Nobody is born wise, so we shouldn't beat ourselves up too much whenever we're reminded of our shortcomings. However, sometimes your ignorance takes center stage and it becomes quite hard to ignore it.
Recently, Reddit user Slart_n made a post on the platform, asking others what everyday things they did wrong for years until they finally realized, and people immediately started sending in their answers.
Eventually, the thread turned into somewhat of a life hack archive and we at Bored Panda thought there's at least one useful lesson for everyone, so continue scrolling and happy learning!
#1
Sliding your thumb on the spacebar of your phone will move the cursor.
Image credits: UnfairMicrowave
#2
Opening a beverage can.I keep my fingernails very short and sometimes it would be a bit finicky to open the tab on a can.
I was damn near 40 years old when my buddy showed me you’re supposed to push down on the hinge portion of the tab with your thumb to raise the other edge of the tab so you can get your finger under it. I felt like an idiot.
Image credits: funklab
#3
Not an everyday activity, but someone showed me I'd been wasting celery for years. When it goes limp and loses its crunch, you can just soak it in water overnight, and it makes it crisp again.
Image credits: joec_95123
#4
If you’re mounting something to the wall that has pre-designed holes on the back, rather than measure between the holes and try to space the nails/screws accordingly, stretch a single piece of painters tape (blue tape) across the back of the piece from just before the beginning of the first hole to just after the last one. Mark each hole with a pencil/pen on the painters tape, then place the tape on the wall and voila, you have a perfect mounting template. I suggest you do a quick check with a laser level on the wall just to make sure your marks are level before drilling.
Image credits: darthva
#5
I just remember that one dude being told you could wait for the shower to warm up instead of having to stand in it cold as it warms up lmao.
Image credits: Mythril_Bullets
#6
You can take the silverware basket out of the dishwasher when unloading it. ?
Image credits: 877-Cash-Meow
#7
Taking the safety cap off of deodorant.I used to try to get my finger nails under it and pop it off. They were quite a pain in the a*s to get off. In my late 20s my roommate was talking to me while unpacking her groceries and she opened her deodorant and just twisted up the stick so that the cap came off. I was shocked
Image credits: dinosarahsaurus
#8
Put on pillow covers. I used to shove the pillow in there and struggle with it until my wife showed me how to flip the pillow case inside out and cover the pillow while flipping right side out.
Image credits: Immediate_Papayas
#9
Putting onions in the refrigerator for a half hour/ hour before cutting makes it so you don’t cry from the fumes. Learned this working in a restaurant kitchen having to prep 100 lbs of onions every shift. Refrigerating them first was a necessity.
Image credits: Eyfordsucks
#10
I would always add oil or butter to my pan right away and wait for it to heat up. You're actually supposed to wait until the pan gets really hot and then add the oil. Doing that makes any pan non-stick.
Image credits: WasItG00d4U
#11
Felt like an idiot for years I’d bite the shells of pistachios open.A friend showed me I can just use a half shell to lever the others open ?
Image credits: spiderbro8
#12
I folded all my washclothes and they barely fit in the drawer. My kid said "why don't you just stack them unfolded in there?" It's brilliant. They fit perfectly and it saves time. It sounds stupid, but it was a game changer.
Image credits: thoughtfractals85
#13
If you're a man, you don't need to pee standing up. This will save you a lot of cleaning.
Image credits: ClaymorePlanted
#14
I used to open a banana by pulling the top, then I saw some documentary with a monkey opening them from the bottom and it's 10 times easier.I also learn that I'm more stupid than a monkey that day.
Image credits: PreZEviL
#15
Add vinegar to the wash, and your clothes last longer before getting stinky. I suspect fungi / general microflora are involved.
Image credits: Additional-Fee1780
#16
Cleaning the stupid microwave. I used to scrub it and hurt my back before I stumbled on a video about microwaving vinegar beforehand and it really works. I am disabled so all that time I could have cleaned it without hurting myself all those years.
Image credits: Dull-Geologist-8204
#17
The way to clean the jar - I put a sponge, washing liquid, water in the jar. I mix it and the jar is clean :)#18
Rinsing my hair - I used to rinse with hot water and assume I just had frizzy and dry hair. Rinsed with cold water once and realized I'd lived far too long with frizzy hair for no reason.
