Popsugar Living Instagram The Right Way to Do Things 40 Things You've Been Doing Wrong All Your Life 23 November 2018 by Emily Co Image Source: Unsplash / Abigail Keenan You were probably happily chugging along in your daily routine until you came across this slideshow. You'll soon realise after reading through that there are many things you've been doing wrong without knowing. Get ready to have your world turned upside down. 1 Crossing Out Words 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. Instead of crossing words out with lines, cross them out with letters so they won't be legible. 1 / 40 2 Organising Spray Bottles Image Source: POPSUGAR Photography / Sarah Lipoff Use a clothing rod to hang your spray bottles to save space. 2 / 40 3 Keeping Manuals Whenever you buy a product, go to the manufacturer's site and upload the digital version of the manual onto Google Drive or Dropbox, and you'll never have to keep paper copies again. 3 / 40 4 Untying a Knot How to open nearly any knot The trick to untying a knot is to twist the loose end as much as you can and to push it through the knot. 4 / 40 5 Filling a Container With Water LPT: Use a (clean) dustpan to fill a container that doesn't fit in the sink If you have a container that can't fit in your sink, carefully position a dustpan in a way that will funnel the water into the container below. 5 / 40 6 Keeping Cords Untangled #lifehack #earbuds #repurpose #breadtie #wrappedtight ☆ A photo posted by Shelby Pawn (@a_la_mad) on Jun 6, 2016 at 3:23pm PDT Make sure your headphone and charger cords don't get tangled up by using bread ties to keep them in place. 6 / 40 7 Packing Clothes Prepping for our 2-week long trip to Leh conducting games and craft workshops with kids #prepping #packedandproud #efficient #rosesinthebag #besttravellinghack #packinghack #waytoleh #leh #ladakh #psysai A photo posted by Saishraddha Malage (@sai.psysai) on Aug 5, 2015 at 10:25am PDT Roll up your clothes when packing, because it'll take up less space. 7 / 40 8 Tacking on Keys Image Source: YouTube user alittletrickilearned Use a staple remover to keep your key ring open when you're adding keys. 8 / 40 9 Removing Bin Bags LPT: My husband drilled holes in the bottom of our garbage can to make putting in & taking out bags much easier -- no suction issues. Drill holes in a bin to prevent suction issues when pulling out and inserting a bin bag. 9 / 40 10 Making Sandwiches Sandwich Making Tip Cut round sandwich fillings in half to make sure they cover the whole surface of the bread. 10 / 40 11 Microwaving Leftovers LPT: When heating leftovers, space out a circle in the middle, it will heat up much more evenly. Dig a hole in your leftovers when heating them up in the microwave so the heat will spread evenly. 11 / 40 12 Heating Up Food I could never fit both bowls in the microwave at once, until my mother showed me this. Place one bowl on top of a cup to make sure both bowls can fit in the microwave at the same time. 12 / 40 13 Using Sauce Cups #ketchuphack A photo posted by Una (@woolywalkers) on May 3, 2016 at 2:22pm PDT Spread the rims of the sauce cups so you can dip your burger in ketchup or add even more ketchup to the cup. 13 / 40 14 Eating a Cupcake My favourite way to eat a cupcake 👌🏼 #cupcakehack #noglutenadded #fromscratch #hamont A photo posted by Mulberry Coffee House (@mulberrycoffee) on May 3, 2016 at 11:14am PDT Instead of just digging in, cut the bottom off and turn it into a sandwich. You'll get frosting in every bite. 14 / 40 15 Eating Cheesy Snacks I'm not a fan of flavor-dusted fingertips, so I like to eat my snacks with chopsticks (shown here improvising with straws). #lifehack A photo posted by Brittani Wray Hinders (@brittaniwray) on Jul 19, 2013 at 7:35pm PDT Eat snacks with a lot of residue with chopsticks so you won't get any of the powder staining your fingers! 15 / 40 16 Eating Popcorn From a Bag A post shared by yasumin (@stominto.yasu) on Aug 24, 2017 at 5:48am PDT Rip the bag strategically on its side instead of the top so you no longer have to dip your hand into the bag to grab popcorn. 16 / 40 17 Listening to Music on Your Phone If you ever find yourself without a sound system, a solo cup + smartphone does the trick #lifehack A photo posted by JS (@snamesjover) on Jul 21, 2013 at 9:44am PDT Put your phone in a cup when playing music to enhance the sound. 17 / 40 18 Keeping Pastries Fresh Image Source: StockSnap / Jan Vašek Place a slice of bread on your cake or with your cookies in a bag to keep them soft and moist. 