It can seem like a difficult task to teach yourself a new talent or skill, but it’s amazing what you can do when you don’t check Facebook every 27 seconds and you actually apply yourself to something. A Reddit thread asked users to share something you can teach yourself in a single day that will benefit you for the rest of your life. Here are some of the best tips, but definitely check out the thread for other great ideas.
1. Awkward Situations
When you’re in a social situation you find awkward or strained, immediately make yourself comfortable. Find the best chair and kick back, whatever it takes. If you stand around awkwardly, its noticeable and makes you seem helpless and shy. If you get cozy, you appear more powerful and will enjoy the experience more regardless.
2. How to Have Your Back Scratched
Here’s the best way to communicate where on your back needs to be scratched. View it as a phone’s dial pad “1” being your left shoulder and “3” being your right shoulder. “0” is your butthole … Instead of saying down, up, left, or right, say the number that you want scratched. A lot easier, and it feel like a secret code with your significant other.
3. How to Clear Your Blocked Nose
Method 1: Push repeatedly with one finger the spot above the bridge of your nose [where the third eye is supposed to be]. This will move the bone of your nose and “pop” the congestion. Method 2 [totally works 100%]: Pinch your nose closed [hold your breath as long as you can and move your head back and forward [as if nodding like mad], this causes carbon dioxide to accumulate, which is the best natural vasodilator you can get. It has helped me immensely, especially at the end of a cold, when the mucus is thick and won’t budge.
4. Train Your Foot
Take your keys and drop them. Shoot your foot out to keep them from hitting the floor. They can bounce off your foot onto the floor but your foot must break their fall. Now repeat with other random, initially unbreakable, objects. Roll things off your desk or kitchen counter. Drop them from the region of your pockets. If you’re brave, once you get your confidence up practice with raw eggs. Practice this over and over until you can faithfully prevent any object you drop from hitting the floor. Master this and you will most likely prevent anything you ever drop from hitting the floor with enough force to break. I did this as a game when I was very young and the skill stuck with me. To this day I don’t need cases for my phones and have prevented countless items from shattering on the floor.
5. How to Properly Budget Your Money
First off, make a monthly budget. (There are plenty of sites to help you do so)
Pay your bills, then pay yourself (savings/investments).
From there do this:
Get a binder for your expenses. Get those little divider things and write what your budget is for each category on each divider thing, large enough to see. (For example: $250/groceries, $100/entertainment, $50/clothes — obviously adjusted to your needs)
Put whatever cash you have for each category in each divider pocket and keep the binder in a safe place.
When you run out of money in each divider, you’re done spending money on that category for that month. This will help you save more money and pay off more debt.
6. Organize Your Stuff
I learned the two-minute rule from another comment thread in Reddit a while back. If it’s something I can do in under two minutes (which you can expand to five), I do it right now instead of later.
For example, I’ll fold some laundry right now and browse the internet for the next four hours a little less guiltily, instead of the laundry basket torturing me for four hours. Life just runs smoother this way.
7. The NATO Phonetic Alphabet
Trust me, doing phone work as much as I do and trying to give serial numbers over fuzzy, static-y connections, I now know it does wonders. You may question how this will ever help you. But the next time you’re calling for tech support to some dude in another country who may or may not have complete command of the English language, you will thank me.
Plus, it takes less then five minutes to learn. If the five-minute qualification wasn’t in place, I’d say meditation. That takes about 15 to learn and will keep your mind in good health well into your 90s and beyond.
For those interested in the NATO phonetic alphabet, read on. Essentially, it replaces letters (A, B, C, etc.) in spoken word communication with longer, unique words so the individual letters are harder to mistake. The letter signified by each word is the first sound the word makes, i.e., Alpha, Bravo, Charlie would be A, B, C.
It’s easy to memorize after a few runs through the alphabet. Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, Echo, Foxtrot, Golf, Hotel, India, Juliet, Kilo, Lima, Mike, November, Oscar, Papa, Quebec, Romeo, Sierra, Tango, Uniform, Victor, Whiskey, X-ray, Yankee, Zulu.
8. Public Restroom Tip
When going number two in a public restroom, put toilet paper in the toilet before you go. No sound. No splash.
9. At Least a Single Chore Every Day
I just do one chore a day. I pick one thing that needs to be done every night when I get home from work and do it. Whether it be cleaning and organizing the entire kitchen or changing a light bulb,
It keeps me on top of things without getting overwhelmed
10. Seeing Without Your Glasses
I am slightly nearsighted. If I don’t have my glasses and, for example, I need to read something on the TV, but it appears blurry, I make a tiny hole with my fingers and look through it. It acts as a lens just enough for me to be able to read what’s written on the TV. Blocks out a bunch of light, but otherwise it works.
11. Click Website Links Easier
Actually pressing your mouse wheel button on a link instantly opens the link in a new tab. It’s incredibly helpful.
12. The Secure Knot for Shoestrings
Learn how to tie your shoes using Ian’s Secure Knot. Since I started tying my shoes this way many years ago, I haven’t had my shoelaces come undone unintentionally. (OK, it happened once when my shoe ace got snagged on a tree root whilst hiking, but I don’t count that.)
13. Easy Treats and Gifts
Buy good, pitted dates — fat ones. Stuff them with peanut butter (chunky or smooth). Roll in powdered sugar. Put in small, decorative tin. Addictive as hell, ingredients keep forever, a 5-year-old can make them and they’re an instant gift for housewarming, baby showers, dinner invites, people dropping by on short notice, the little old lady or man living next door gift, etc.
14. Life Saving CPR Techniques
For Adult CPR: Tap the guy on the shoulders and make sure he’s unconscious, then send someone to call 911 and grab an AED. You don’t want to start CPR on someone who’s passed out drunk or taking a nap.
Check to see if he has a pulse and is breathing. Check for a carotid pulse. When checking for breathing, listen for breath sounds at the mouth and look for the chest to rise and fall.
No pulse? Even if he’s breathing, start compressions, because without a pulse, respiration will soon stop. The ratio of compressions to breaths is 30:2.
15. Positive Thoughts for Yourself
Every night, before going to sleep, write 10 good things about your day, i.e. things that make you proud or that you are grateful for, achievements you’ve made or situations where you acted according to your values, etc. Doing this will help you keep a positive and grounded perception of your life, and will improve your mental health greatly.
Life is hard, and depression is lurking just around the the corner for all of us; we need to take our time to build defenses against it. This is a not-very-expensive and simple way you can improve your well-being by, well, just being grateful.
And aim for these while you’re at it: Average Life Goals To Strive For
