Life Hacks 202 | Modern Wisdom Podcast 234
Chris Williamson (host), Jonny (guest), Yusef (guest), Guest (guest)
In this episode of Modern Wisdom, featuring Chris Williamson and Jonny, Life Hacks 202 | Modern Wisdom Podcast 234 explores modern Wisdom Hosts Trade Life Hacks For Health, Focus, Sanity This episode of Modern Wisdom’s Life Hacks series features Chris Williamson with recurring guests Johnny and Yousef sharing practical, often humorous tweaks for productivity, health, sleep, and digital minimalism.
Modern Wisdom Hosts Trade Life Hacks For Health, Focus, Sanity
This episode of Modern Wisdom’s Life Hacks series features Chris Williamson with recurring guests Johnny and Yousef sharing practical, often humorous tweaks for productivity, health, sleep, and digital minimalism.
They cover everything from nutritional yeast on eggs and infrared ‘bag saunas’ to iOS automation, Instagram growth tricks, ChiliPAD cooling mattresses, and rules to curb phone and TV overuse.
A recurring theme is designing environments and default behaviors that reduce friction and distraction, so good choices happen automatically and bad habits are harder to execute.
The conversation also drifts into wider reflections on technology addiction, beta software disasters, Netflix recommendations, and the archetypal ‘Scoby problem’ of over-optimizing life into bigger headaches.
Key Takeaways
Use nutritional yeast or high‑protein quark to effortlessly boost daily protein and micronutrients.
Sprinkling nutritional yeast on eggs adds all essential amino acids and B-vitamins with a cheesy flavor, while Nestlé Lindahls Quark/Skyr-style yogurts provide ~18g protein with minimal carbs and fat for very low cost and effort.
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Turn downtime into progress by defining a conscious ‘fallback activity’.
Instead of defaulting to scrolling or inbox-checking when you’re ‘buffering’ (files exporting, kettles boiling, waiting in queues), pre-select a low-effort task like clearing your downloads folder, organizing photos, light reading, or even handstands, so dead time chips away at useful projects.
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Reconfigure your phone to reduce distraction and speed up intentional actions.
iOS 14’s Back Tap and Shortcuts can be set to instantly open capture apps, task managers, planners, or low-power mode; adding a screen-time widget on the home screen guilts you away from mindless use, and blocking email/social via apps like Cold Turkey exposes how often you try to check them.
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Hide Instagram story tags to keep viewers focused on one clear action.
Type up to 10 @mentions, then shrink and drag the text off-screen so tagged accounts still get notified and can repost, but viewers only see a single call-to-action like ‘Swipe up’ instead of a cluttered story that dilutes clicks.
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Improve sleep by controlling temperature and setting a wind-down structure.
Tools like the ChiliPAD (water-cooled mattress topper) and infrared sauna blankets lower body temperature or create strong hot-cold contrasts, which can increase deep sleep and mood; pairing this with pre-bed sleep meditations and a rule of ‘no TV after shower, only reading’ supports deeper rest and more reading.
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Create intentional ‘no phone’ and ‘no TV’ zones to reclaim attention.
Leaving your phone out of the bedroom or bathroom (stocking those spaces with books instead) and not having a TV in the main living area naturally leads to more conversation, better posture, less screen-time creep, and clearer evenings.
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When confronted with criticism or vague goals, demand clarity: solutions and objectives.
If someone complains (“That track is shit”), ask “What would you do instead? ...
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Notable Quotes
“Everyone already has a fallback behavior — it’s just usually pointless.”
— Chris Williamson
“Why do you sit around buffering, waiting on your email inbox?”
— Chris Williamson
“If you find what the thing is, try and block it. And then when you go to do that, that’s the reminder.”
— Johnny
“The bed always feels like you’ve just got into it.”
— Johnny, on using the ChiliPAD
“I think that might be the best life hack here ever.”
— Chris Williamson, on having a default fallback activity
Questions Answered in This Episode
How could I redesign my own phone and home environment to make distraction harder and meaningful work or rest easier by default?
