一直以来，我都很羡慕电脑高手们，时常在我面前罢工，弄得我焦头烂额的电脑到了他们手里马上就变得服服帖帖的了，也不知道他们对电脑施了什么法术。而且，他们还会时不时地写个什么小程序帮助清理垃圾文件啊，提高运行速度啊之类的，这些对我们来说真的是不折不扣的life hack¹。

The term "life hack" is derived² from the technical hacks³ that programmers and other geeks have set up for themselves to make their lives easier. This usually means methods of organizing data, little utilities to synchronize⁴ files that automate⁵ daily tasks, etc.

Life hack（生活帮）这个短语最初指的是程序员和黑客们为了方便自己而创建的一些技术性的快捷工具，通常是梳理数据、同步处理文档的小工具等自动完成一些日常任务的工具。

Today, life hacks are basically anything that is a solution to an everyday problem, frustration⁶, etc. As a result, we’re seeing the term used to describe solutions to losing weight, public speaking, doing your professional job better, time management, etc. As such, the current useage probably more accurately⁷ reflects the term itself.

现在，life hack可以指任何能解决日常生活中遇到的问题或麻烦的方法。因此，我们会看到这个短语被用于形容解决减肥、公开讲话、提升工作表现、安排时间等等方面问题的方法。由此，现在的这些用法倒是更准确地反应了这个短语本身的字面意思。