Most of us have seen those, “life hacks,” that pop up on our social media feed. The DIY ways that show you how to somehow make your life easier. Even though the initial purpose of these life hacks is to simplify daily actions, it seems like they are having the opposite effect and over-complicating things.

An article on College Humor highlighted some of the most pointless life hacks out there. For instance, cutting up plastic bottles and making them into shoes. Ok, that’s completely cheap and uncomfortable when you think about how you could go to Old Navy and get a pair of flip flops for three bucks. Another life hack on the list was for those who lose their headphones. In that case, just grab a stethoscope that you conveniently have lying around and put it next to the speaker. Last but definitely not least, if you don’t have a bookmark, grab some ketchup and spray it on the page you left off on.

These next ones are a step up from plastic bottle shoes, but not by much. In Offbeat, it listed a series of life hacks that are good ideas but will ultimately just make your life harder. For starters, instead of making a melted cheese sandwich on the stove, put it in the toaster. Now before you run home and stick a slice of bread and some cheddar cheese in your mom’s favorite toaster, think about the mess it will make. Cheese would be completely caked inside every groove of that thing, and next thing you know, you’re short thirty bucks replacing the toaster you destroyed. Another life hack was using Doritos for kindling when you’re starting a campfire. I have to admit, this isn’t a bad one. But are you honestly more likely to waste a whole bag of Doritos by burning them to ash when you could just walk three feet into the bushes and grab some twigs? All of these have potential, but in reality, they are just making things harder.

So what are some life hacks that actually work? I interviewed Savannah Poulson, a junior here at Bingham High School about life hacks she has used. She said, “I pretend like I don’t have any gum, and I show them [my friends] an empty package, but really there is more gum in my backpack.” This is an amazing life hack for conserving gum, especially since the second you open a gum package, it’s like chumming the water for sharks.

In Seventeen, there was an article called, “11 studying facts to help you slay your finals,” and it gave a bunch of different ways to help you score better on your tests. One way was by listening to the right music when you’re studying. Apparently, different kinds of music are better for different subjects and can actually wake up parts of the brain. They said, “Music with 50 to 80 beats per minute calms the part of the brain related to logical thinking, which helps you learn and retain new facts,” so this kind of music would be good for science tests or history exams. Another trick was to make sure you end your studying right. It’s easy to want to get on your phone and numb out after a long session of studying, but in the article it said, “Researchers at Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital found that the light emitted from computers, smartphones, and tablets decreases melanin production, the hormone that tells your body it’s time to rest.” As a result, it said that getting on your phone late at night can actually mess with your ability to retain all the facts you’ve been studying and make it harder to fall asleep.

I definitely wouldn’t recommend using ketchup as a bookmark, but some of these test-taking tips could actually help you to achieve those A’s. Next time you are studying for your math final or science quiz, try some of these life hacks and see if they work for you.