This episode of Modern Wisdom’s Life Hacks series features Chris Williamson with recurring guests Johnny and Yousef sharing practical, often humorous tweaks for productivity, health, sleep, and digital minimalism.
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
What simple, repeatable ‘fallback activity’ would give me the highest long-term return if I did it every time I felt the urge to mindlessly check my phone?
They cover everything from nutritional yeast on eggs and infrared ‘bag saunas’ to iOS automation, Instagram growth tricks, ChiliPAD cooling mattresses, and rules to curb phone and TV overuse.
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
Which of my current routines (morning, evening, or workday) could be radically simplified if I honestly asked, ‘What is the actual goal of this habit?’
A recurring theme is designing environments and default behaviors that reduce friction and distraction, so good choices happen automatically and bad habits are harder to execute.
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
Am I willing to adopt hard rules like ‘no phone in the bedroom’ or ‘no TV after shower’ for 30 days, and what changes in sleep, mood, or productivity might result?
The conversation also drifts into wider reflections on technology addiction, beta software disasters, Netflix recommendations, and the archetypal ‘Scoby problem’ of over-optimizing life into bigger headaches.
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
When I criticize something — at work, online, or in relationships — how often do I also bring a concrete alternative, and what would change if I always had to propose a solution?
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
Transcript Preview
I went to Stockton and Grangefield Sixth Form mates, so when half the girls in your class are pregnant, you grow up fast.
(laughs) Is that gonna make it into the trailer? (laughs)
(laughs) Probably.
I remember hearing you playing it.
At three times speed.
It's a similar thing, yeah, three times speed. "It's time to go to sleep now and, uh, uh, rel- relax."
(laughs)
And like Yusuf said, it's supposed to be relaxing.
(laughs)
You know, trying to get through it as quickly as possible.
But I could get more relaxation in in less time if I played it (laughs) three times speed. (laughs)
(laughs) You go to bed and you think, "Oh, I need to remember this in the morning." Like, "I need to remember to take this in the morning." And you think, "That's all right, I'll, I'll, I'll remember." And then you, invariably you leave the house and you've forgotten. Just put it in, like, the middle of the floor.
"Johnny, I saw this weird thing in the middle of the floor, like, what are you doing?" And you're like-
"Johnny, you left all of your dildos in the middle of the floor."
(laughs)
I needed them to bring to Caffe Nero.
My big bag of d-
Taking them to (laughs) Costa. (whoosh)
(laughs)
Life hacks, man. What else are you getting excited about?
His band has come out.
I'm amped for the life hacks, yeah. Amped, pumped, man.
Yes, I'm very well, thank you. It's been a while since we spoke.
Uh-huh.
I've just realized, in the background of Johnny is, I think, a John Lewis banana stand, or looks very similar to one, like a very fancy thing to hold your bananas with.
It's a light.
To keep it... Is it?
It's a light, yeah.
To keep it away from the other fruit, 'cause bananas produce a gas that makes other fruit ripen-
Faster.
... prematurely. Yeah. I got a new f-
They also can't freeze bananas. You know that?
Do you know? What happens?
I learned, I learned that from trying to freeze bananas. They just, they, they, you think like, "Oh, I'll freeze a banana and then I'll, like, add it to my smoothie or whatever." And then you take it out and so they're all bruised and minging.
Really?
Yeah.
They're very sensitive souls, aren't they, bananas?
(laughs) They are. They're real, they're like the problem, the problem friend of a, of the fruit family, aren't they? Like-
Yeah, they are.
... You can't-
Just, and then they infect-
... save them.
They kind of infect everyone else as well and they speed up, they speed up their, uh, aging. Uh, so yes, welcome back to Life Hacks. If you are not familiar with the Life Hack Series, we go through a round table each giving a tool, app, process, f- food, any other p- particular type of strategy we've found for a productive and efficient life, and then we riff on how good or bad they are. So, Johnny, what have you got for us today? (laughs)
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