Human beings are extremely smart. We discovered electricity, figured out how to get people on the moon, cured or eradicated countless diseases and are constantly coming up with even more innovations. However, sometimes, our brains just don’t figure out the easiest ways to do things without getting a little extra help from someone else. Put some scientists in a lab, and you’ll get a vaccine for COVID-19 within a year. Put some regular people in their kitchen, on the other hand, and they might not discover the best way to clean a microwave or blender for decades.
Someone recently asked on Reddit, “What’s something you did ‘the hard way’ for the longest time, because you didn’t know there was a much easier way?” And thousands of readers responded with their best life hacks. We’ve gathered some of their most helpful answers down below, featuring tips that you might be embarrassed to admit you never knew, but don’t worry: your secret’s safe with us. From keyboard shortcuts to cleaning tips that will save you time and effort, we hope you learn something new from this list of tips.
Be sure to upvote the replies that you find most brilliant, and then let us know in the comments if you have any more life hacks that might spare your fellow pandas from doing things ‘the hard way’. Then if you’re interested in checking out another Bored Panda article featuring products that feel like life hacks in and of themselves, you can find that right here.
#1
CTRL backspace to delete entire words instead of letter by letter
Image credits: chrisdante05
#2
I thought working hard (giving 120%) brought many benefits. Turns out, I still get the same benefits + my sanity by only working 80%.
Image credits: SuspectNumber6
#3
We had a pool when I was a kid, swam at the public pool all winter. So lots of water time. Worst thing was having to get out and go pee, because as a girl you’d have to pull your bathing suit down and sit there cold and naked and then have to pull on a cold, wet suit and it was sticky and icy and awful. I’d hold it until I absolutely had to go.
Occurred to me as an adult you can just pull the crotch part to the side, and it stays put while you pee.
EDIT: Thanks y’all, I am so gratified to learn I was not the only one! If I can help even one person avoid the awkward dance of pulling up cold, wet, twisted suit straps then my work here is done.
Image credits: A-D-T-P
#4
My dishwasher is across the kitchen from my utensil drawer. For years, while unloading the dishwasher I would stuff as many utensils as I could in my hands. I’d inevitably drop some, and there are a few knicks in my hardwood floor from dropping forks and spoons.
One day at work, a coworker unloaded the dishwasher and removed the utensil basket and carried it over to the utensil drawer. I never felt so dumb
Image credits: regcrusher
#5
Existed.
Turns out I had undiagnosed ADHD. Getting a diagnosis and medication, at the ripe old age of 27, was life-changing. It’s like your whole life you’re walking against a current, never knowing any different; then, suddenly, the current is gone.
(Disclaimers: everyone’s ADHD is different; medication isn’t a magic “cure”; medication isn’t the solution for everyone, and that’s okay.)
Image credits: acover4422
#6
Parchment paper. No more scrubbing off baked- on cheese and sauce. If it goes in the oven, I use parchment paper.
Image credits: ethottly
#7
I’ve been opening pistachios with my thumbs for 30 years until I saw my wife use half a shell to wrench her next one open and then my mind exploded.
Image credits: man-panda-pig
#8
Keep shaking the shaving gel and struggling to more than a quarter of the can out…till it dawned on me that they are pressurised and every shake causes it to lose pressure therefore makes dispatching it harder…I’ve now used many and actually got the bottom of every can by simply not shaking them…I’m 40 and also an engineer.
Had a complete and utter brain fart since I started shaving.
Image credits: pob125
#9
Clean your blender by making a hot water and dish soap smoothie.
Image credits: AlterEdward
#10
Hanging pictures. I used to meticulously measure and line up so my nails so they’d match the hardware on the back of the frame. Now I just use a piece of painters tape, lay it on the back of the frame, mark hardware on the frame and then remove the tape and place it on the wall and that gives you the exact placement for your picture hanging hooks and nails.
Image credits: Navyblazers2000
#11
When I was a kid I was bad at nail clippers. I knew to put my nail in the chompy bit at the end, but I didn’t realize that the handle/lever folded out. So I would just squeeze really hard until I broke my nail off in the blades. This went on for an embarrassingly long time before my mom saw me and taught me how to open the lever.
Image credits: tomyownrhythm
#12
For dusting things like baseboards, windowsills, and picture frames, the best tool is a (clean) paintbrush. I always used to either use a cloth or something made specifically for dusting, but the paintbrush is much faster and easier. I keep a cheap 2-inch paintbrush exclusively for dusting now. Also works great on cobwebs.
Image credits: leftthestrick
#13
I have mixed hair and would always brush from root to end because that’s how everyone else did it and how I was taught. Wasn’t until I was watching a movie in my late 20s and a character’s maid brought up that the character with mixed hair needed to brush out the knots on the end before working up to the roots. I gave it a try and then got confirmation at work from other girls with similar hair that that’s how it’s supposed to be done when you have a certain type of tight curls…the years I spent crying while having chunks of hair ripped and torn out 😭
Image credits: 2baverage
#14
Windows Key + V opens a list of your last 10 copies.
I think the option is turned off by default also so pressing Windows Key + V enables it initially.
Image credits: XabiAlon
#15
Pumping gas. For years I held the handle the entire time. Life changing when I realized I could lock the trigger in place
Image credits: likes_big_books
#16
As a kid, whenever my bicycle wheels got warped (I crashed into stuff a lot), I would fix them by smashing the rims with a hammer. It mostly worked.
Eventually I learned that you can just tighten and loosen the spokes to straighten warped wheels. So much easier, and much less destructive.
Image credits: ClownfishSoup
#17
Putting the colander inside the pot on top of the food and using like a lid to drain.
Instead offpouring the food into the colander and then putting it back in the original pot
Image credits: ClassicTower475
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