Most of us learned how to hold a pen, tie our shoes or cut a watermelon by copying someone else, and never thought about it again. Some of those habits are perfectly fine. Others make the job slower, messier or harder on the body than it needs to be. Below are 20 small, everyday tasks with a smarter way to do each one, from bobby pins and wine glasses to squats, mangoes and a dirty blender.
A quick word on “right” and “wrong”. Many of these are matters of taste rather than rules: nobody will arrest you for biting into a cupcake. Where there is a real reason behind a tip, such as better grip, less strain on your back or fewer untied laces, we explain it, and where a popular hack is weaker than it looks, we say so. The list grew from a viral image collection that skipped number 8, so there are 20 tips rather than the 21 people often search for. Try the ones that solve a problem you actually have, and ignore the rest.
Hair, skin and nails
1. Bobby pins: wavy side down
The ridged side of a bobby pin is designed to sit against the scalp, where the bumps grip strands and stop the pin sliding out. Put the smooth side down and the pin tends to slip within hours. If pins still fall out, a light mist of hairspray on the pin before inserting it adds extra grip.
2. Moisturiser: pat it in, don’t scrub
Facial skin is thin, and dragging it repeatedly does it no favours. Dotting cream over the face and pressing or tapping it in with the fingertips spreads the product without tugging. Give it a minute to absorb before applying make-up, and carry it down onto the neck, which is easy to forget.
3. Nail polish: three strokes, not dozens
Professional manicurists start with a clean, dry nail and a base coat, then place a small bead of colour near the cuticle, push it close to the edge and draw it to the tip, once down the middle and once along each side. Thin coats dry faster and chip less than one thick layer. Finish with a top coat, sealing the free edge of the nail as well.
In the kitchen
4. Watermelon: cut it into sticks
Classic wedges drip and leave you gnawing toward the rind. Halve the melon, lay each half cut side down, and slice it in one direction, then at right angles, to make a grid of sticks with a handle of rind at one end. They are tidier for children and parties and easier to store.
5. Strawberries: hull them with a straw
Push a sturdy drinking straw up through the pointed tip of the berry and out through the leafy top. The stem and the pale core come out in one piece and you waste less fruit than with a knife. Paper straws bend, so a reusable metal or thick plastic one works best.
6. Mango: score the cheeks before peeling
A mango has a large, flat stone running through the middle, so cut the two rounded “cheeks” off either side of it first. Score each cheek in a criss-cross pattern down to the skin, without cutting through, then push the skin upward so the cubes pop out. Slice them off with a knife or scoop them with a glass edge.
7. Potatoes: peel them after boiling
Score a shallow ring around the middle of each washed potato, boil until tender, then plunge it into iced water for a few seconds. The skin should slide off in two halves with your fingers. It works well for mash or potato salad, less well if you need raw, peeled potatoes for chips or roasting.
8. A BLT: weave the bacon
Laying strips side by side means some bites are all bacon and others have none. Weaving rashers into a small lattice before cooking gives an even layer that covers the bread and stays put. Cook the weave in the oven on a tray so it holds its shape.
9. Blender: let it clean itself
Scrubbing around the blades is awkward and risky. Instead, fill the jug about halfway with warm water, add a drop of washing-up liquid and run it for 30 to 60 seconds, then rinse. Do this straight after use, before food dries on, and check the manufacturer’s guidance on whether parts are dishwasher-safe.
At the table
10. Cupcakes: make a sandwich
Biting into a tall swirl of frosting usually ends with icing on your nose. Peel the paper case, tear off the bottom half of the sponge and put it on top of the frosting, so the icing sits in the middle like a filling. It is a fun trick rather than a rule; the cake tastes the same either way.
11. Wine glass: hold the stem
The stem exists so that your hand does not warm the drink, which matters most for chilled whites and sparkling wines, and so that fingerprints do not smudge the bowl when you look at the colour. Pinch it between thumb and fingers. For red wine served at room temperature, cupping the bowl is less of a problem, and many casual drinkers do it anyway.
