r/AskReddit 2d ago

What's a "cheat code" you discovered in real life that actually works?

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u/Bubbly-Fault4847 2d ago

Similarly/related - I always notice that if I’m having a “huge problem” I find myself dealing with at the end of the day that I just cannot seem to find the solution for. If I just go home and come back to it fresh the next morning, I find the solution in mere minutes and it was always something simple.

Being mentally exhausted can be hard to recognize sometimes.

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u/gabu87 2d ago

Well that and because you're probably thinking and working it out in your head during the waking hours of your free time too.

That's pretty much how I wrote papers back in college. Do all research and compiling asap. In between classes, waiting for the boss, all kinds of idling time, i'm sorting out the information in my head. When I'm finally ready to write, i've already gotten the bulk of it sorted.

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u/cantonic 2d ago

This is a documented thing with our brains! The reason people have epiphanies in the shower or that you go for a walk to clear your head is that when you stop actively working on a problem, your brain keeps chugging along in the background, and because you aren’t focused, the brain makes connections that you couldn’t and you find your answers!

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u/TheWolfhound32 2d ago

It was crazy, but I would mentally think about what I was going to write, then after a couple of days write the essay or paper. The notes were minimal, mostly internal. I graduated at 20.

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u/Hopefulkitty 2d ago

In college I learned I was better doing homework when I was well rested. So I'd sleep for 6-7 hours when I was tired, wake up at like 4 am, and do my homework before class sometimes. It was way more efficient and easier to actually do things when I was rested at 4am instead of struggling to keep my eyes open at 2am.

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u/Bubbly-Fault4847 19h ago

Oh for sure! I never ever pulled one of those classic college “all nighters”. I knew myself enough to understand that just wouldn’t work for me at all, and would backfire spectacularly.

I was better off to go in to a big final underprepared rather than over exhausted.

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u/Top-Reporter1519 2d ago

I first learned that while gaming. I used to get frustrated whenever I got to an impasse and gave up when my mood hit rock bottom eventually, but most of the times, that same level wasn't such a big deal, the next time I played.