People Share The "I Know It Sounds Weird But Just Try It" Life Hacks They Swear By

December 11, 2019 | Scott Mazza

People Share The "I Know It Sounds Weird But Just Try It" Life Hacks They Swear By


Sometimes you need to try something for yourself to really appreciate it. From rubbing salt on your hands to get rid of garlic to de-stressing with a disco party in your shower, these people reveal their "I know it sounds weird but just try it" life hacks they swear by—and they're equal parts strange and satisfying. But it never hurts to try, right?

Don't forget to check the comment section below the article for more interesting stories!

photo-1517732306149-e8f829eb588a-1.jpegUnsplash

#1 Shower With The Lights Off

Shower with the lights off... I don't know what emotion I'm trying to elicit but it's pretty amazing. Your bathroom or shower area has to be pretty clean though (as in you know what's where) because once I tried this at my parent's place and when I turned on my phone light to see where I was going, I was met by cockroaches. No thank you!

photo-1567110684145-43024ecf0fa7.jpegUnsplash

#2 Get Eight Hours

Going to sleep at a reasonable hour.

photo-1531353826977-0941b4779a1c.jpegUnsplash

#3 Lay In The Sun

Lay down on the floor in a sunny spot. I didn't think it was weird until my husband asked me what I was doing and I had to say, "I'm laying...in a sun spot." Our living room has these big windows and the sun hits this area of the carpet and oh my god it's the best laying area. There's a reason why cats do this.

photo-1488120299791-f9241bdf10c9.jpegUnsplash

#4 Smell Fresh Bread

Take a shot of alcohol. Burns a bit. Pick up a hunk of fresh bread and sniff deeply. Burn goes away.

photo-1550599112-0c21a831f6b9.jpegUnsplash

Advertisement

#5 Say It Outloud

If you are forgetful about small things like turning off lights in the house, where you put your keys, wallet, etc., tell yourself OUTLOUD, "I've put my wallet on top of the fridge." Out loud to no one sounds really weird and you are much more likely to remember saying it than the actual act of doing it.

photo-1553386323-60698d6f7325.jpegUnsplash

#6 A Moment Of Silence

At night after you pull in and park somewhere, turn the car off and just sit for a few minutes. It's so peaceful and calm, and it's great to just cut the engine and lose the noise and the lights for a little while.

photo-1520789304460-c5885e7c675d.jpegUnsplash

#7 Mix Up Your Sauces

I had a job doing this for a while. I was a "guest experience captain" at Buffalo Wild Wings. The most fun thing was convincing people to try strange combinations of sauces. So many people came in, tried honey BBQ, liked it and never tried another darn thing. That mentality was maddening to me, in sauces and in life.

So I told them, hold on here. I would come out with every sauce we had and a bunch of free fries. "We are going to find you a new sauce today." Then one by one I would go through the sauces with them until they were too spicy. But EVERY SINGLE TIME we would find a sauce that they even liked more!

Then for people that had actually tried a lot of sauces I would break out my "I know it sounds weird, but just try it," which would be mixing sauces. Spicy garlic and lemon pepper? Just try it, it is awesome. Mixing Thai Curry and Parmesan Garlic, sounds weird just try it. Mixing the Teriyaki and the southwest ranch? Heck yeah. Basically just try new things in life, otherwise, you won't know if you are truly living life to its full potential. Even with sauces.

photo-1534797258760-1bd2cc95a5bd.jpegUnsplash

#8 Scream When You're Alone

The next time you are alone on a long drive, scream as hard and loud as you can. I promise you will have a stupid grin on your face directly after.

#9 Hiccup Remedy

A hiccup remedy. Take as deep of a breath as you can and hold it. While holding it force yourself to swallow. The act of swallowing will force some air out of your nose, so you can now breathe in more. Repeat this process of breathing as deep as possible, holding, and swallowing to free up some air space. It’s worked for me every time for the past decade after three to five breaths.

photo-1529079337819-f6d0024bd364.jpegUnsplash

WEEKLY UPDATE

Sign Up For Our Newsletter

Stories that matter — delivered straight to your inbox.

Thank you!
Error, please try again.

#10 Use Salt To Get Rid Of Garlic

If you handled garlic and want to remove the smell from your hands don't use soap, use salt.

