Life is tough sometimes. Whether you’re overworked, buried in responsibilities, or just having a hard time getting organized at home, there’s no harm in needing a little help every once in a while. Enter life hacks: unexpected ways to improve your life, whether it’s with a brilliant alternative use for an everyday object for or by a simple change in mindset about your productivity. There are countless life hacks out there for all sorts of situations, but here are some of the best ones that’ll help you out no matter your situation.

Makeshift Cable Organizers

Cables are a necessary evil of modern life, and for every device you have, the number of cables in your collection multiplies. Rather than deal with a rat’s nest of wires tucked away in a box, simply contain each cable in its own cardboard toilet roll. You weren’t going to use it anyway, were you?

Strawberries, Meet Straw

Strawberries are a healthy, tasty snack. There’s no denying that. But perhaps the only thing not to like about them are those pesky stems. Rather than tear the stems off piece by piece, simply push a straw through the bottom of the strawberry, pushing the stem out. Easy!

Handle Multiple Shopping Bags With Ease

What’s worse than grocery shopping? How about making multiple trips to your car to carry in all your bags? Doing it all in one go might only shave a minute or so off your chore, but there’s something about the human psyche that makes us have to try. Save your pinky fingers from the strain by using a carabiner as a makeshift handle to hook onto multiple shopping bags.

Save Your Stovetop

This is a classic life hack. As you well know, a watched pot never boils, but an unwatched pot will certainly boil over, making a nasty mess everywhere. What’s an amateur cook to do? Simply lay a wooden spoon over the top of your pot. The spoon will pop the rising bubbles, giving you extra time to run to the rescue.

Never Underestimate the Power of Velcro

Velcro – it isn’t just for kids’ shoes. Any time you need to keep something handy and temporarily secured, use a simple strip of Velcro. You could, for example, Velcro your entertainment remotes to the side of your living room table. Or, you could Velcro a smartphone or tablet on a piece of furniture next to your bed for easy nighttime viewing. The possibilities are limited only by your imagination!

Multi-Purpose a Shoe Rack

The thing you hang on the inside of your closet door may be called a shoe rack, but using it only for your kicks is seriously limiting its potential. Your cleaning supplies are probably a mess of bottles and cans tucked under the sink or on top of a shelf in a closet. Instead, use a shoe rack to save space and easily identify whatever cleaning product you need.

Are these the only life hacks out there? No way! There are tons more you can find online at the click of the button. Even if a life hack only saves you a few seconds every day, making use of multiple hacks over time will seriously add up. Who doesn’t want their life made a little more efficient?