Image credits: Clawffee
#19
How to sit up properly. I was low key dipping towards my right butt cheek allll the time and it caused a lot of physical pain.EDIT: sit up either in a chair with feet on floor or criss cross legs on the floor (maybe put a blanket under your butt for a little cushion). Pull your right cheek out of the way, get the left one so you can find your sits bones underneath you. Rock side to side right to left right to left noticing the spot in the middle. From there rock forward into your public bone and then back into your tailbone, back and forth again noticing that spot in the middle. Start moving your hips in clockwise circles - pubic, right, tail, left a few times....take it counterclockwise. Notice any spots that you feel a little stuck....this is also a nice lower back release.
Find those four points of contact underneath you like prongs in a socket and really plug yourself in, root it down into the ground underneath you and then from that spot in the middle stack one vertebrae on top of the next really getting into the verticality of your spine. When you get to your head lengthen the tip of your nose just a little bit towards the crown of your head. Roll your shoulders up towards your ears a few times and then drop them down so you get out of any scrunching in your shoulders.
Hope that helps!!!! Please let me know if you have any questions.
Image credits: Warm-Bed2956
#20
My aunt is a physical therapist, she said that if people did simply one teeny tiny change in the way they walk, older people would be in better health.That oh so simple thing is just walking up steps by placing your whole foot on the step, and keeping your heel on the ground with each step. As opposed to having your heel hang off the step.
That’s it. Requires zero additional effort, just changes the way you walk up stairs. What it does is increase hamstring strength. You already have enough thigh strength from general walking. The amount of older people she sees every day with weak hamstrings is wild.
Image credits: iStillPlayPS3
#21
Using electrical tape. Typically, I use this tape to wrap electrical connections like my security cameras or TV cable to weatherproof them. If I need to change out the connection in a couple of years, it results in a gooey mess after struggling to remove the tape. A pro showed me that you spiral wrap the tape over the connection sticky side out, reverse at the end and wrap sticky side down back over the first wrap. When you need to replace it you only have to cut away the ends and the remaining tape is a non-sticky tube that is easy and less sticky to remove.#22
Cut bell peppers. For years I did it in a messy way where it got seeds everywhere.Then one day I decided that there was probably a better way so I watched YouTube.
What you do is you cut the top and bottom off first, pull the seeds out in one piece, then cut down the sides and unroll it like paper. Then you cut the unrolled piece into strips.
Image credits: thedrakeequator
#23
Washing my hair. Had bad dandruff from high school into my 20s.Turns out you don’t need to shampoo daily and less is more with conditioner.
Shaved my head for 10 years just so my scalp could heal.
Finally started going to a stylist and she explained it in a way I understood and now I have long luscious curls.
Image credits: bwtaha
#24
Cooking rice. I f****d it up every time, didn't have the space for a rice cooker, ended up using packetrice or boil in the bag.
A chinese friend showed me the finger method and I been eating perfect rice almost every day ever since.
#25
I used to have the worst time putting eye drops in as I would hover and try to drop right on the eyeball. A doctor told me to just drop it on the side of my nose and it would find it's way to my eye because of, like, gravity.#26
Taking the pit out of avocados. Literally just push your thumbs against the bottom of the half that the pit is in and pop it out. Or use the corner near the hilt (not the blade or point) of the knife to take it out.#27
Brushing my hair. No one taught me how to do it right because I always had short hair as a kid, and my mom somehow got the impression I knew to brush the ends first, and work up to the roots. Nope. I started at the top and would rip down. No wonder my hair was so bad. But then I saw Tangled AS AN ADULT and realized I had been brushing my hair wrong my entire life.#28
At 18, a new dentist I started seeing asked how I brush my teeth, side to side or up to down. I replied side to side. He said to brush from crown down to avoid gum damage.#29
Putting the bedding away. Fold the covers and the sheets and put them inside the matching pillowcase. Then they all neatly fit in the cupboard and you can easily find a complete set.#30
The inside shower curtain goes inside tub.
