A Jeffersonian Life Hack

Feeling overwhelmed by piles of paperwork engulfing your desk and the hundreds of unanswered emails populating your work inbox? You’re not alone.

It appears that even the Founding Fathers needed a bit of help getting organized. Thomas Jefferson carried around this ivory PDA.

Even modern day technophiles are turning to decidedly low-tech solutions to stay on top of their workload. Some have ditched electronic time management devices for stacks of index cards that are very similar to Jefferson’s 18th century system. For tips on how to make your own, check out 43 Folders.

What is a lifehack? The term has evolved from the technical hacks that programmers created for themselves to make their lives easier to a term that encompasses solutions to everyday problems - which can be just about anything.