When I was young I always thought those perforated paper seat covers at public toilets were supposed to go on the seat unbroken, so your poop would hit it like a trap door, then fall to the water. (Ha! Write something like that, ChatGPT, you hack.)
We are all doing things wrong all the time. If not wrong, let’s say at least not optimized. We don’t get taught how to do most things. So you figure out what works for you and move on with your life. That is, until you are dating someone and they see you drying off after a shower by spinning really fast in a circle. Again, maybe not wrong, but not optimal.
Lucky for us u/slart_n asked Reddit “What everyday activity did you do wrong for years, before someone finally showed you an important trick?”
The answers were illuminating.
1. “You can take the silverware basket out of the dishwasher when unloading it. 💀” – u/877-Cash-Meow
2. “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.” – u/joec_95123
3. “When the soap bar gets to the last sliver, you can just stick it on to the new bar to use it up completely.”- u/finlyboo
4. “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!” – u/knittybitty123
5. “Sliding your thumb on the spacebar of your phone will move the cursor.” – u/UnfairMicrowave
6. “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.” – u/funklab
7. “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 painter’s 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.” – u/darthva
8. “Boots first, then corset.” – u/EllesAway
9. “How to pick up heavy things. Finally had a PT teach me how to pick shit up when I was 31 with a chronic back injury.” – u/Pale_Barnacle3938
10. “Rinsing my hair. I used to rinse with hot water and assume I just had frizzy and dry hair. Rinsed with col water once and realized I’d lived far too long with frizzy hair for no reason.” – u/Clawffee
11. “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).” – u/Wegzuwerfendes_Konto
12. “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 every single muscle gets hit in a three-day period. Since then I noticed more gains than I had made all year.” – u/NevermindWait
13. “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 shit that current me is shouldering.” – u/Icy-Article-8635
14. “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.” – u/archetype1
15. “I folded all my washcloths 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.” – u/thoughtfractals85
16. “If you’re trying to hang a picture by catching the cross-wire 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.” – u/GSNow
17. “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 pillowcase inside out and cover the pillow while flipping right side out.” – u/Immediate_Papayas
18. “Getting a hole ready by using an awl before drilling the wood.” – u/Back2Bach