Advertisement

#11 Slam Broken Toys

I work at a thrift shop. I sometimes test toys to see if they work, if they do we sell them. If not, we don't. Many times Thomas and his other friend trains, geo tax trains would not work. I Googled if there were any known fixes. One guy said, "I know this sounds crazy, but throw it or hit it on the ground as hard as you can. If that doesn't work, do it again." I was like hey, I have nothing to lose. I slammed the train, nothing, slammed it again, nothing. The seventh time, the stupid train started working. Now any toy that comes in not working I slam it on my work table... many times they come back to life.

photo-1545558014-8692077e9b5c.jpegUnsplash

#12 Add Soy Sauce To Ice Cream

Add a couple of drops of (light) soy sauce to some vanilla ice cream. It makes the ice cream taste like Caramel. Weird but true.

#13 Open Your Chips Upside Down

Opening a bag of chips upside down (flip it upside down, then open from the bottom of the bag, now facing upright). It comes from the manufacturer in a box, shipped in that box, and then sits on a shelf until you buy it. So all of the good flavor has worked it’s way down to the bottom of the bag. The first Doritos (or whatever chip it may be) taste great, if not all!

photo-1534882406436-6b6b0152efae.jpegUnsplash

#14 Arizona Green Tea Cocktail

Alcohol and Arizona Green Tea. There's something magical about this combo that makes the alcohol taste disappear, so all you taste is a pleasant spiced tea. One part alcohol, two parts tea, add some ice and enjoy.

photo-1560844713-23298ab5e402.jpegUnsplash

#15 Marshmallow On A Burger

So I used to live near this awesome burger place that had 53 different types of burgers. If you ate all 53 in a year you got a place on their hall of fame. Anyway, there was one burger that stood out from all the others due to the oddness of the topping: The Staypuff burger. It's a normal burger topped with... marshmallows. I had it three times before I moved away. The first time was when someone dared me to eat it. The second time was when I tried to convince others that yes, actually it was delicious! But they would only eat it if I also got it. One of my friends enjoyed it so much that he made his own Staypuff burgers at a barbecue. Man, they were good.

photo-1503507026622-bd90164039ef.jpegUnsplash

#16 Kilometres Not Miles

The metric system.

Advertisement

#17 Shower Every Day

Are you in a depressed slump with low self esteem and no will to leave the house? Take a shower every day. No matter what, just do it. You will feel so much better. For so long, I thought it was absolute nonesense but it genuinely does make the world of difference after about a week of doing it. Just try it.

photo-1571712704100-5cade806bf6d-1.jpegUnsplash

#18 Frozen Grapes

Freezing grapes. It tastes amazing, trust me. It also works great with cut-up banana.

#19 Walk At Night

Taking a walk in the night during a work/school night. One time in school, we had a day off during a Wednesday and me and some friends decided to have a few drinks as a result. The party died off around 2 a.m. and I went home. The weather was calm. No people. No cars. Just me and the streetlights. I remember just walking in the middle of the road on my way home, which felt so surreal and forbidden in itself.

It was really beautiful in a way. I stopped up several times on my way home and just admired the silence and the illuminated surburban jungle. Unless you work nights, most of us generally don't get the chance to do this too often. If you live in one of those countries/neighborhoods where a stroll during the night is unwise, then seriously consider going for a leisurely stroll a night where the weather is calm. It's honestly quite magical.

photo-1574114906623-b212c33eb560.jpegUnsplash

#20 Melted M&Ms

Open an M&Ms packet at one end. Place it in the microwave for 20 seconds. The chocolate inside the shell will have melted, the crunchy outside will mostly keep it together, so it's just shots of molten chocolate.

photo-1574269909862-7e1d70bb8078.jpegUnsplash

#21 Eat Kiwi With The Skin On

Eating kiwi with the skin by just taking a bite into it. You can at most cut it in half if you want to see the green first and be able to get a better angle on it. But you absolutely don't need to do that weird thing people are so proud of knowing how to do where you use a spoon and scoop it out because 'icky fur'. The fur has so much fiber and I promise you, you do not notice it. And it's SO much easier than trying to scoop it all out, and so much more satisfying and lazy.

photo-1552265129-2ac1a82da59e.jpegUnsplash

#22 Unagi

Eel sushi (Unagi). Every time I'm about to eat sushi somewhere, and I'm with someone who hasn't tried it, I suggest it and I get weird looks... But it's so ridiculously delicious.

photo-1558985212-92c2ff0b56e7.jpegUnsplash

Advertisement

#23 Root Beer And Lemonade

Every time I go to Chipotle, I get the cup filled most of the way with Root Beer and then top it off with lemonade. It sounds really weird, but if you try it once, you'll never go back. It doesn't work that well at other places though. There's something about a Chipotle burrito and Root Beer lemonade.

