Humans are complicated creatures. A 2020 study found that we typically have more than 6,000 thoughts per day. And we still need to get things done!
So in an attempt to organize their routine, one Reddit user made a post on the platform, asking people to share simple but effective tricks for casual life situations.
Everyone immediately started sharing tips on how to get better sleep, remove blood stains from clothes, and other useful hacks. Below you will find the most upvoted ones.
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If you put your ear up to someone’s leg, you can hear them say “What the f**k are you doing?”
Was told to put my hand on the bottom of the steering when backing a trailer because then whichever direction you move your hand, that's the way the trailer goes instead of the opposite if your hand is on the top.
When I was a little kid, I was playing in my dad's office while he was in a meeting and was drawing dinosaurs on his dry-erase bord. Unfortunately, I was using permanent marker and I got so scared I would get in trouble, I cried. His secretary heard the commotion and was nice enough to show me that if you draw over the lines with a dry erase marker it'll all come off when you erase it. She was also nice enough to take me to the bakery across the street and get me a cookie.
Turning electronics off and then on again magically fixes many problems
My boss hates when I tell him this. He leaves his computer on for weeks at a time.
When I figured out that control + shift + t actually reopened my tab I just closed by accident
OMG....I never knew this. So much quicker than going to history. Thank you!
Read in a tween magazine (might have been American Girl or something similar?) years and years ago a tip to help you fall asleep where you slowly tense all your muscles as much as you can, then release the tension all at once. I was amazed at how much more relaxed I felt when I tried it!
Years later I realized this was basically mimicking what happens when you orgasm, without the sex part. So, take that as you will; but hey, it works either way.
This is a technique called progressive muscle relaxation and commonly used to help people relax and fall asleep
Small human contact with people we pass by in life. Keeps me centred and stops the shyness of meeting new people.
Making eye contact, smiling and saying nice or funny things to strangers. Occasionally someone blanks you, but the vast majority of times it starts a little convo - a little bit of human contact. You never know - perhaps you are the first person that day who has acknowledged their existence.
Simple examples - saying good morning to the people at the bus stop. I said 'choices choices...." to someone standing looking at a display in the supermarket a short while Iago. They laughed and I laughed little too. Small human contact.
Pouring hot water on the remaining wax on finished candles! The wax melts and floats to the top so you can just reach in and take it out AND your candle jar is clean to be repurposed or recycled. Sounds simple but as an avid candle burner it changed my life.
Laying on your left side can stop gastric reflux pain
Sadly didn't work for me and for my sister (we both have the same cause - hiatus hernias).
When your car overheats, turn up your heater to full blast while driving (roll windows down if it’s summertime so you don’t bake). It helps to keep your engine cooler than it would otherwise be until you get to a safe spot to stop (or to a nearby repair shop). After I broke up with my ex (about 2 weeks afterwards) my radiator busted, and I didn’t know who to call for help. I ate crow and called him bc he knew a few things about cars, yet at the same time was skeptical because he had a reason to give me horrible advice and screw me over. Lucky for me he was a good guy and his advice saved my car.
If your nose is stuffy and you can’t get it cleared just do 10 push-ups and it will clear right up. You can blow your nose over and over but for some reason this actually does a better job of clearing it up. I had no idea how it could work at first so I was skeptical but somehow it genuinely does work.
Im always way too hot when I try to fall asleep, but I can't sleep with open windows in the winter.
So I keep a couple of oranges frozen outside the window and I just toss one into bed. Night snack and keeps me cool without having to get up out of bed. Win-win unless you fall asleep and crush the orange, but atleast you got some sleep so thats still kind of a win...
I never expected this post to gain such traction, or I'd made it clearer. So I guess Ill edit in some common questions.
-I rarely eat them before sleep. It's either breakfast or a snack if I wake up at 3am.
-My teeth are fine.
-Ice packs would work as well, but you can't eat them and it doesn't feel as natural.
-Fans work, but I have a bad habit of ruining them. It's not as good as under blanket cooling anyways.
-I like to keep them in my armpits, but not always. Sometimes they just roll around in bed, sometimes I put one on my belly button and pretend I'm a giant teeing up my ball for a galactic game of golf.
-I am almost certainly a human. I think.
-I'm single and ready to mingle.
Thank you for the gold kind stranger!
I had really bad vertigo when i rolled over for like a month out of nowhere. Id roll over and it felt like i was still rolling for a good 20 seconds. I eventually looked up some YouTube video on it, i didnt expect much, but one video told me to lie on my back on the bed and lean my head off the bed as far as it could go back. Then hold for 10 seconds. Then move my head up to even level for ten seconds and finally bring my head up so that my chin is pushed into my neck all while laying on my back still, and hold for 10. I felt really sick after for like 30 minutes but after it was completely cured.