Image credits: Glittering_Animal395
#31
If a metal lid is not coming off of a jar, instead of struggling, run hot water on the lid for a minute, it'll come off easily.
Image credits: NotSoGreta
#32
How to properly secure a towel around the waist after a shower. Instead of tucking the hem inwards, you fold it outwards and down, much more secure, you can like, run around and not worry about it falling off.
Image credits: archetype1
#33
Putting on my seatbelt. I would always put my head between the straps and take it out afterward instead of pulling the strap across my waist.
Image credits: Kerrminater
#34
Emotional processing.If I was sad, I'd let myself be sad for a tiny bit, and then brush it off... Saying "I don't have time for this", or " I'm stronger than this", or "crying does no good"
Then anger and frustration would build up until arguments over nothing would happen.
I was shown how to "make space" for those "negative" emotions, and just *feel* them until they quieted on their own.
Been doing that every time they show up, and the anger and frustration is gone. Most of the anxiety is gone too.
Did it with fears too, which is making a *huge* difference in relationships.
It's a good thing too; old me wouldn't be able to handle half the s**t that current me is shouldering.
Image credits: Icy-Article-8635
#35
you cut tomatoes with a serrated edged knife. It's just... so much easier. there is no squishing of the tomato.#36
No one really showed me, but up until I was 16 I would just sit on the bowl of the toilet and did not use the seat. I have no clue why i did that and did not think to use the seat. One day I was in a rush with stomach issues and had no time to put the seat up. I sat my a*s on the seat and thought to myself “this is definitely the way pooping is supposed to be done”….life changing#37
Breathing, through the nose people!#38
Pour my beer right. I was pouring it slowly for years without letting it froth. I recently saw a video where a guy explained why you need to let your beer froth while pouring it so that the gases are released and doesn't bloat us up.#39
When the soap bar gets to the last sliver, you can just stick it on to the new bar to use it up completely.#40
My Nana was a very clever woman. She taught me more than any of those viral life hacks ever did. When she wanted to save the end of a roll of tape, she took one of those tabs from a bread bag and stuck it on the end. Just one of many small, but genius ideas.#41
Put your overripe bananas in the freezer to use for smoothies or banana bread.#42
I used to shave my legs with a bent knee and would always get cuts on my knees until my friend said I should have a straight leg while shaving my knee to prevent cuts and it works like a charm.#43
Not sure who needs to hear it, but if you drape a piece of TP over the auto flush sensor on a toilet, you can do your business in peace, without the toilet flushing every 5 seconds, every time you change position, or just because it seems to be connected to a random number generator somewhere. When you're done, remove the TP, and the toilet flushes.#44
I recently got Plantar Fasciitis and found out I was ignorant about several things:1. Plantar Fasciitis is not some kind of foot warts(not sure why I thought this).
2. I thought shoes were supposed to be tight, but a specialist told me there should be about a finger width between your toe and the tip of the shoe, I was wearing a full size too small.
3. I thought you were supposed to get shoes that match the shape of your feet. So having long, skinny feet that had a relatively low arch, I always wore Converse All-Stars. I now know that your shoes NEED supportive insoles so that it doesn't hurt the tendons and muscles in your feet.
I didn't know that shoes could be comfortably worn as long as they do now because I have shoes that actually fit with supportive insoles. I wish I knew about all this sooner!
#45
Squats? My daughter said.. that is not the right way mom.#46
Shovel snow from the bottom of the driveway up, rather than top down, to save your back. Especially if you have a steep drivewayI don’t know if there’s an even better way but in my area, everyone starts at the top, pushing snow from the middle out to the sides on the driveway to throw the snow on the grass or rocks. Our driveway is steep and this was really uncomfortable for me. One day I decided to start from the bottom and Holy Schmoly it was so much more comfortable. You can stand a little below the part you’re scooping so you don’t have to bend over as far. Life-changing for back pain!
#47
Not exactly daily, but if you hate running because it hurts quickly you are probably not running correctly.I don't know if it is also because of malformations or just me being dumb.
