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Modern WisdomModern Wisdom

Life Hacks 109

Jonny & Yusef join me again for another Life Hacks episode as we detail our favourite apps, websites, resources and tools for a productive and efficient life. Expect to learn... Why yoghurt is a non-savoury ketchup, how to save £1 on meal deals in the airport, how to automatically share your Instagram Stories to Facebook, the best apps for laptop keyboard shortcuts, frictionless To Do List capture, finding beautiful free images online, and much more. This episode is brought to you by The Protein Works Steel Shakers, share this episode to be in with a chance of winning one - https://bit.ly/TPWChrisWillx Check out everything I recommend from books to products and help support the podcast at no extra cost to you by shopping through this link - https://www.amazon.co.uk/shop/modernwisdom Extra Stuff: Screenshot Crop on iPhone Order Filter Coffee in a Coffee Shop Vimium - https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/vimium/dbepggeogbaibhgnhhndojpepiihcmeb?hl=en Shortcat - https://shortcatapp.com/ Hold onto the bottom of the wheel in a car crash Get a Toastie Machine - https://amzn.to/2JUahuD Doodle Poll - https://doodle.com/make-a-poll Share Your Instagram Stories To Facebook Delay Requesting Your Plastic Bag In A Supermarket Shortcuts on the App Store for Scheduling iMessage Unsplash.com Zoommy App - https://zoommyapp.com/ 5/3/1 For Productivity - coupled with Todoist Frictionless Capture For To Do Lists Evernote Email Address - https://www.evernote.com/referral/Registration.action?sig=a51c13796a1906976e4d676cbcc756e7836bf4767d9d76e822ed017352c3df86&uid=62953055 Send To Kindle Email 128bpm House Music For Counting Seconds Predict Your Calories Earlier In The Day James Haskell’s Cookbook - https://www.amazon.co.uk/shop/modernwisdom Get An External Display Better Touch Tool - https://folivora.ai/ Fully Capisco Chair - https://fully.eu/products/hag-capisco-chair Fully Desk - https://www.fully.eu/pages/jarvis-adjustable-standing-desks Kelly Starrett Desk Bound - https://amzn.to/2XRX53g WHSmith 4.99 vs Boots 3.99 Departure Lounge w/ Soreen Buttered Slices 10% Of Your Sandwich Should Be Protein Whey & Greek Yoghurt To Satisfy Hunger At Work Delete Vice Social Media Apps Watch Line Of Duty Watch The Planet Watch Years And Years Line Up Seat Or Bed For Sunbathing Periodise Who You Listen To Your Lack Of Planning Is Not My Emergency - Listen to all episodes online. Search "Modern Wisdom" on any Podcast App or click here: iTunes: https://apple.co/2MNqIgw Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2LSimPn Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/modern-wisdom - I want to hear from you!! Get in touch in the comments below or head to... Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/chriswillx Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chriswillx Email: modernwisdompodcast@gmail.com

Chris WilliamsonhostYusefguestJonnyguest
Jul 21, 20191h 22mWatch on YouTube ↗

At a glance

WHAT IT’S REALLY ABOUT

Hilarious Life Hacks For Productivity, Travel, Food, And Tech Habits

  1. Chris Williamson, Johnny, and Youssef share a rapid-fire mix of serious and silly life hacks covering productivity, tech, travel, food, and daily habits.
  2. They riff on tools like Vimium, Alfred, Shortcuts, Todoist, and dual monitors, plus scheduling messages, managing to‑do lists, and optimizing phone and social media use.
  3. On the lighter side, they obsess over sandwiches, toastie machines, airport meal deals, yogurt as a ‘non‑savory ketchup,’ and cheap tricks for coffee and supermarket bags.
  4. Throughout, the episode blends genuine, practical tips with comedy, stories about crashes, flying, and Black Mirror, and a broader concern about distraction, back pain, and the next decade of tech and media.

IDEAS WORTH REMEMBERING

5 ideas

Use keyboard-centric tools to eliminate mouse dependence and reduce distraction.

Apps like Alfred, Vimium, and ShortCut let you launch apps, navigate the web, and click on-screen elements purely by keyboard, which speeds up work and makes it harder to drift into mindless browsing.

Structure your day with the 5‑3‑1 method for tasks.

Pick 1 key task, 3 medium-priority tasks, and 5 low-level admin items; this balances meaningful progress with clearing small errands, and works well with tools like Todoist for color-coding priorities.

Pre‑plan your diet in the morning instead of tracking at night.

Entering your day’s food into MyFitnessPal at the start creates a ‘budget’ you adjust from, dramatically increasing the odds you’ll hit your calorie and macro targets compared with logging reactively after eating.

Exploit small platform features for ‘free gains’ in reach and workflow.

Examples include auto‑sharing Instagram Stories to Facebook Stories for extra organic reach, using iPhone screenshot inline cropping, or leveraging Kindle’s send‑to‑device email to push PDFs directly to your reader.

Upgrade your physical workspace to protect your back and focus.

Standing desks, ergonomic ‘saddle’ chairs, and using Pomodoro breaks for light movement or McGill/Starrett drills reduce back issues, improve alertness, and make long hours at a desk more sustainable.

WORDS WORTH SAVING

5 quotes

Yogurt to me is a non‑savory ketchup.

— Chris

Everything is urgent to the requester. I decide what is urgent.

— Youssef (quoting a former boss)

Your lack of planning does not constitute my emergency.

— Youssef (paraphrasing a popular maxim)

Designing for the extremes often means when you dial that back it’s still effective.

— Chris

I just have this feeling like I’m being bombarded with media that’s telling me the next 10 years are just gonna be fucking shit.

— Johnny

Digital productivity tools and keyboard-driven workflows (Alfred, Vimium, ShortCut, Todoist/Things/Wunderlist)Habit design, time management, and structuring daily tasks (5-3-1 method, Pomodoro, pre‑tracking calories)Phone and social media hygiene (screen time limits, deleting Instagram, two‑phone strategy, auto-sharing stories)Food hacks and convenience eating (toastie machines, sandwiches, yogurt, protein targeting, airport and café tactics)Travel and safety tips (sunbathing alignment, airport food, steering wheel grip in crashes, plane/evacuation behavior)Desk setup and physical health for knowledge workers (standing desks, ergonomic chairs, movement during breaks)Media, mindset, and information diet (periodizing who you learn from, TV recommendations, anxiety about the future)

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