You did the Epley Maneuver. It re-orients tiny crystals in your inner ear that have been displaced by a head injury like a severe bump, thus making you dizzy.
I work with children, and there's a lot of things they don't like to do but needs to get done. Often the phrasing of what needs to happen can do the trick.
Such as "I know you don't like Brussels spouts, so would you like carrots or green beans?" or "would you want to eat 6 pieces of broccoli or 3 to go with your chicken?". Wherein the answer is in the question and there is no opting of the vegetables, but it seems like they get to pick the least horrible option.
At that point with my brother, our birthgivers just had him drink a glass of milk and go to bed. He never argued again
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That’s a common technique to get kids to do all kinds of things. Giving them a choice between two things gives them the control they want without having to deal with the delaying tactics kids often use. For example, don’t ever ask your kid which pajamas they want to wear…they’ll take forever just to put off going to bed. And don’t lose patience and choose yourself, because then you might have a tantrum on your hands. Instead, give them a choice between two options: “which pajamas do you want to wear? The green ones or the blue ones?“ Works every time, for any situation. Just make sure you’re good with both options and that either choice will get you what YOU want.
My 3yo just says "no" and starts to describe the pajamas he does want to wear, which is obviously one that I haven't washed yet....
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Choice is so important with kids, especially young ones. There's so much of their lives they have no control over, so giving them choices helps them feel like they have an input.
I like the first idea, give them veggie choices. It's how I learned what my autistic son likes at a time when he couldn't tell me (I used pictures and words, he didn't talk until he was 6). He's 35 now and loves all kinds of fruits and veggies.
What's really cool is this is is a highly effective sales technique that works on humans of all ages. Even knowing about it, it can still trip you up. People hate complex decisions but love feeling in control.
As stated in another post, if you want them to do something--drink their milk for example--but you know they won't want to, rather than tell them to do so just ask whether they want it in a red cup or blue cup. They choose and drink their milk. It's all about the illusion of choice and making them think they're in control...the irony of the real manipulation is fascinating to me.
I do this allllll the time. The trick is giving them a choice so they feel they gave control over the situation, but not the choice you don't want them to have. I explained how it worked to kiddo, they used it on a classmate and said it worked great.
Why bring up Brussels sprouts if that's not even one of the options?
It gives them the idea that something worse was already discarded.
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Don't ask kids to put the blocks away, ask them to be in charge of putting the blocks away
The illusion of choice. You still get them to do what you want but they think they are the ones making the decision!
I always removed their "choices" when needing to discipline. I would say they "lost their choices" instead of a timeout. Then I would say things like "I choose that we will sit/go/stay here"; "I choose that we will have lunch now rather than later"; I choose that we will read THIS book". It kills 'em to realize ALL the little choices they get to make and then have to give them over as punishment. Most kids work very hard to get them back.
This is actually sound advice for kids, when my teens were younger I would give them options about everything, bedtime was the most common one that I had to use this sort of reverse psychology for, you say it's bedtime off to bed and it would be a flat out no, but if you allow them to negotiate it actually works, I would say to them at quarter to 7, right it's bedtime and they would give the I don't want to go to bed speech but when you ask them how long would you like, they would come at me with asking for 20 minutes or half an hour then you counter with I can do 15 minutes they agree, you tell them to watch the hand on the clock and when it's 7 it's time for bed. All is well, kid is happy and your happy because 7 was the bedtime anyway lol. This was great until they started telling the time. It's the same with cooking, get them involved with the cooking process, talk them up for an amazing meal and thank them and 9 times out of 10 they would tuck in
I like doing that with people I work with when they don't wantvto do a certain task. I know it's work and they should just do what you tell them to do. But, giving even adults options seems to make them feel better about some tasks, especially when it's about calling a customer back that has been very grouchy!! Call Center grouchies can ruin a day for even the most patient of patient call center reps. So, options makes life easier overall!
Why force kids to eat something they detest? My mother used to say it was for my own good, to get used to eating everything. Well, nobody eats "everything", and I've never eaten Brussels sprouts, broccoli, liver or s**t like that as an adult. For many parents it's just an ego trip to show who's in control, nothing to do with health or nutrients.
Because vegetables are a needed part of life. I don't think it's about control for most. For some, yeah, I could see that.
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I did this with my girls and now my grandkids (4 so far). It works 95% of the time. It gives children a sense of control. Giving them a limited choice. Kids really don't have a lot of control in most things, but if they can choose a veggie or which shirt to wear, etc., it really helps avoid confrontations and arguments or meltdowns.