Try to focus on running your feet touching the ground flat. If you have no clue, try to rotate your feet up or down (slightly) just before you touch group. You will see either it end up hurting you more (over a small time) or... Less....
Fu all those gym teachers at school to never even care.
#48
You can put soap bars/scraps in those little drawstring fabric bags. It doesn't slip out of your hands, get too small to use, and it also exfoliates as a bonus! Also you can hang it from a hook (I have a shelf thing with hooks in my shower) so it dries out and doesn't get gross and mushy.#49
Cleaning a frying pan with burnt grease. If you put it back on the stove while it’s still hot with a little bit of water it will boil the grease loose. It makes it much easier to clean that way. Scrub it right after you pour the boiling water out and before you use soap.Don’t put soap in the pan while it’s on the stove or it will cause a chemical reaction and you will get particles in the pan which can make it potentially unsafe to cook in after, especially depending on the soap. I still even after doing this put the dishes through an antibacterial cycle is the dishwasher though. To many years in kitchens I guess lol. Hope it helps ❤️#50
Reheating food in the oven is so much better than the microwave lol#51
Wash your face with soap before lathering up to shave.I don't know the science but I believe it strips the oils and allows the facial hair to absorb water. This in turn makes the hair softer and less painful to shave.
Just try it.
#52
Toilet paper rolls. I've had the roll on backwards for years#53
Someone told me I used chopsticks wrong. I put the second one on the side of my ring finger, with my index and middle fingers on top of it. The person told me to just hold it like I would hold a pen, and I was like, wtf, this *is* how I hold a pen.Then I realized I hold a pen differently from most people.
I've since retrained myself to hold chopsticks correctly, but I'm not even going to try to change how I write because it's just ingrained so deeply (and also, it doesn't really matter anyway).
#54
I was using my dishwasher wrong and you probably are too.- Don't pre-rinse your dishes in the sink (it's not necessary if you use your dishwasher correctly and it wastes water). Scrape off big chunks of food, but you don't need to remove residue.
- Do run the hot water in the sink until it's hot before starting the dishwasher
- Don't use pods - liquid detergent is better, powdered is best
- Do use both the pre-rinse and the main cycle cups (the critical part that most people are doing wrong)
- Do use rinse aid
#55
If you know you are supposed to do something simple (take out the trash, clean your room, etc) but you just can't find the motivation, stop.Decide what you want to get done (it has to be something you can do as a single action.)
Decide how you would feel if you had completed it (relieved, content, happy, etc)
Ask yourself how long you are willing to go without that feeling (a day, an hour, five minutes, etc)
Now you aren't dreading doing the thing, you are asking yourself why you are denying yourself the feeling you want to feel.
#56
My parents boiled corn in the cob I’ve only eaten boiled corn at home for years… when I was 25 someone said try roasting in over with seasoning… I will never boil corn again.#57
Tying my shoes. Watched a TED talk about it and learned I had been doing it wrong for decades. Haven't had a shoe come untied since, and no more need for double knots.EDIT: Link for those interested:
[https://www.ted.com/talks/terry_moore_how_to_tie_your_shoes](https://www.ted.com/talks/terry_moore_how_to_tie_your_shoes)
Image credits: jDubbaYo
#58
I never knew you were supose to tost poptarts, only learned that a year ago.#59
How to pick up heavy things. Finally had a PT teach me how to pick s**t up when I was 31 with a chronic back injury.
Image credits: Pale_Barnacle3938
#60
Holding a knife properly.Grouchy-Cod-5908 replied:
Thumb and index finger over the base of the knife blade.
#61
If you're trying to hang a picture by catching the crosswire on a nail in the wall, slide a fork down over the nail so the prongs are behind the nail head and the fork is angled away from the wall. Slide the wire down behind the fork, and it will be guided right onto the nail. Then just pull up the fork. Saves a dozen attempts to "catch" the nail on the wire.#62
Pinching the edge of a record to get it out of the sleeve. That's how you get noise on the beginning of every record.Proper way is to hold sleeve horizontal and slide the record out onto your hand so that the ends of your fingers are on the label and the edge of the record is in the crook of your thumb and palm.
