One Woman Asked For “Unhinged” Automated Life Hacks & The Internet Delivered

There are so many “nobody told me about this” life lessons you have to learn as you grow. As a mom of three who is fully embedded in these incredibly sweet yet incredibly hectic years, I can say for certain that nobody — and I mean, nobody — told me how many things there are to remember. And not just dates or, like, “next Friday is pajama day at school,” but also basic life necessities and friendships and bills you pay every single month. So much life hinges entirely on whether you remembered to do something or not, and when so many things are always happening, even those with the best intentions are bound to lose their footing.

So, when social media personality Jen Hamilton (@_jen_hamilton_ ) asked for everyone’s most “unhinged automation” hacks, I was all ears. Hamilton was specific, too: She wanted unhinged ideas. Not just “my bills are on autopay,” she wrote as an overlay of the video, but automated ideas that completely changed someone’s life.

Over 11,000 comments later, and y’all… some of us are living in the future.

• “Our dishwasher texts our kids when it’s done, then shuts off their wifi if they don’t empty it.”
• “I started giving my cats a treat every time I took my meds. Now the cats are the world’s most persistent and intense medication reminders.”
• “My alarm stops only if I scan a QR code in my bathroom.”
• “At the same time every year, I tell my bank I lost my credit card so I get issued a new one. All the scammers and subscriptions I signed up to the year prior will automatically get declined, and I only resign up to the ones I actually want.”
• “I made an Apple shortcut that runs once a day automatically that shows me all the photos I took on that day throughout the years. It allows me to slowly clean up all of my photo albums.”

And one of the things I loved most was discovering how many people use automation to romanticize their lives. Not all of this has to be about productivity or automating life to a Jetsons-esque level. Instead, some people have automation routines built into their lives so they can live the ultra-cozy (and yet still productive) life of their dreams.

• “I hate doing dishes (no dishwasher) and ALL my lights are smart bulbs. So I tell Alexa, ‘Time to do the dishes,’ and she dims the kitchen to 50% and plays Celtic music so I can pretend to be a Scottish pub owner cleaning up for the night.”
• “I have a holiday baking spreadsheet where all my different cookie and treat recipes are programmed. Every November I just have to figure out how many people I’m baking for and then input the number of batches of each recipe I need and then it will calculate exactly how much of butter, sugar etc I will need to do all of my holiday baking for the season so I only need to go to the grocery store 1 time (and I can budget appropriately to make it all!)”
• “I have a one-cup coffee maker next to my bed to make tea. My alarm goes off, I hit the button, go to the bathroom, and hop back in bed to drink my hot tea that was made in 2 mins.”

Other automation hacks are literally about making life easier. That’s it.

• “I’m sure you mean technology, but I bought 12 pairs of the exact same socks so I never have to match them, and if one gets a hole, I just throw that one out. It’s a very satisfying system.”
• “Very low tech, but I’ve borrowed a friend’s system of putting a rubber band on any kitchen or bathroom item that I have more of in the pantry. If it has a rubber band, I know I don’t need to restock yet. Just move the rubber band to the next one. When I open the last one, the band comes off. Time to restock.”
• “Not a huge one, but honestly really helpful — my husband and I have a shared note on our notes app for all our sizes and measurements. If we ever want to order clothes, shoes, rings, suits, you name it! We have all the measurements we need to get the right fit for each other without having to ask. It’s amazing for getting gifts and surprises. Just update the measurements if they change!”

And some of the sweetest ones are about automating love and friendship. It’s not as weird and stilted as it sounds; all of us need a reminder sometimes to reach out to loved ones, right?

• “My dad subscribed to a flower delivery service that automatically sends flowers on birthdays and anniversaries and then also a random date with a note saying, ‘Just thinking of you.’”
• “When someone I care about loses a loved one, I set a calendar reminder for myself to reach out to them two months later — when most other people have stopped checking in. And I put the death anniversary in my calendar, too.”
• “Once a year I buy birthday cards for everyone, friends and family, and address and stamp the envelopes. I keep them in a box filed by month and have a reminder in my phone to drop it in the mail 1-2 weeks before their birthday. No searching for stamps or forgetting to buy a card when things are hectic.”

Honestly, it’s clear that I could be doing a lot better than random notes in my phone’s Notes app and digital calendars I never check. The more unhinged automation, the better I say. Now, time to start finding the holes in my life and an unhinged hack to match…