The Anti-Hack

A life hack is defined as a simple technique for accomplishing some familiar task more easily or efficiently.  I offer up the term “anti-hack” to mean a technique for accomplishing some familiar task with more difficulty or less efficiency.

Now, you ask, why would someone want to do that?  The answer is that anti-hacks can provide several benefits as we age.  They can provide small ways for us to use our muscles more and burn extra calories, important health benefits for most of us.

Here are some examples of anti-hacks:  Take stairs, avoid elevators and escalators.  Avoid drive-throughs, get out of your car and go into wherever you are going.  Don’t always look for the most convenient parking spot, park somewhere so you have to walk further to your destination.

These are simple habits that provide muscle stimulation and, over time, can burn thousands of extra calories.

I recently discovered a new anti-hack at my home.  I live in an older home that has heavy old wooden garage doors, the kind that have springs to assist in lifting them.  I do not know if the springs are the originals, but they do not have much spring left in them, they do not provide much assistance.  I was thinking about replacing the springs, but then reconsidered.  Opening those doors is hard and it provides me with a nice little bit of exercise.  I have to use my legs, core, arm and shoulder muscles to open them. It is an example of a great little anti-hack.

The number of anti-hacks that you can build into your life is only limited by your imagination and motivation to practice them.