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Who doesn’t hate a piece of random advice coming straight at you with full force of unneeded impact? If there's anything the world would be better off without, it would be unsolicited advice.

But in reality, these wisdom bites from colleagues, friends, and whoever feels confident enough to throw one out are so common, you wonder how come they’re still legal. And one Reddit user u/5000Castillo decided to find out whether some of the advice is actually useful.

The question “What felt like a useless piece of advice until you actually tried it?” which, at first, seemed to be crossing the line, got almost 60K upvotes and a whopping 20.2K comments. The answers are in, and you will be surprised to hear the results.

#1

My dad always told me ‘Ask anyway, the worst they can say is no’ when buying something or when I needed something from another person. Seemed stupid to ask if I was sure they would say no but I was also a socially anxious kid. Turns out that advice has helped me with school, with raises, with people in general, with plans with new friends...

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#2

Instead of saying, "I'm sorry for being late," or something,

say, "thank you for being patient"

Didn't realize the effect that could have on people, and instead of putting yourself down, you bring another up.

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Andrew Gibb
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Thank you for your patience as a sign off when I am late submitting a task works wonders

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#3

Its better to lose a second of your life than to lose your life in a second.

People on the road need to just slow down a little. It’ll save your life

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Scagsy
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Good one. Also, you are not as safe as you think you are in your easily crushable sheet metal and plastic box

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Bored Panda reached out to Dr. Audrey Tang, a chartered psychologist and the author of "Be A Great Manager Now" and "The Leader's Guide to Mindfulness," to find out more about unsolicited advice and what to do when you get a piece of it.

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Audrey suggests viewing such advice as if it were a physical gift: “just because it’s offered, it doesn’t mean we have to accept it.” For this reason, the psychologist urges us to “never upset yourself over the opinion of someone from whom you have not asked advice.”

Moreover, Audrey believes that not all unsolicited advice is useless, especially “if it has come from someone who has experience within the subject matter.”

She said that if advice comes with examples, or evidence, or ways in which you can further research the area in question, it can indeed be very helpful. “This is true of forums too,” she added.

#4

Clean as you cook, dishes right away, and 10 minutes every day walking through the house picking things up/organizing.

So much better than hours of cleaning on one day

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Sethurama Iyer
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

My mom does this. It's much more productive and you have a cleaner work space

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#5

Compliment people behind their backs. Sounds stupid but works wonders.

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Elsker
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

maybe it's more about sending positive energy instead of gossiping or worse?

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#6

Just don't drink today. Surely you can do that. Then just repeat.

It's been 19+ years.

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Malakai
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That's amazing! Kudos to you :) May you have another 20 years sober to be proud of, one day at a time

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However, as a psychologist, Audrey doesn't give advice unless it is sought (and paid for), “mainly because in most unsolicited contexts, there is no time to get into depth with any issue and I wouldn't want any form of misunderstanding on either part.”

The psychologist explains that unsolicited advice may have come because “someone thought it was solicited.” Other times, it comes from people “who are bored, or who want a distraction from dealing with things going on in their own lives.”

Audrey gave an example: “Rather than working on my own marriage, I might focus on giving relationship advice to others,” some think.

#7

Directly expressing my needs instead of hinting.

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Steve Barnett
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Being Aspergic I totally get this. Do not hint to me, I. WILL. JUST. NOT. GET. IT. EVER. You have to tell me directly what you want/need etc.

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#8

On my wedding day my Grandmother said to me "Never do anything around the house that you don't plan on doing for life". At the time I thought it was a terrible advice. When I was mowing the lawn at 7 1/2 months pregnant I got what she meant.

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#9

Cleanining your house before leaving for more than 5 days. Nothing is better than coming to a clean house.

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zims
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

At the very least take out the trash, do your dishes/laundry and make your bed. Remove anything that could stink up the place or prevent you from coming home and flopping down for a nap.

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Another theory on why some of us are so drawn to throwing out advice here and there comes down to the evolutionary aspect of humans living in communities.

Audrey explained: “We are fundamentally social creatures—in the past, we would have had to rely on our society to keep us safe—so we are likely to have an awareness of how to 'fit in' and a sense of unpleasantness when we do not.”

If we’re at odds with others, we may feel guilt. The psychologist summed up that “this can drive us to 'make comments' if it looks like someone is not fitting in.”

#10

My grandfather told me this and I never understood it until I had my own place. Always buy the cheap tools at first and if you wear it out/break it then you use it enough to justify getting a nicer more expensive one.

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Johnny
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I always buy the midrange tools, and never buy the cheap tools -- they don't work as well (cheap wrenches have looser tolerances and don't fit bolts well, screwdrivers slip out of screw heads, etc). It's not that much more money and well worth it in better usability. My brother broke a finger once with a cheap wrench, he was trying to get a stubborn bolt off his lawnmower, the wrench broke and his hand slammed into the side of the lawnmower.

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#11

Pay bills, SAVE, then spend.

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Laura Jones
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

people dont seem to do this anymore but they should to be financially sound

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#12

When you’re stressed, make a to do list. I was always like, I KNOW WHAT NEEDS TO GET DONE I JUST CANT DO IT ALL. But if you write it down it doesn’t have to all live in your brain and you can focus.

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Christophe Beunens
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

you also get some happy-hormones when you scratch a thing of your list. Gives you energy for the next tasks

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#13

Leftie loosie, rightie tightie

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Mica Fiverline
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Since I learned this, I constantly use it^^ Used to be a clutz who forgets which direction unscrews stuff^^

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#14

Just shut up and listen. Actually listen.

