Life Hacks
Time
3.2 hrs
Difficulty
Intermediate
Prerequisites
Tech & Us
Departments
Human Technologies
Authors
Ross Parker
Groupings
Individual
Pairs
Threes
Fours
Fives
Pairs
Threes
Fours
Fives
Minimum Year Group
None
Blurb
Life hacks are novel, fun and useful ways to use human technologies to make life better. In this unit you will get to try out some life hacks, and then find some to add to your repertoire.
License
This work is shared under the following license: Creative Commons BY-SA-NC
Outline
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Cross-Curricular Links Do not try and force this. What areas of other subjects might this reflect and/discuss language. For IB, links with ToK.
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| Teacher Reflection What was successful? What needs changing? Alternative Assessments and Lesson Ideas? What other Differentiation Ideas/Plans could be used?
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5 mins
What's A Life Hack
Introduction
- Life hacks are novel, fun and useful ways to use human technologies to make life better. In this unit you will get to try out some life hacks, and then find some to add to your repertoire.
- Almost by definition are life hacks creative: the best ones are things we never thought to do before.
- Although there are a huge range of life hacks out there, the best ones are simple, free and obvious once you know them.
- Take the example below as a classic life hack (source):
- In this case, we are using the word hack in its older sense, as a clever solution to a problem (as embodied in the hacker subculture from which grew open source software and the personal computer).
- In the sections below we will consider life hacks from each of the five parts of the Human Technologies Venn diagram:
10 mins
Material Life Hack
Cable Management
- Material life hacks can help you stay organised in a world with too much stuff (of course having less stuff is the best life hack of all in this arena!).
- Fed up of cables falling off your desk, and tangling up into an under desk cable nest? Try this life hack (source):
- In the same vein, store your unused cables neatly to avoid an in draw cable nest (source):
15 mins
Cognitive Life Hack
Mind Hacking
- A cognitive life hack, a.k.a. a mind hack, is a method to improve the way that you think.
- The visualisation below helps you to understand 20 ways your brain tricks you through cognitive bias (or illogical thinking), and so offers 20 mind hacks (source).
- Read the list, and pick one or two that you think apply to you.
- Consider how you can overcome your selected biases (knowing about them is just the start).
25 mins
Social Life Hack
Power Poses
- Social life hacks allow us to change the way we interact with others, and thus the way we feel about ourselves.
- For some examples, consider the video below in which social psychologist Amy Cuddy shows ways that we can use body language to make ourselves feel more powerful, and thus improve our social presence.
- In other words, can you "fake it till you make it"?
15 mins
Spiritual Life Hack
Relaxation
- Spiritual life hacks allow us to change our mental and physical state, by connecting us with something bigger than ourselves, and can promote feelings of wellbeing, peace, relaxation, bliss and more.
- You don't need to be religious, or believe in god, or believe in anything, in order to enjoy spiritual technologies.
- The song below (Weightless by Marconi Union) uses a range of techniques to induce feelings of relaxation, and a quietening of the mind.
- Find a quiet place and use some headphones to listen to the song.
- Shut your eyes to help reduce visual distraction.
- Try and breath slowly and deeply.
- Observe your mind, but do not try and control it...allow it to wander.
120 mins
Your Own Life Hacks
Research & Evidence
- Using a range of online sources, try and find 5 life hacks that really resonate with you.
- Aim to find life hacks that fit into at least 3 of the 5 categories in the HT Venn diagram (material, cognitive, social, spiritual), remembering that some technologies span multiple categories.
- Don't rush and just choose the first 5 you find, but take your time and explore.
- Vary your key words,
- Move beyond Google's first page of results to add variety.
- Try a range of search engines (e.g. DuckDuckGo, Bing, etc)
- Detail your 5 chosen hacks in a document, providing links to where they come from, and details of which categories they fall under.
- When you are ready, submit this document as evidence of your learning.
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