#24 Bidets

A bidet.

photo-1572962207482-745e51c5117e.jpegUnsplash

#25 Wrap Hotel Remotes In Plastic

Wrapping the hotel remote in the little plastic bag that you find in the ice bin. I once roomed up with one of my larger, shower-averse friends at a hotel in Vegas. First thing he did was scratch his nether regions—I mean, he really got in there—then picked up the remote and turned on the TV with the same hand.

#26 Neti Pots

A neti pot. It feels kinda like waterboarding yourself if you do it wrong but if you do it right it's fantastic relief for clogged sinuses.

photo-1500388953054-0d94398c7bf1.jpegUnsplash

#27 Stop The Baby Crying

New fathers/mothers who have a newborn baby that will not stop crying. I learned this from my Grandma on my father's side (god rest her soul): Fold your baby's arms over their chest and place your hand over their arms. Then place your other hand under their diapered butt and lift them up so they are about chest high. Lean the baby forward slightly so they are now leaning forward against their arms. Now gently wiggle their butt with your hand and they will stop crying. Remember to be gentle!

Grandma told me about this when I was in my 20s and I chuckled thinking it was just her joking around. At 38 years old, I found myself up at 3 a.m. in the morning with my newborn baby daughter who just wouldn't stop crying and wouldn't be comforted. I remembered what my grandmother said and tried it. My daughter stopped crying in less than 10 seconds and was asleep in less than a minute.

photo-1480985041486-c65b20c01d1f.jpegUnsplash

#28 Anger Management

Any time you're angry, think instead about whether you're hurt or scared and focus on that, first.

#29 Orange Marmalade And Sausages

Orange marmalade with sausages, particularly on a sausage sandwich. The marmalade's sweetness complements the sausage, while the bitter peel cuts through the fat. Jam or jelly won't work. Has to be proper marmalade, with peel.

photo-1522612468843-929d6cf4de8e.jpegUnsplash

#30 Salty Apples

Salt on apples or sometimes other fruits.

#31 Water With Pills

Take the sip of water before you put the pill in your mouth. The pill will then float in the water in your mouth and not touch the sides or back of your mouth. It feels like all you're swallowing is water, and it makes it much easier to swallow pills, especially the big ones that are notoriously difficult to get down.

photo-1572291904109-5a105aacd245.jpegUnsplash

#32 Be Nice And Expect Nothing In Return

Be nice to people while expecting nothing in return. It will actually make you happy. The second part is the hard part for most people.

#33 Car Tricks

Regarding automobiles, there is a neat trick you can do with just about any car. There is a lever on most cars built after the 1950's just to the right of the steering wheel that has all these goofy symbols on it. You can actually move this thing up or down (I think its up for left and down for right) and it will actually send a signal to the red light thingys on the back of your car that will indicate to drivers behind you what lane you are thinking about switching into. Although I don't think this feature is available on any BMW models or lifted pick-up trucks sadly.

photo-1489824904134-891ab64532f1.jpegUnsplash

#34 Salt And Vinegar

They know this already in the UK: Instead of ketchup put salt and a little vinegar on your fries. The first one will taste weird, after the second one you will be hooked.

photo-1461869668403-2a6ec0cdd0c9.jpegUnsplash

#35 Oatmeal Pudding

My family has always eaten our oatmeal as follows: Cook real oatmeal (not the quick oats) on the stove as directed; you want the oats to be nice and fluffy but not too sticky. Add in butter and sugar to taste. Mix until the sugar dissolves, this leaves the oatmeal a little runny. Then make some medium browned toasted in the toaster and add a thin layer of butter (Real is amazing but Country Crock works too). Once it’s melted, tear it into bite size pieces and mix into the oatmeal. It creates an oatmeal bread pudding type thing that I absolutely love. It’s even better with a cinnamon roll flavored oatmeal.

photo-1502747220144-846486e80891.jpegUnsplash

#36 Coconut On Nachos

Stay with me for this one. Coconut. On. Nachos. It's SO freaking good, but every time I tell someone about it, they look at me as though I just sneezed and a lobster mariachi band came out.

photo-1509685446001-c340df69aa67.jpegUnsplash

#37 Towel Dry, Then Towel Dry Again

After a shower, towel dry like you always do. Then grab a new towel and do it again. You'll be amazed how much better it feels to put on clothes when you're totally dry and not 2 percent moist.

photo-1523471826770-c437b4636fe6.jpeg

#38 Milkshake-Dipped Fries

Fries dipped in a milkshake, particularly vanilla or chocolate. No fruity stuff. Mmm.