Too many people don't know how to just listen without thinking that they have to add to the conversation. No just stop. You don't have to add anything. You are not helping. You aren't even paying attention to wait is being said because you are thinking of what you can say.

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WilvanderHeijden
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

And a lot of people are talking without thinking. Just count their "Ehh"s "Hmm"s" and "Ahum"s

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#15

If it takes less than 5 minutes, do it immediately

I do so much less housework on weekends because of this

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Sethurama Iyer
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yes, as my pilates instructor famously says, "it's only five minutes of your life!"

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#16

Experience is what you get when you don't get what you want.

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#17

Practice gratitude. Grateful people are happy people.

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#18

My mom told me to spend good money on the things that separate you from the ground: tires, shoes, mattress. I finally bought good not cheap shoes and life was SIGNIFICANTLY better. They last so much longer and my back and posture improved too. She’s not wrong about tires and a mattress either

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Malakai
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I'm overweight and I have problems in one of my feet from wearing cheap shoes to work all the time. I finally shelled out about $80 for a good pair of work shoes and, good gods, the difference it made. My hips, my knees, my ankles, my back, and my heel all felt SO much better. I used to blame it all on my weight, and while it still gives me problems, having proper support really makes all the difference

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#19

Unclench your jaw, open your hands, drop your shoulders, and breathe in.

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#20

If you dont have anything nice to say, dont say nothing at all.

People dont wanna hear "Eww, yuck, you like that?" When referring to someone's food for example.

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Anam
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This I live by too. And believe, silence is way better than just muttering about.

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#21

This too shall pass. On those days when I just feel like I can't take it I think of that, and I know tomorrow will be different. Someone once told me, "tomorrow may not be better, but at least it'll be different." In a strange way that too is comforting.

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Sethurama Iyer
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

There was a story where a king (Akbar) asked his advisor (Birbal) what slogan he should write in the entrance of the palace that makes people happy and sad at the same time. He chose "This too shall pass," because it reminds a sad person that better things are on their way, yet prevents a person from being too indulgent in their happiness.

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#22

My therapist told me the next time I'm going to have a panic attack to just give in and tell myself it was ok to have one . I told him he was crazy. After a couple tries it started working to my amazement. I haven't had a panic attack in 3 years

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ChimeraBubbles
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yeah, if more people had been given permission to feel okay to panic or be scared there would be less anxiety and fewer panic attacks all round.

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#23

If you have body image issues, find one even very small thing you like about yourself. My starting point was a freckle in the middle of my left hand. Whenever you’re feeling bad about yourself, remember you like that ONE thing. Find a new small thing to like about once a month if you can. It becomes easier to find things, and eventually easier to like yourself, in my experience. Thanks for that advice, Mom.

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Daria B
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This was kind of how I figured I like my husband before we got together. He was nice to talk to, but it wasn't love at first sight. But when I got to know him, I noticed detail after detail, until I finally came to the realisation (didn't take me long, though, to be honest). And now it's been 2+10 years, and counting, that we're together. Glad it didn't take me too long to find out how I feel. ♡

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#24

Be yourself.

The less you care what people think and the more real you are, the more people start to like you.

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Miss Cris
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This isn't true. Some people will be atracted to you and others will leave you. But you'll stay with the good ones.

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#25

"Your gums bleed when you floss because you don't floss enough"

Turns out if you floss enough, your gums won't be inflamed so they don't bleed when you floss

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#26

Smiling at people. You can get a lot just from a simple smile.

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Kesam
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I generally agree but this depends on the culture. Smiling and other such signals can mean completely different things in other cultures.

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#27

Keeping my shoulders back. It was a suggestion I saw for preventing panic/anxiety. Idk what it is, but when your shoulders are in that position it gives some strange feeling of control. I also read somewhere that during panic attacks the body basically wants to curl into fetal position for protection, so I feel like focusing on keeping your arms down and shoulders back is a conscious way to go against that and stay grounded in reality. Works for me, could work for you too.

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#28

Go to the bathroom first thing after having sex.

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Foxxy (The Original)
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is especially important for females as not cleaning after intercourse can cause UTI’s.

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#29

Fill your tank all the way up instead of a little at a time.

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Johnny
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I thought the reason people did this was because they didn't have enough money to fill the tank, so this one could be written as "Have more money"

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#30

Life is really much easier if you clean your workplace/room. I clean my room often and it makes me feel calm and clears my head.

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#31

I'm not great at this one, but "don't look for a happy life, look for happy moments".

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Tiny Dynamine
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Ooh, no, not really. Happy moments can be good, but ones like buying new clothes for the excitement will fade away quickly and leave you needing another fix. Wave goodbye to your money and you might become less financially secure. You need to look for profound happiness, so that you will feel good about your life in general. For this, do hobbies, be creative, help people, exercise. This is when you will notice the change within yourself.

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#32

Using a stool to lift my feet into a squatting position to poo. What a difference!

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#33

Unpack your suitcase the second you get home.

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Foxxy (The Original)
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Nope, don’t think I will ever do this lol. When I get home that is one of the last things I want to do.

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#34

Not taking your cellphone into bed with you. After awhile you will sleep much easier without the distraction and blue light shining straight into your eyes before bed.

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#35

If you have nausea, suck on an ice cube. The nausea will go down.

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kate h
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

If you're starting to get the pre-puke mouthful of saliva, stand over the sink and spit it out. Keep spitting if it keeps accumulating. This prevents me from puking 99% of the time. The sink is better than spitting in the toilet, as the mere proximity and close up view makes my stomach think it's ok to let loose. The bathroom sink is far enough away yet close enough to the toilet for the rare time spitting doesn't work.

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