What Makes a Clever Hack?

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British technology writer Danny O’Brien, in 2003, interviewed people he considered to be the most productive folks he knew. This group included computer programmers who implemented simple and technical strategies to improve their work. For example, they would rely on text documents to remember important information, like birthdays and to-dos. They could then search for this information when they needed to access it.

The following year, O’Brien presented his findings at the O’Reilly Emerging Technologies conference in San Diego to brainstorm up-to-date tips and tricks. These secrets were called “life hacks” by O’Brien. And, we’ve been obsessed with hacking ever since.

What Makes a Clever Hack?

The thing is, when it comes to upping your productivity, there isn’t an exact science. Often, it takes patience and lots of trial and error before finding a hack that works for you. But, to get you started on the right foot, let’s first take a closer look at what constitutes a clever hack in the first place.

Inspires You to Take Action

The key to any successful hack is that it motivates and inspires to take action. Yet, so many hacks do the opposite. In fact, most hacks are a huge waste of time.