Wikipedia describes the process of life hacking as “anything that solves an everyday problem in a clever or non-obvious way”. The term became popular in the blogosphere and is primarily used by geeks who suffer from information overload or those with a playful curiosity in the ways they can accelerate their workflow.
This process has become an internet meme over the past few years and has been blogged about extensively. Many blogs are practical in nature such as Lifehacker, but others are inspirational and use the process of hacking to have a wider effect on your life ““ not just one problem you might have.
I enjoy reading these blogs and over the past year or so I have subscribed to, and unsubscribed from many. As of the time of writing this article there are four of the best inspiring blogs, which I give a prominent position to in my RSS reader.
Timothy Ferris ““ The Four Hour Work Week
Firstly, I’d like to separate his blog from his book. Ferris wrote a terrific book about building a small business and streamlining workflow (which I highly recommend). However he also updates a blog by the same name at FourHourWorkWeek. The man has pretty much become a legend for using life hacks to travel the world and also run a highly profitable business which takes just a few hours every month on his laptop, all through the magic of lifestyle design.
The hacks he describes on his blog are truly awesome. They range from the practical things like getting free flights, right up to ultimate life goals and self improvement such as learning new languages and improving your physical fitness.
The most obvious thing about Tim’s blog is not so much in how he writes it, it’s his ideas and thinking. The writing itself is very simple. Challenging popular beliefs, myths and mindsets are commonplace. Many of the obstacles we come up against in life are purely mental, and Tim spares no time in showing you easy hacks to get around those problems.
Henrik Edberg ““ The Positivity Blog
I wouldn’t go as far as to call this blog a self-help blog, more a resource of hacks and positive writings to motivate, inspire and inform the readers. It’s one of the best inspiring blogs, run by Henrik Edberg, a 29 year old guy from Sweden, who originally started it in 2006 during the “˜Blogging Boom’. In his own words, “The Positivity Blog is focused on positivity and opening up new possibilities for happiness and awesomeness through motivating and practical articles on how to improve your life.
The subject matter is a little more “˜out there’ than the other blogs in this list. He focuses on the mental aspect of hacking your life and the emotional side of things. Subjects such as creating happiness and health issues are all addressed.
But don’t get me wrong, this is no ‘Dr.Phil’ blog. He uses no flowery, sensationalist language to promise you the world. Rather he shares his ideas and how they worked for him. He also offers a free e-book for subscribers to download.
Jeffrey Tang – The Art of Great Things
This is by no means the biggest blog in the list but it is still one of the best inspiring blogs. In fact, I was skeptical about it when I clicked “˜Subscribe’ a few months ago. But I’ve been impressed with many of his posts and his “˜no nonsense’ approach to writing them. He addresses many of the issues (not so much problems) that occur in life such as “Too Many Rules, Too Little Trust“ or “You Must Have Cheated“.
His posts aren’t too long but are entertaining to read and very insightful. One of the cornerstones of great writing is to spur action from the reader and Jeffrey certainly has the drive and passion behind his work to do just that.
As of now, the blog has just over 1,000 subscribers, but don’t let that fairly modest number belittle this blog when compared to the bigger ones. Check it out and see if it has a place in your RSS reader.
Leo Babauta ““ Zen Habits
The tagline of this blog is “Simple Productivity” and that is precisely what Leo teaches. An advocate of a minimalistic lifestyle he shows us on a post-by-post basis the benefits of taking every piece of clutter you own and dumping it, selling it or donating it. He holds some extreme beliefs which I’m sure many of you will disagree with. The idea of taking all of your photo albums, cherished gifts from first loves and old birthday cards, digitizing them and then tossing them is an outrageous concept for most of us, myself included. And that’s fine. He merely tells us what he does and his take on things ““ there’s no obligation to be as extreme as he is. Nonetheless, his tactics work.
He has helped me quite a lot. Simple things such as getting rid of paper in my office, de-cluttering what I own (you’d be surprised how much of your stuff is actually useless junk) and simplifying things I had assumed were complicated by their very existence all created a minimalistic environment.
His “˜zen-like’ outlook and insight is inspiring to say the least. As are the ideas he spawns from it. Challenging the issue of time and formality in social circles are just a few of the topics you’ll find during a quick scan of his apt, minimalist blog.
I strongly encourage you to take a quick look at each of these blogs and see if they’re right for you. If not, do you know of any other cool lifestyle design or life hacking blogs?
Image Credit: h.koppdelaney
Tagged: inspirational • personal development • productivity
