Genius Hacks

20 Things We’ve All Been Doing Wrong Our Whole Lives

We always think we know the best way to do things, especially things we’ve done a zillion times already in our lives. But it turns out that there are all sorts of tricks and hacks that can make your life so much easier. Who knew those bumpy ridges around the edges of shopping carts were meant to hold plastic grocery bags? (I sure didn’t, but now I do!)

1. You use your hands to try to get Pringles from the can.

The right way: Instead of trying to cram your hand into the narrow tube, slip a piece of paper into the can. Then tilt the can and slide your chips out neatly.

2. You peel a banana from the top.

The right way: Instead of peeling the banana from the stem at the top, which can be difficult and end up mushing your banana, just open it from the other end. Voila!

3. You cross things out using straight lines.

LPT: When you want to cross words out you don't want to be legible, instead of scribbling over them, write random letters and words over the original.
byu/yourmom46 inLifeProTips

The right way: Don’t use straight lines if you really don’t want what you wrote to be able to be read. Use a bunch of squiggly lines to cross things out completely.

4. You hold a burger with your thumb on the bottom and four fingers on top.

The right way: To keep your toppings from making a break for it, put your thumb and your pinky on the bottom of the burger and the rest of your fingers on top.

5. You pour juice with the opening of the carton on the bottom.

The right way: Pouring juice with the container opening at the top rather than the bottom (remember to press down the tab) will give you more control and help prevent spills.

6. You push the chocolate wedge from the Toblerone away from the chocolate bar.

https://www.facebook.com/Toblerone/photos/a.174430895925035/1225648254136622/?type=3&theater

The right way: Pushing the triangle of chocolate in towards the rest of the bar will snap it off much easier than trying to push or pull it away from the bar.

7. You pick off the stem of the strawberry using your hands.

The right way: When you have to de-stem a lot of strawberries, for something like making jam, push a thin straw up through the bottom of the strawberry, removing the whole stem easily.

8. You eat Tic Tacs by pouring them directly into your mouth or hands.

https://twitter.com/oxruon/status/354622935794851845

The right way: The underside of most little Tic Tac package openings has a small indentation that’s designed to hold one Tic Tac at a time.

9. You transfer your Chinese take-out into a bowl.

The right way: You don’t need to put your take-out onto a plate or into a bowl. Simply unfold the cardboard carton around the food and it flattens into a plate.

10. You put your straw in the big hole in a can of soda.

The right way: Put your straw through the can’s tab and then turn it to keep the straw in place. This way, the carbonation from the drink won’t keep lifting the straw out of the beverage.

11. You bring your salad to work in Tupperware.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BoOs1dOB2NC/

The right way: Instead of bringing your salad to work in plastic Tupperware (even with the dressing in another container), put it ina mason jar, with the dressing on the bottom. The salad won’t get soggy, and you can just shake it before eating it to distribute the dressing evenly.

12. You hold your pizza flat.

The right way: Holding your pizza flat lets the end droop and the toppings (and cheese!) slide off. If you pinch the crust a bit, it’ll keep the slice horizontal and make it much easier to eat. You can also just fold the whole slice in half and eat it that way.

13. You put the toilet paper roll on with the free end on the inside.

https://twitter.com/OroroPro/status/783220110345572352

The right way: The free end of the toilet paper roll is supposed to be on the outside. Check out the orginal patent illustration!

14. You put your cooking spoon on top of the pot or beside the stove.

The right way: Most pots and pans have a small hole at the end of the handle. Yes, you can use this to hang the pot up, but you can also use it as a handy little holder for the cooking spoon.

15. After bagging, you throw all your grocery bags haphazardly into the shopping cart.

The right way: Don’t just throw all the bags directly into the cart. You can use the little bumpy metal things around the edges of the shopping cart as bag holders, which keeps things from tumbling around.

16. You heat up your leftovers in one big pile in the microwave.

LPT: When heating leftovers, space out a circle in the middle, it will heat up much more evenly.
byu/Omgpolly inLifeProTips

The right way: When reheating food, spread it into donut-shape the best you can. That’ll ensure that it heats up more evenly.

17. You put your hand over your microwaved food to see if it’s warm enough.

The right way: Speaking of heating up food in microwaves, feel the bottom of the plate, not the top of the food, to see if the food has been heated all the way through.

18. You can never remember which side of your car has the gas tank opening.

https://www.instagram.com/p/cMUN3Cy6RX/

The right way: Instead of just taking a wild guess when you pull into the gas station, there’s usually an indicator on your gas gauge that shows which side the gas cap is on.

19. You use bobby pins by putting the bumpy side on top.

https://twitter.com/booseoksoonie/status/725662466345078784

The right way: Use bobby pins with the bumpy side down, against your skull. This will keep your ‘do in place much more securely.

20. You empty a box of cans into your fridge one at a time.

beer made easy

The right way: Whywaste time unloading a box of canned beverages into your fridge one at a time? Instead, just open both sides of the box, put the box on the fridge shelf, and just push them all through at once. In this case, yes, the beer is upside down, but you know, don’t do it that way.

h/t: BuzzFeed

Dean Altman

Dean Altman is a writer living in NYC.