12. Pizza: fold it into a U
A thin, floppy slice droops at the tip and drops its toppings. Bending the crust lengthwise into a gentle U-shape stiffens the slice, a simple bit of geometry: curving a thin sheet in one direction stops it bending in the other. New Yorkers have been doing this for decades.
13. Chicken wings: pull the bones out
On the flat section of a wing there are two parallel bones. Twist off the cartilage cap at the wider end, grip the thicker bone, and slide both bones out, leaving a boneless piece of meat. It takes a little practice and works best with well-cooked wings, where the meat comes away easily.
14. Burgers: hold them upside down
The top bun is usually thicker and stronger than the bottom one, which soaks up juices and falls apart. Turning the burger over so the sturdier half is on the bottom, or supporting the base with thumbs and little fingers while the other fingers steady the top, keeps fillings from sliding out the back.
Everyday objects
15. Earphones: loop the cable over the ear
Professional in-ear monitors are designed so the cable runs up and over the top of the ear. This holds the earpiece more securely, reduces the rubbing noise that travels up the wire, and keeps the bud angled correctly in the ear canal. Not every model is shaped for it, so check whether yours is marked left and right for over-ear wear.
16. A pen: relax your grip
Holding a pen far up the barrel or squeezing it hard tires the hand quickly and makes writing less neat. Teachers of handwriting usually recommend a relaxed tripod grip, with the pen resting on the middle finger and held lightly between thumb and index finger, a short distance above the tip. If your knuckles turn white, ease off.
17. Shoelaces: check that the bow sits straight
This tip has real science behind it. In 2017, engineers at the University of California, Berkeley filmed running shoes at 900 frames per second and found that laces come undone through a combination of the foot hitting the ground and the swinging leg whipping the loose ends. Bows based on the weaker granny knot, which tend to twist and sit vertically, failed about twice as often in their tests as bows built on the stronger square knot, which sit across the shoe. If yours points up and down the foot, start the knot the other way round.
18. Trousers: fold along the crease
To keep a pressed crease, hold the trousers by the waistband, line up the inside leg seams so the legs lie flat on top of each other, and smooth them down. Then fold in thirds or hang them by the hems. Folding them across the crease line leaves new, unwanted creases.
Exercise form
19. Push-ups: keep a straight line
A good push-up keeps the body in a plank, from head through hips to heels, with the core braced so the lower back does not sag and the hips do not poke upward. Hands sit roughly under the shoulders, and elbows angle slightly back rather than flaring straight out. If you cannot keep that line, start with your knees down or hands on a bench.
20. Squats: sit back, chest up
Push the hips back as if sitting into a chair, keep the weight through the whole foot and the chest lifted, and lower until the thighs are roughly parallel with the floor, or as far as is comfortable without the back rounding. Knees going slightly past the toes is fine for most people, as long as they track in line with the feet. Anyone with joint pain should talk to a doctor or physiotherapist.
Which tips matter most
If you only change a few habits, pick the ones with a clear payoff. The shoelace bow is backed by published research and saves you stopping mid-run. Good form in push-ups and squats protects your back and knees. The bobby pin, mango and blender tricks save time every week. Others, like the cupcake sandwich or the woven bacon, are simply fun to try once.
The deeper lesson is that “the way it has always been done” is worth questioning now and then. A small change in grip, angle or order can make a daily job easier, and there is nothing wrong with keeping the old way if it suits you better.
Sources: Science News Explores: Why your shoelaces untie themselves (Berkeley study, 2017). Images from a 2015 viral collection; illustrations credited on the images include DaddyDoctrines.com (cupcake), LovesFoodAndArt.com and SeedsNow.com (mango), ModaMob (moisturiser) and Fieggen.com (shoelaces).
For a creative rather than instructional look at ordinary household objects, see Helga Stentzel’s Art Finds Characters in Everyday Objects.
More from the archive:
- Historical Household Tips: Reading Old Advice in Context
- 100 Life Hacks That Make Life Easier
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