I've tried this one, giving kids options CAN make them feel like they have a little bit of control, BUT there's a downside as well; too many options WILL confuse them if they're too young. My preference on this (when I did meal prep for my kids) is to have one nonnegotiable and set the available options at their eye-level (no more than 2, depending on their age, and what you're making) and have them pick the one they DON'T want (for soups or homemade pot pie, you decide most of the veggies going in, but set 2-3 for them to decide which one they don't want to include); this method works like a charm, and even if they say they don't want either one, if you have one veggie already chosen as nonnegotiable, they're still getting a veggie. (I don't know many kids in the US who turn their noses up at corn, so that was usually the nonnegotiable)
Create a “in case of anxiety/panic attack” playlist.
Your brain memorizes how we feel when associated with things. When you work out and have a clear head, listen to this playlist. Religiously.
When you start to have an attack, play this music. Your brain will assume it’s relax or workout time and calm down.
Apparently squatting ***does*** make it easier for you to s**t.
But if actual squat toilets are too weird/gross/inconvenient for you, you get the same effect by putting a footstool in front of a normal toilet, and leaning forward while taking a dump.
You don't have to [buy a squatty potty](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbYWhdLO43Q), a regular *stool* (pun intended) works just fine.
If you spill candle wax on a carpet, you can get it out by running an iron over it with a damp towel in between. I was so baffled I almost felt like spilling more wax.
Edit: low heat, make sure the towel is damp enough, keep the iron constantly moving, and most importantly, don't blame me if you light your carpet on fire.
(Please Google it first. Step 1 is actually use a butter knife to get the big clumps out, and there's a few other disclaimers)
Also if you splash wax on your wall use a hair dryer to heat it up and then a towel to quickly wipe it away while it's still soft. I've removed wax from walls like this several times!
Ring toss at the fair. Don’t just sling them, or toss them towards the bottles in hopes that you’ll snag one.
Gently toss them flat up into the air above the bottles & try to get it to fall flat.
Hopefully I’m describing this correctly, because the first year I tried this at the fair I won an electric guitar and mini amp.
The following year, I won a $300 bike.
Haven’t been to the fair since, but you can bet your a*s I’ll play it again the next chance I get.
Cursing loudly makes some automated answering machines immediately go to customer service.
I personally recommend f**k but b***h s**t also works as well.
Great. Now I automatically get diverted to a human being who has a red flag on their screen telling them that I'm a screaming dipsh*t.
Listening to a song while reading along to the lyrics after it's been in my head all day to get it out. I don't even know how many times this has saved my sanity.
I was skeptical about getting garlic smell of my hands with stainless steel, but I tried it and it worked. Also, freeze onions for about fifteen minutes before chopping them up, it helps reduce the onion fumes.
My contact lenses seem to protect me from the worst of the onion side effects.
1 cup vinegar, 1 cup original Listerine, 1 cup warm water. Let you feet soak for around 30mins, then remove dead skin. BAM! No more cracked feet.
I'm not sure 3 cups of liquid would be enough to cover my flippers
If you want to know if the egg is boiled spin it on a table and stop it with your hand for just a short moment. Then let it go again immediately. If it stops it's boiled. If it keeps rotating it's raw. The liquid inside has momentum.
If you smoke too much weed or overdo it with edibles and are feeling too high, chew on a peppercorn and let it sit under your tongue for about a minute. You will feel fine in less than five minutes.
If you are on edibles you may have to repeat this every 30 minutes to an hour until you have metabolized all the THC.
You can also just smell some ground pepper, but it takes a bit longer and does not last as long.
This works because a substance in black pepper called piperene blocks cannabis receptors.
I could have used this that one time I had a 'special' cookie I'd been slowly eating in bits whenever I needed a sleep-aid... and **AAAALLLL** the 'stuff' ended up in one tiny corner... super concentrated... omg... I was like "What. Is. HAPPENING?"
That Dawn dish soap + vinegar cleaner really does work miracles. My shower has a tendency to get this grimy coating that doesn't scrub off easily. Using Dawn and vinegar it comes right off no problem.
Edit: Ratio is 50/50! People have also suggested adding some water to make it spray easier, though I haven't tried that.
Edit 2: I've only ever used Dawn, but several people have commented using other brands and finding success.
Making scrambled eggs in the microwave. They actually turn out EXTRREMELY well. Put 3 eggs in a bowl, whip em up, throw em in the microwave 35 seconds. Stir/whip them again. Another 35 seconds. Stir/whip them again, 35 seconds. Salt, pepper. DELICIOUS. Not dry, not runny. Moist and fluffy deliciousness.
