26 Time-Saving Hacks That Every 20-Something Needs To Try Right Now

1. Limit your breakfast options to foods that still fill you up, but aren’t messy on-the-go. If you take your breakfast with you, you’ll save at least 10 minutes in the morning. Things to know: Waffles are less crummy than toast, clementines are faster to peel than oranges, and if you’re going to make the smoothie, put the ingredients in the blender the night before, put it in the fridge, and then blend the next morning.

2. Get a phone holder for your car so that you don’t have to look down at your phone every time you’re following Google Maps’ directions. It will make your drives 300% safer.

3. Set all of your clocks 10 minutes ahead. This was a life hack before life hacks were a thing, but it’s fallen by the wayside, because all of our cell phones are set to the same time. Rediscover the original 90s life hack by actually getting a clock by your bed.

4. Keep a folder on your phone that has your credit card number, social security number, health insurance information, and any other necessities, so that when you need it, you don’t spend 20 minutes looking for your Triple A card.

5. If you’re trying to type up a document, and you don’t have a way of holding up the piece of paper, use a skirt hanger with clips to hold it up.

6. When you’re traveling, put a bar of soap in with the dirty laundry sitting in your suitcase to keep everything smelling clean.

7. And while you’re trying to keep things smelling nice, put a dryer sheet over your AC to make your apartment smell good.

8. Put a wooden pencil between your teeth when you’re chopping onions to save yourself from crying.

9. Once you’ve emptied the glass jar that holds your salsa/pasta sauce/olives/jam/etc., clean it out, soak it in hot water, peel off the label, and use it to hold things around your apartment.

10. Put your smartphone in a cup to increase its volume. Good party trick, but also good if you need your alarm to be much louder than it currently is.

11. Instead of waiting for a guy or girl to text you back, put your phone in an empty shoe, and don’t touch it for three hours.

12. Time yourself to see how long it takes you to get out of the house in the morning. Then, notice how slow you are in the morning, and vow to beat that time.

13. Make a to-do list for the next day the night before. In other words, make tomorrow’s to-do list tonight. This way, you won’t leave your office stressing about tomorrow’s tasks, because you’ll already have figured out everything you need to tackle.

14. Download Boomerang and schedule out emails. It will save your life.

15. Instead of packing your closet with bold statement pieces, try to own several good pieces of clothing that can work with multiple outfits, so you can literally just pull two or three items from your dresser, put them on without thinking about it, and walk out the door.

16. Turn off your data in the morning so that instead of checking five different apps while lying in bed, you eliminate distractions, and are focused on getting yourself the hell out the door.

17. Keep dental floss sticks in the car, and floss when you’re sitting in traffic. Avoid making eye contact with people in other cars while doing this.

18. When you’re reading or writing, listen to music without words to be more effective. It may not be as fun as listening to your favorite songs, but it’s definitely better than re-reading the same sentence of an email 20 times.

19. Procrastinate productively. As in, if you’re going to push your work off, at least take the time to go through your mail. Or if you want to put off doing the dishes, go for a run, or catch up on the calls you’ve been meaning to make.

20. If you need to cool off your beer quickly, wrap a wet paper towel around it and stick it in the freezer for 10 minutes.

21. When you’re trying to motivate yourself at work, have a race with your coworker to see who can get to inbox zero first. Loser buys the first round at happy hour.

22. Use nail polish on your keys so that you can tell them all apart. For example, paint your outdoor key blue, your indoor key red, your S.O.’s key pink, etc.

23. When you’re at an outdoor picnic, barbeque, beach party, or whatever, use your shoe as a drink holder.

24. Freeze coffee in your ice cube tray, and then put them in your iced coffee so you’re never watering down your caffeine.

25. Store certain produce — mushrooms, corn, brussels sprouts, avocados, lemons, limes, etc. — in a paper bag so they will last longer.

26. If you actually want to take off your makeup every night, buy making removing wipes. And invest in dry shampoo for the times you should’ve showered, but didn’t. It’s worth your money.