18 / 40 19 Drinking Sodas How to keep the straw from rising out of your soda can Keep your straw in place by turning the tab and placing the straw through the tab. 19 / 40 20 Serving Drinks Image Source: POPSUGAR Photography / Sheila Gim Top drinks with a cupcake liner when entertaining outdoors so you don't have to worry about pesky flies. 20 / 40 21 Separating Egg Yolks Use a bottle to suck up the egg yolk with ease, separating it from the egg white. 21 / 40 22 Peeling a Banana Learn from monkeys, and peel a banana from the bottom instead of the top. 22 / 40 23 Eating Tic Tacs Trying to get out Tic Tacs can be frustrating, but this technique will fix that. 23 / 40 24 Eating Chicken Wings Eating finger-lickin' good wings has never been easier with this trick. 24 / 40 25 Using Butter in Recipes Image Source: POPSUGAR Photography / Sheila Gim Did you know that you can use avocado instead of butter in your recipes? Mind = blown. 25 / 40 26 Breathing Image Source: POPSUGAR Photography / Rima BrindamourProduct Credit: Balenciaga jacket (over), Brand Name Sandy Liang jacket (under) We're breathing all wrong. The proper way of breathing is to breathe from your abdomen, not from your chest. Breathing from your chest area will result in shallow breaths and less oxygen intake. 26 / 40 27 Slicing Bread When cutting bread, turn it upside down and cut on the soft side, this saves the bread from being squished and makes for an easier cut. To slice bread without squishing the top, turn it upside down and slice it from the bottom up. 27 / 40 28 Praising Children Image Source: POPSUGAR Photography / Emily FaulstichProduct Credit: Left: Gap shirt / Center: Everlane sweatshirt / Right: Equipment sweater Did you know that the right way to praise your children is to praise their efforts? A Stanford study found that kids who have their efforts praised are more motivated and persistent than those who are praised for their abilities. For example, saying "You did a great job with those maths problems," is better for the child than saying, "You are so good at maths!" 28 / 40 29 Separating Pomegranate Seeds Image Source: POPSUGAR Photography / Nicole Perry Use this water method and it won't be a chore to eat pomegranates. Simply fill a large bowl with warm water. Submerge the pomegranate in the water bath (this will contain juice splatter should any seeds rupture), and gently crack it open along the score lines, pulling each section of flesh outward. If this step proves troublesome, extend the score lines further into the flesh and try again. 29 / 40 30 Peeling Potatoes Ditch the peelers! Peel potato with ease with this technique. 30 / 40 31 Peeling Garlic Peel garlic in 10 seconds by following this video. 31 / 40 32 Making Iced Coffee A little St. Patrick's Day cheer! @kerrygoldirishcream liquor and @chameleoncoldbrew ice cubes (and a plain ice cube because I did not have enough coffee ice cubes). The perfect drink for today (and anyday). 🍀🍀🍀🍀 A photo posted by Easily Paleo (@easilypaleo) on Mar 17, 2015 at 3:29pm PDT Freeze coffee into ice cubes to make iced coffee that won't get diluted by regular ice. 32 / 40 33 Breaking In Shoes Image Source: StockSnap / Ryan McGuire You probably loathe breaking in shoes. Just take a thick pair of socks, wear shoes, and then use a hair dryer to blow on the tightest corners. Keep repeating until the shoes fit comfortably! 33 / 40 34 Rescuing a Wet Cell Phone New diet? #silicagel A photo posted by Victoria S. Barlow (@baabaa89) on Jan 8, 2015 at 1:03pm PST We've heard so many ways on how to rescue a phone you dropped in water, but the best strategy is to seal your phone in an airtight pouch with synthetic desiccant. You can start saving the packets you get in food packages or clothing, or you can buy your own from Amazon. 34 / 40 35 Closing a Bag of Crisps Skip the crisp clip. Keep your crisps fresh with a few folds. 35 / 40 36 Stashing Grocery Bags Image Source: POPSUGAR Photography / Sarah Lipoff Fold your plastic bags into these origami triangles so they'll take up less space. 36 / 40 37 Tying Plastic Bags Recycle this into a million dollars! Instead of tying plastic bags with a rubber band, use the top of a water bottle to screw it shut. 37 / 40 38 Freezing Ice Cream Found a method to keep ICE CREAM soft. It doesn't have to bend your spoon. As soft as when you first open it, everytime You've been freezing your ice cream all wrong. Keep it in a ziplock bag when you stuff the tub in the freezer, and your ice cream will stay soft and not harden to the point where you'll have difficulty scooping it. 38 / 40 39 Cutting Cake Make a clean cut with cakes by using dental floss. 39 / 40 40 Removing Cornhusks Remove cornhusks with ease by microwaving the corn. Check out more life hacks here! 40 / 40 InstagramSelf ImprovementWellnessRedditLife HacksProductivity