20 People Online Are Sharing Their Best Life Hacks They Learned Too Late In Life

Sometimes, we realize that there is an easier way of doing certain things that we've been doing the hard way. And sometimes, that realization comes a little too late in life. However, it's never too late to learn something that makes life a bit more effortless. Someone recently asked on Reddit, “What's something you did ‘the hard way’ for the longest time, because you didn't know there was a much easier way?” Many folks shared the tips and tricks that they learned a bit late in life. More info: Reddit

#1

Existed. Turns out I had undiagnosed ADHD. Getting a diagnosis and medication, at the ripe old age of 27, was life-changing. It’s like your whole life you’re walking against a current, never knowing any different; then, suddenly, the current is gone. (Disclaimers: everyone’s ADHD is different; medication isn’t a magic “cure”; medication isn’t the solution for everyone, and that’s okay.) Image source: acover4422, Nik Shuliahin

#2

Cleaning the damn microwave. I struggled to scrub all the dried up bits off then a friend told me to just put a small dish of water in it and turn it on for a couple of minutes. Everything wipes right out. I was such a dumb a*s. Image source: patti2mj, Lissete Laverde

#3

CTRL backspace to delete entire words instead of letter by letter Image source: chrisdante05, Stefen Tan

#4

Hanging pictures. I used to meticulously measure and line up so my nails so they’d match the hardware on the back of the frame. Now I just use a piece of painters tape, lay it on the back of the frame, mark hardware on the frame and then remove the tape and place it on the wall and that gives you the exact placement for your picture hanging hooks and nails. Image source: Navyblazers2000, Darshan Patel

#5

When I was a kid I was bad at nail clippers. I knew to put my nail in the chompy bit at the end, but I didn’t realize that the handle/lever folded out. So I would just squeeze really hard until I broke my nail off in the blades. This went on for an embarrassingly long time before my mom saw me and taught me how to open the lever. Image source: tomyownrhythm, Marco Verch Professional Photographer

#6

I thought working hard (giving 120%) brought many benefits. Turns out, I still get the same benefits + my sanity by only working 80%. Image source: SuspectNumber6, Marten Bjork

#7

Not me but a friend of a friend hated having baths. She said it was uncomfortable lying back against the taps because they would dig into her back. It never occurred to her to lie at the other end! Image source: robertodurian, Roberto Nickson

#8

Windows Key + V opens a list of your last 10 copies. I think the option is turned off by default also so pressing Windows Key + V enables it initially. Image source: XabiAlon, Christin Hume

#9

As a kid, whenever my bicycle wheels got warped (I crashed into stuff a lot), I would fix them by smashing the rims with a hammer. It mostly worked. Eventually I learned that you can just tighten and loosen the spokes to straighten warped wheels. So much easier, and much less destructive. Image source: ClownfishSoup, Daniel Salcius

#10

When you learn that *scissors* - cut your pizza, it's *legit*! Pizza cutter? Leave it, brother. Piece of utter *s**t*… Image source: truthorbrick, Benu Marinescu

#11

Pumping gas. For years I held the handle the entire time. Life changing when I realized I could lock the trigger in place Image source: likes_big_books, sippakorn yamkasikorn

#12

After taking a shower, you can dry yourself off (after turning the water off, of course) while still in the shower stall to prevent the bathroom floor from being wet Image source: three-sense, Hannah Xu

#13

Putting the colander inside the pot on top of the food and using like a lid to drain. Instead offpouring the food into the colander and then putting it back in the original pot Image source: ClassicTower475, Jonathan Pielmayer

#14

We had a pool when I was a kid, swam at the public pool all winter. So lots of water time. Worst thing was having to get out and go pee, because as a girl you’d have to pull your bathing suit down and sit there cold and naked and then have to pull on a cold, wet suit and it was sticky and icy and awful. I’d hold it until I absolutely had to go. Occurred to me as an adult you can just pull the crotch part to the side, and it stays put while you pee. EDIT: Thanks y’all, I am so gratified to learn I was not the only one! If I can help even one person avoid the awkward dance of pulling up cold, wet, twisted suit straps then my work here is done. Image source: A-D-T-P, Bruce Christianson

#15

Parchment paper. No more scrubbing off baked- on cheese and sauce. If it goes in the oven, I use parchment paper. Image source: ethottly, Nadya Spetnitskaya

#16

My dishwasher is across the kitchen from my utensil drawer. For years, while unloading the dishwasher I would stuff as many utensils as I could in my hands. I’d inevitably drop some, and there are a few knicks in my hardwood floor from dropping forks and spoons. One day at work, a coworker unloaded the dishwasher and removed the utensil basket and carried it over to the utensil drawer. I never felt so dumb Image source: regcrusher, Nathan Dumlao

#17

I've been opening pistachios with my thumbs for 30 years until I saw my wife use half a shell to wrench her next one open and then my mind exploded. Image source: man-panda-pig, Karolina Kołodziejczak

#18

Clean your blender by making a hot water and dish soap smoothie. Image source: AlterEdward, PNW Production

#19

Keep shaking the shaving gel and struggling to more than a quarter of the can out...till it dawned on me that they are pressurised and every shake causes it to lose pressure therefore makes dispatching it harder...I've now used many and actually got the bottom of every can by simply not shaking them...I'm 40 and also an engineer. Had a complete and utter brain fart since I started shaving. Image source: pob125, Marco Verch Professional Photographer

#20

My BlackBerry had the worst predictive text system I'd ever seen. It kept suggesting accented characters, words that didn't exist, and was a total clusterfuck in every way. After a year or so I was browsing the settings and found that predictive text had been set to "French". Image source: LateMojito, Asterfolio