Such is the pace of life these days that we tend to go through our daily routine and perform certain tasks in a certain way as if functioning on autopilot.
But amid this hustle and bustle, there are actually some very simple everyday things that we have been doing wrong pretty much all our lives.
This will probably come to you as a bit of a surprise. You might even start to wonder just how on earth you did not pay more attention to the supposedly correct way of doing these little things until now. In any case, the rather strange reality is that our approach towards many simple everyday things has been wrong and there is lots of room for correction and improvement. So, without further ado, we present to you 15 of the most basic daily activities that you need to relearn doing.
Excessive Use of Soap While Bathing
- Our skin has a tendency to become drier as we grow older. Soap, which is an astringent, causes skin cells to contract and aggravates that dryness of the skin. Therefore, it is highly advisable to use an as little amount of soap as possible.
- The trick is to only apply soap on parts of the body where it is absolutely necessary, for example, skin folds. For the rest of the body, some soapy water is good enough to keep it clean and provide you that feeling of freshness.
Gripping the Steering Wheel of Your Car
- Chances are you have been driving your car around town while holding the steering wheel incorrectly. While it is true that one should go for the type of steering wheel grip which is convenient and comfortable instead of relying on what people think is the right way, it never hurts to take a few safety precautions which will help keep you safe in case of an accident.
- The most secure way to hold your steering wheel is to keep your hands on both ends of the diametric line, as indicated in the photo above. This grip ensures that the airbags will not open into your hands and arms, leaving your head and upper body unprotected.
Flushing the Toilet
- We can say with a lot of certainties that you have a habit of flushing the toilet with the toilet cover up instead of down. Stop doing this today if you do not want any more germs hovering around your bathroom and sticking to your towel, toothbrush, and soap bar. Whenever you flush a toilet, the whirling water mixes with little bits of feces and tends to release them in the air somewhat. So please, keep that toilet cover down when flushing.
The Right Time for Applying Deodorant to Your Body
- Many health sciences experts agree that it is actually a mistake to apply deodorant to your body after taking a shower in the morning. This is because deodorant clogs the sweat pores of your body and since you sweat a lot more in the morning than at night, the deodorant just washes away.
- The best time, therefore, to use deodorant is just before going to bed at night. This is when your skin is a lot drier and the sweat glands do not produce as much sweat. Also, deodorant lasts about 24 hours, meaning that your sweat pores will still be plugged after your shower the following morning.
Covering the Mouth While Coughing
- Ever since we were little kids, our elders taught us to cover our coughs and sneezes using our hands. Turns out, that is completely wrong. After coughing, you touch other things with your hands and viruses spread quite readily through touch. So, rather than using your hands to cover a cough or sneeze, use the inside of your elbows to prevent germs from spreading.
Cleaning Your Kitchen Blender
- Save time and effort by not scrubbing your blender in order to clean it. Instead, pour water into the blender and add some dishwashing liquid. Now blend and your work is done, just like that.
Brushing Teeth Horizontally
- One of the most common mistakes that people make every day is to brush teeth horizontally and neglecting to floss. The proper way to brush teeth is to make quick vertical movements of the brush, starting from the gums to the end of the teeth. Also, take at least 2 to 3 minutes to brush your teeth fully. However, the vast majority of us takes less than a minute to brush their teeth.
Working Continuously Without Regular Short Breaks for Rest
- Okay, let’s be honest. When we are in the zone while working, it is easier to keep going and concentrating on the work. This productive time should be utilized fully to achieve maximum results. However, the issue is that most of us do not even try to pinpoint our most productive hours of the day, that time when our energy and concentration levels are the highest.
- Find your most productive hours and make full use of them. If your attention and focus are at an optimum level from 12 to 2, then do not take a break at 1. Plan your breaks in such a way that they do not take away your high productivity hours.
Exercising Without Proper Warmup
- This is another common mistake that many people are guilty of making. More often than not, this causes people to damage their muscles. Therefore, it is essential to start your workout routine with a proper warmup. Also, make sure you do some stretching after your workout as this will help avoid sudden muscular pain and possible injuries.
Hanging Trousers on a Hanger
- When you hang your trousers on a hanger, they are bound to get fold marks or lines. These lines give a rather ungainly look to the whole garment.
- But you can easily avoid this by using a paper towel tube. All you have to do is make a lengthwise cut in the tube, cover the hanger’s rod with it, and seal it with tape. This will enable you to easily roll your trousers on and off the hanger and prevent any fold marks.
Taking a Bath in a Hot Tub
- Who among us does not crave a relaxing hot bath after a long day at work? Turns out, this supposedly pleasurable activity can be really harmful for your body if you are not careful. Excess of hot water can cause stress for your heart and veins. Also, taking long hot baths regularly means that your skin is exposed to too much heat treatment and starts showing signs of aging rather quickly as a result.
- So, try not to stay in that hot tub for more than 20 minutes. It is also advisable to use warm water for your bath if you want to stay in that tub for a longer period of time.
The Quantity of Toothpaste on Your Toothbrush
- While brushing our teeth every day, we all use toothpaste quantity to match the length of the strands of a toothbrush. However, this is unnecessary according to dental experts. This is also one of the finest advertising ploys of our time. In every toothpaste ad, we see the brush strands fully covered with the paste. In reality, this is just a convenient trick to make you consume more toothpaste and buy more of it regularly.
- According to dental experts, you only need toothpaste the size of a pea for effective brushing. The toothpaste is simply to facilitate the cleaning process by softening up the dental plaque. You really do not need to fill your mouth with that minty foam in order to clean your teeth well.
Sleeping Curled Up In a Ball or With Your Face Down
- You may feel that you get your best sleep when lying face down with your nose in the pillow or when curled up like a ball. But these positions put tremendous stress on your back and spine. This regular pressure on the spine can resultantly cause pain in other parts of the body and make you feel more tired during the day.
- The best position for sleeping is to sleep on your back as this will keep not just your spine but also your neck healthy.