacks (4 page)
Authors: Keith Bradford
To cure a sore throat, add a teaspoon of honey to Jell-O mix and heat it up. The gelatin will coat and soothe your throat.
An old CD spindle makes for the perfect bagel holder. They are great for packing school lunches.
Need a better grip on something like a jar, hammer, or screwdriver? Wrap a few rubber bands around it.
What those weird looking laundry symbols on your clothes mean.
Out of toilet cleaner? Pop a couple Alka-Seltzer tabs in, then come back in 10 minutes to a nice clean shiny bowl.
Put a small amount of water in a glass when you microwave your pizza to keep the crust from getting chewy.
Mom not there to make sure you get up for school in the morning? Your alarm will be more effective at waking you up in the morning if it’s the same tone as your ringtone.
Clothes shrink too small? Soak them in a mixture of hot water and hair conditioner for five minutes and then air-dry them.
Feeling nauseated? Smell rubbing alcohol. It will relieve the nausea almost instantly.
No dryer sheets? Throw in two tinfoil balls for static-free clothes every time.
Chest congested? Steam a sliced or chopped onion, and stand over the pan while it’s heating. The sulfuric acid will break up the mucus and help you breathe better.
Have a bad toothache? Rub ice on the back of your hand on the v-shaped webbed area between your thumb and index finger. A study showed that this can relieve the pain by up to 50%!
Mom not there to iron your shirt? Hang it up in the bathroom while you shower. All the wrinkles will come out by the time you’re done.
Put a used, wet sponge in the microwave for two minutes to kill 99% of the bacteria in it.
If a shirt or sweater has static cling, put a safety pin in it. The static will instantly go away.
Accidentally get pen or an ink stain on your clothes? Scrub some toothpaste into it, let it dry, and then wash. The stain will disappear.
- Plan or pre-make an exciting breakfast.
- Put your alarm clock on the other side of the room so you have no choice but to get out of bed.
- Drink water before going to bed.
- Turn off your phone so you won’t be interrupted or tempted to check it while falling asleep.
- Get the right amount of sleep according to the human sleep cycle and the time you need to wake up.
Sleepyti.me
will give you the perfect time to go to bed according to your wakeup time. - Sleep in total darkness. Melatonin, the sleep hormone, is produced in the dark, meaning a better, deeper sleep.
- Read before you go to bed. This makes your eyes tired and tricks your brain into thinking you’re tired, making it easier to fall asleep.
- Choose a blanket that keeps you warm. The best sleep temperature is between 62°F and 70°F.
- Plan something fun and exciting to do in the morning so you’ll have no problem getting up to do it.
- Stretch before you go to bed. This will relax your muscles and make it easier to find a position to sleep in, giving you a better night’s sleep.
Sick of static cling on your clothes? Put a small safety pin over the seam; this will drastically reduce the problem.
Someone drop a beer or wine glass? Get rid of the bigger pieces and then put bread on the rest of it. The bread will pick up even the smallest of shards.
Holding a banana peel over a bruise for 10 to 30 minutes will almost completely remove the bruise’s color.
It may sound crazy, but white wine will actually take out a red wine stain.
Mom not around to give you a big hug? On
TheNicestPlaceOnTheInter.net
you can get free virtual hugs and positive messages from strangers. It’s no mom hug but it’s guaranteed to light up your day!
Migraine relief: Soak one or both of your hands in ice water for as long as you can. While they’re in the water, make fists and open and close them repeatedly.
If you don’t own an ironing board, throw your wrinkled clothes in the dryer with a wet sock for 30 minutes.
Fold your T-shirts and stack them vertically so you can see all of them, saving time and space.
Nail polish remover can easily remove any scuffs or stains from your shoes, making them look almost brand new!
- Your favorite comfort blanket
- Iron
- Ironing board
- Dryer sheets
- Detergent
- Cleaning supplies
- Your mom’s secret recipes
- Cooking supplies
- Fruits and vegetables
- A friend close by who’s always on call for a hug
- Cans of chicken noodle soup (in case you get sick)
- Your childhood teddy bear
- A really loud alarm clock
- Bottle of multivitamins
- Hand sanitizer
- Sunscreen
Homework Hacks
Short a few words on an essay? You can actually add words to the end of paragraphs and turn their font to white. Your professor won’t be able to see them and it will add to your word count!
Need to read a book faster? Place a piece of your favorite candy on each paragraph. When you reach each paragraph you get to eat that piece.
Avoid using the word “very” because it’s lazy. Someone isn’t very tired, she is exhausted. Something is very bad, it’s atrocious. Someone isn’t very afraid, he’s terrified.
Stumped on a question or math problem? Lie down. Your thought process is much faster when you’re lying down, which is why you always lie down at psychiatrist’s appointments.
The easiest way to finish a paper in no time is to pick a subject that infuriates you. You’ll easily be able to rant about it and the pages will fly by.