Applying heat to mosquito bites. Instant relief after you take away the heat. Preferably almost unbearably hot, and apply for at least 30 seconds.
Usually lasts a few hours.
An easy way to do this is to run a metal spoon under hot water and press it on the bite.
My mom loves to collect containers to store random c**p (and converted me to do also) and both of us were stumped on how to get rid of the adhesive leftover from labels. I went online and found a post that said a mixture of olive oil and baking soda will take the glue right off. I kind of laughed at it thinking it was another joke post because how can baking soda and oil, two items we consume everyday, be used to remove something like adhesives? Still there was no real alternative since neither of us wanted to go buy Goo Gone because of the stench so we tried it out.
To our surprise the mixture worked like a charm and all of the adhesive and sticker residue came right off after letting the mixture sit on the containers for a bit. Now we have drawers full of containers full of various spices and tools that once held other spices, snacks, and foods.
Apple Cider vinegar and warts. Just take a qtip end and soak it in ACV, then place it over the wart and put a bandaid on top. Continue process each night until it's gone. Had to deal with some earlier in life and no amount of freezing helped, they would die but they seemed to always come back/return. ACV worked flawlessly and they never returned.
The vinegar is unnecessary. The duck tape method is a really good way of removing warts, that has been tested and found to be as effective as cryotherapy (freezing) or acid therapy. Just put duck tape over the wart, change it every few days, rinse and repeat until the wart is gone. Nobody knows why it is effective but it is.
If you have trouble passing gas, get down on all fours. Start with knees and hands, then knees and elbows. I learned it from a dating survival handbook from the early 2000's and it saved me the first time I had White Castle on a business trip.
Flipping over a rug, upside down, *before* vacuuming the back of it. Doing this knocks out the dirt thats deep in it that the vacuum could never get out.
If you need to cut some pvc pipe and have no tools, you can cut a pvc pipe with just some string and some friction
Edit:my most upvoted comment and it was a trick my mentor/archnemesis taught me... Damn you Ronnie!
I had really bad hiccups from drinking so the bartender gave me limes with sugar and some sort of red liquid on them and they instantly went away, and I felt like I had control over my life for a short moment
Note: this post originally had 80 images. It’s been shortened to the top 35 images based on user votes.
WD-40 has many uses, Google it and be amazed, the most bizarre is that it’s banned from being used at fishing competitions as a way to attract fish, spray it on your bait and apparently it gives you an advantage. Not sure the various components of WD-40 are good for the environment so don’t go trying it out eh?
My favorite redneck trick: if it doesn't move and should, use WD-40; if it moves and shouldn't, use duct tape!
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Tobacco on insect stings. It takes down the pain and the swelling. I'm allergic to insect stings and this is how I stop a reaction before I need an epi injection or even Benadryl. I just get a little bit of rolling tobacco (the kind that comes with rolling papers to make your own cigarettes), get it a little wet with water or spit, and press it to the spot that was stung.
Though duck tape actually is a brand, i think they meant duct tape?
Vegetable oil gets sap off skin. Our kids used to climb and old pine tree and would get covered in sap. You cannot wash sap off, but rubbing them down with vegetable oil took the sap off and vegetable washes off way easier.
I just learned this last yr. I am surrounded by pine and I flipped out when I learned and used this.
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A bar of soap under your bottom sheet can stop involuntary leg movements/restless leg syndrome
WD-40 has many uses, Google it and be amazed, the most bizarre is that it’s banned from being used at fishing competitions as a way to attract fish, spray it on your bait and apparently it gives you an advantage. Not sure the various components of WD-40 are good for the environment so don’t go trying it out eh?
My favorite redneck trick: if it doesn't move and should, use WD-40; if it moves and shouldn't, use duct tape!
Load More Replies... Tobacco on insect stings. It takes down the pain and the swelling. I'm allergic to insect stings and this is how I stop a reaction before I need an epi injection or even Benadryl. I just get a little bit of rolling tobacco (the kind that comes with rolling papers to make your own cigarettes), get it a little wet with water or spit, and press it to the spot that was stung.
Though duck tape actually is a brand, i think they meant duct tape?
Vegetable oil gets sap off skin. Our kids used to climb and old pine tree and would get covered in sap. You cannot wash sap off, but rubbing them down with vegetable oil took the sap off and vegetable washes off way easier.
I just learned this last yr. I am surrounded by pine and I flipped out when I learned and used this.
Load More Replies... A bar of soap under your bottom sheet can stop involuntary leg movements/restless leg syndrome