If you don't feel confident sliding the record out, you can bow the sleeve slightly and reach in until the tips of your fingers are on the label.
#63
Not making a joke when someone gives you a compliment. I have learned to say “thank you. That’s nice to hear”. Game changer for me.#64
I never thought I needed a workout routine as long as I worked different parts of my body on days until I watched an Arnold Schwarzenegger video on how he makes sure ever single muscle gets hit in a 3 day period. Since then I noticed more gains than I had made all year.
Image credits: NevermindWait
#65
Cooking. Adding the right blend of spices and cooking the onions first, was seriously a game changer for so many recipes.#66
Using a tin opener, was putting it side on for years which works just not very well#67
You can throw the plastic laundry cup in with the wash…#68
I used to drag/sway the ice cube tray back and forth under the sink.... until someone showed me you can just tilt it and the water overflows downward.#69
Opening Champagne/Fizz that has a cork.Don’t try and twist the cork off. Hold the cork and twist the bottle.
#70
Boots first, then corset.#71
Getting a hole ready by using an awl *before* drilling the wood.#72
Peeling garlic. HATED doing it until I learned to just give it a big whack first.#73
I don’t know if this counts but using mayo instead of butter/oil to grill a grilled cheese. Much crispier AND doesn’t burn as easily.#74
I am a CrossFit coach and I was coaching for a year or two before I figured out the correct way to use an AbMat. It’s based on the curve of your spine which is greater towards your butt.I had been putting the thicker part of the mat closer to my shoulders, thus squishing it and eliminating it’s benefit of contouring to my back so I could engage my abs and not my lower back when doing sit-ups. It was a simple silly mistake, but is an easy and common one I see many athletes make all the time.
Now I tell everyone “the fat end to my fat end” and everyone remembers.
#75
Those tiny, obnoxious cans of tomato paste. You can take both ends off with the can opener, and use a wooden spoon to push on the top. It comes out clean like a push pop!#76
Using a gift card to sign up for free trials.#77
Don’t use anything but a dry lens cloth to gently clean a TV screen. Fluids like Windex or even distilled water will ruin your screen.#78
You're not supposed to rinse after brushing your teeth. You're supposed to allow toothpaste residue to sit on your teeth for like 30 mins. You just spit and move on. Don't rinse your mouth with water.
Image credits: thedankbank1021
#79
Shredding cooked chicken with my fingers or with forks. It can be unpleasant if the chicken is still hot.Instead, use a Kitchen Aid mixer using the white paddle. It will shred the chicken nicely in 10 seconds.
#80
Long-pressing on a letter on your phone will show you various accents to choose from. Voilà!#81
I struggled taking the membrane off of baby-back ribs for YEARS. One day, someone told me to just use a paper towel and you'll get a perfect grip on it. S**t changed my life.#82
Sprinkle some salt on your cocktail napkin to prevent it from sticking to the bottom of your glass every time you raise the glass.#83
CTRL+SHIFT+ESC.THAT is the one you want, not ctrl+alt+delete
#84
Nobody showed me but I realised that I wasn't shampooing my hair right. I was putting shampoo in and then rinsing it out immediately. My hair would still always be greasy and I had scalp problems. Then I thought hmm maybe I need to leave it in longer so the chemical reactions actually have time to work? Now I really massage it around and leave it in for a few minutes. Now my hair is so much cleaner and nicer, and no scalp issues. It's probably obvious but took me a long time to think of.#85
I used to read in bed. Suffered bouts of insomnia and I couldn’t figure out why. Read somewhere to only use a bed for…sleeping. Also to keep the bed nicely folded and ready so you want to lay on it when you see it. Now I sleep too much.#86
Opening serrated roll dispensers, left handed.Like many things I used to never really care which hand I'd use to hold the box and which hand I'd pull the sheet of plastic wrap or foil with, and a good percentage of the time the wrap would fail to cut properly and tear at off angles and shred. Sometimes it would tear fine.
I eventually figured out that some (not all) of these boxes were only sharp in one direction. And if I held the box in my right and pulled the sheet with my left it would tear right every time.
(Also, most of these boxes have tabs on the ends which you can push in, to keep the roll from pulling out.)