Need a quick and simpler definition of a word? Use an online thesaurus. They usually have close to one-word definitions.
Want to write essays and bibliographies like a pro? Get the information from Wikipedia and cite the sources listed at the bottom.
Taking notes with different colored pens kickstarts your visual memory when trying to remember them at another point in time.
Writing something out is the memory equivalent of reading it seven times. Keep that in mind when you’re getting ready to study.
Didn’t finish your paper? Copy and paste a bunch of random symbols in a Word document and hand it in. Your teacher will think the file was damaged, buying you more time to finish.
Paper due? Low on black ink? Change the font color to dark tan. It looks almost identical to black ink.
Playing with puppies and kittens relieves stress and can help you perform better on exams.
- Work at a desk and chair and not a couch, floor, or bed to make sure you avoid falling asleep at all costs.
- Make sure to work in a well-lit area. Cramming alone in your room with a tiny little lamp on is just asking for you to fall asleep.
- A big dose of fresh air is a great way to make you feel refreshed and alert.
- Minimize your distractions. That’s right, that means turning your phone off or at least putting it on silent, and refraining from social networks and YouTube videos.
- Only use coffee and energy drinks as a last resort. If your body is not used to large amounts of caffeine, you may experience a caffeine crash.
- Take a 10–15-minute break every 60–90 minutes. Make sure this includes getting out of your chair to get your blood flowing again.
- Listen to stimulating music in headphones. Classical music without lyrics is said to make you more productive.
- Get a study buddy. It’s a lot harder to fall asleep when you have someone there to smack you every time you start nod off.
- Switch up your tasks and/or subjects. If you have a bunch of different things to do, switch from one to the other occasionally. This will keep things fresh and interesting.
- Have a 15–20-minute nap just before the sun comes up. This will reset your body’s internal clock.
Looking for some new music to study to?
Musicovery.com
is a site where you can find new music based on your current mood.
Studying for 30–50 minutes at a time (with 10-minute breaks in between) is the most effective way to retain information.
Have a paper due? Finding it hard to not get distracted by the Internet?
KeepMeOut.com
lets you block sites for certain periods of time, so you’ll stay focused on the task at hand.
When doing long assignments, set a 30-minute timer and race it. This will prevent you from procrastination.
How to easily convert gallons, pints, quarts, and cups.
You can remember the value of pi (3.1415926) by counting each word’s letters in “May I have a large container of coffee?”
Eating chocolate while studying helps the brain retain new information more easily, and has been directly linked to higher test scores.
How to make an essay longer: Hit CTRL + F and search for “.” and change the font size of the periods from 12 to 14. They look exactly the same, but will make your paper significantly longer!
Want to get smarter without realizing it? Play some Tetris. It’s been known to increase your brainpower by almost 150%.
Take notes on your professor’s ideologies and use them to your advantage when writing essays.
Believing you have a good memory actually helps you to have a better memory.
If you can’t imagine dropping the mic after the final sentence in your essay, your conclusion needs to be stronger.
Effective study technique: Read through a page of your notes once, then try to recall as much of what you read as possible. Do this for every page you need to study until you are happy. Past recollection makes future recalling easier.
Studying in your room? Keep your shoes on. Your mind associates having your shoes on with being busy, so you’ll be less distracted.
Chew gum when you’re studying, and then chew the same flavor when you take the test. This has been known to improve memory.
Writing papers is a formula. An 8-page paper is roughly 16 paragraphs. If you write an introductory paragraph and a conclusion, that leaves you with 14 body paragraphs left to write. Make a list of 14 arguments that support your thesis, and then rearrange them to make sense chronologically. Once you break them down, papers become a lot easier.
Accidentally type half your essay with caps lock on? In Word, shift + F3 will change anything from caps to no caps and vice versa.
The EasyBib iPhone app will give you a bibliography on any book if you simply scan the barcode.
Leave studying to the very last minute? Your best chance of passing is to study the first and last 20% of the syllabus.
Writing an essay? Copy and paste it into Google translate and have the computer read it out to you. It’ll be much easier to find errors this way.
| INSTEAD OF THIS | SAY THIS |
|---|---|
| like | along the lines of |
| like | in the nature of |
| in fact | as a matter of fact |
| always | at all times |
| now, currently | at present time |
| now, currently | at this point in time |
| because | because of the fact that |
| because | due to the fact that |
| because | for the reason that |
| because | in light of the fact that |
| by | by means of |
| point out | draw your attention |
| for | for the purpose of |
| be able to, can | have the ability to |
| to | in order to |
| on, about | in regard to |
| although, though | in spite of the fact that |
| if | in the event that |
| finally | in the final analysis |
| about | in the neighborhood of |
| decide on | make decisions about |
| when | on the occasion of |
| twice | on two separate occasions |
| the water rose | the level of water rose |
| most | the majority of |
| the people in | the people who are located in |
| the pie in | the pie that is included in |
| until | until such time as |
| of, on, for, about | with reference to |