Hack your life

THE LITTLE BOOK OF LIFE HACKS: How to Make Your Life Happier, Healthier, and More Beautiful

THE LITTLE BOOK OF LIFE HACKS: How to Make Your Life Happier, Healthier, and More Beautiful

By Yumi Sakugawa (New York: St. Martin’s Griffin, 208 pp., $19.99, paperback)

Whether we admit it or not, our lives could always use a tune-up; from our style choices to our cooking habits, there’s something that we can (and probably should) change. Yumi Sakugawa gives various ways to do this in “The Little Book of Life Hacks.”

While the word “little” in the title implies a small number of life hacks, “The Little Book” actually presents a collection of tips that is great in both quantity and breadth. Within the book, Sakugawa offers hundreds of tips that cover the topics of fashion, interior design, exercise, and more. Together, these life hacks aim to make readers’ lives “happier, healthier, and more beautiful.”

Along with these tips, Sakugawa adorns her pages with vibrant illustrations that demonstrate the subject in question. Though aesthetically pleasing, these drawings significantly aid in understanding how to perform her life hacks.

One of the book’s best features is the variety of topics covered. Along with the aforementioned topics, Sakugawa  also discusses grooming, housekeeping, self-care, socializing and stress. Hence, both women and “super manly” men can definitely find a life hack that will appeal to them.

But perhaps more impressive than the variety of topics is the effectiveness of the life hacks. Personally, I tried out a few and they worked amazingly. To single out one hack, I attempted a restoration of my very-old leather work shoes; now, they look brand-new, thanks to Sakugawa. This, in addition to other successful hacks, demonstrate the effectiveness of Sakugawa’s tips.

And, these hacks are very easy to both try and implement. Most of these hacks solely require the use of either household items or cheap items from the local supermarket. So, pick up “The Little Book of Life Hacks” and try out whichever hack piques your interest!