Why You Need to Know the Difference Between a Hack and a Productivity Process

A quick internet search of “hacks”, “life hacks” or “productivity hacks” will produce literally thousands of results with any number of different kinds of lists that will show you how to shortcut your way to almost anything.  This might make many people wonder if we have become a world of life hackers, interested in getting the quickest results possible by using secret methods that will catapult then ahead of others using regular techniques.

While using shortcuts and hacks have their place, as we have mentioned many times before, the vast majority of progress towards your goals is the result of deliberate practices and hard work.

You would be hard pressed to get into shape by doing 20 pushups first thing in the morning and nothing else.  Writing down your goals every day is very effective, but you have to follow through with a detailed plan to achieve them as well.

The point is you need to know the difference between a hack and a productive process to assess which one to use.  Once you get good at telling the difference, you can refine your approach to your different goals and determine whether it is a situation for a hack or a process.

So how do you determine the difference between the two?

First ask yourself how you feel about it?  Does it seem like this hack would work for what you need it for?  Not surprisingly, even with something you do not know about, our first impressions and intuition can be remarkably reliable.  If, something seems too good to be true, as the old saying goes, it often is.  Simple, but reliable advice.

If you would like to get more mileage out of your car, does putting a half liter of fuel additive into the tank seem like a reasonable hack?  Especially when these products typically cost only a few dollars and promise huge increases in fuel economy?

Most would agree that not only does this seem too good to be true, but more people would know about it if it was true as fuel economy is something that a great number of people are interested in.  You don’t need to know very much about cars or fuel for this to seem like a long shot.

If you want to make your hard-boiled eggs easier to peel, does it seem reasonable that adding salt and vinegar to the water might do that?  Probably, as it is plausible that such a minor hack would take care of a relatively minor issue.

This leads to the next criterion: ask yourself is this a reasonably hackable situation?  Is the situation uncomplicated enough to hack?

Is it plausible that you would lose 2-3 pounds a week using a belt that runs an electric pulse though your abdomen for a few minutes a day?  You don’t need to be a doctor or a scientist to question whether electric pulses would reasonably allow you to somehow lose fat in your abdominal area.

On the other hand, is it plausible that putting a bottle in a freezer for 15 minutes with a wet paper towel around it would make the drink inside very cold?  This does seem like a hackable situation.

Next ask yourself if other people are using the hack.  Do you know anyone that is using it successfully?  Do you know anyone that works 15 minutes a day online and makes a good side income legitimately?  Is it a hack or is there something else that they are doing?

Do you know someone that prepares their work bag, clothes and lunch the night before so that they save time in the morning?  If you haven’t you have probably heard of someone that has.

Are they really using a hack?  Having a side hustle where you are making money on the side away from your job, is certainly possible, but is it a hack?  A plumber that works side jobs on nights and weekends is not using a hack; they are using their specialized knowledge and skills to allow them to hack this process, but this may prevent you from doing the same.

Next ask yourself if a hack is even necessary.  Back to getting in shape:  do you really need to buy a miracle product or will 20 minutes of walking per day and eating more healthy foods accomplish your goal. 

Do you need an investing hack, or will investing regularly in a growth product like a mutual fund or ETF for the long term accomplish your financial goals?

Once you determine whether a hack is being used and if you should use one for a given situation, you will open a whole new world of productivity.