#39 Salt In Coffee

As a former waitress, I’d tell you we’d just put a pot on to brew and then throw a big pinch of salt in the coffee. Customers would rave about it. Happy customers leave bigger tips. Been an insider waitress secret for decades. Salt “wakes up” the pot and masks the bitterness of burnt coffee, smoothing the flavor. I’d only do it if it was more than 1/2 way full and too near closing in order to justify making a new pot (16 cups).

photo-1497515114629-f71d768fd07c.jpegUnsplash

#40 Feel Uncooked Rice

Sticking your hand inside a sack of uncooked rice.

#41 Disco Shower

I used to put loud music on my phone and download one of those disco light apps, then have a party in the shower with just the disco light. Typing it out makes it sound weird but honestly, it's really enjoyable and a great way to de-stress.

photo-1532452119098-a3650b3c46d3.jpegUnsplash

#42 Leave Your Money At Home

Leave your debit/credit card at home. Seriously. This is something I started doing two years ago as an experiment to see exactly how much money I was spending on things that were just unnecessary. As it turns out, I'm naturally more frivolous than I thought. When I do my "I need to save up so I'm leaving my card at home" strategy, I live by a few guidelines. My card is only to be used to buy gas and groceries, then it is to immediately be put back on my dresser. $20 is to be in my car for emergencies but never touched. I'm to keep a water bottle in my car at all times (because water fountains are free thirst quenchers). On average, I save about $300 per month when I do this, and I usually lose about 5-10 lbs per month due to not consuming junk food. Any time anyone asks me how I'm so good at saving money I just tell them, "I leave my debit card at home."

photo-1459257831348-f0cdd359235fUnsplash

#43 Get Rid Of Congestion

When your sinuses are super congested: Push your tongue flat against the roof of your mouth and push the heel of your palm against your forehead (right along your brow). If you hold it for like 30 seconds and then let go, you will feel your sinuses start to drain. Absolutely amazing, wish I had known this my entire life.

photo-1529386317747-0a2a51add902Unsplash

#44 Avoid Windshield Ice

If you're driving on a cold/below freezing day... Toward the end of your drive, turn your heater all the way to "cold," set it to outside air, and put it on the windshield setting. Open your windows, and let your car interior achieve ambient temperature for five to 10 minutes before you park and lock up. Odds are that your body will be "warm enough" from blasting the heat for your whole drive that you'll only feel a little chilly on your skin rather than getting cold to the bone. Be sure to park so that your windshield isn't facing the sun (if applicable).

Doing this reduces/eliminates windshield frost/ice while parked. Humidity happens because of a temperature differential between the windshield and outside air, and when it freezes you get frost. If you eliminate that temperature differential, no more humidity, no more frost. This also helps when it snows as it won't melt on your warm windshield and freeze later. A cold windshield is like Rain-X during winter.

photo-1470162015499-2b9772941cde.jpegUnsplash

#45 Wet Microwaved Pizza

Wet your pizza before throwing it in the microwave. The wife thought I was crazy for suggesting it until she tried it!


READ MORE

People Share The Strangest Coincidences They’ve Ever Experienced

People Share The Strangest Coincidences They’ve Ever Experienced

As a kid, going to see my great-grandmother in the nursing home was always unnerving. I never truly understood why until a few years later.
February 22, 2019 Miles Brucker
123

Employees Reveal The Most Outrageous Customer Complaints They've Ever Heard

Whether it's an employee error or just a simple misunderstanding, customer complaints can happen at any time but are always equally annoying.
March 14, 2019 Andie Wood
doctors

Doctors Share Their Horrible Patient Stories

Everyone loves a good medical story. Doctors, nurses, and other members of the medical profession get to witness humanity at its absolute dumbest.
March 19, 2019 Molly Seif
creepiest

Scared Parents Revealed The Creepiest Things Their Kids Ever Said

Most of the time, kids say the darnedest things. Other times, they say the most disturbing things that leave parents scratching their heads.
March 19, 2019 Jess Silverberg
Random Acts of Kindness Experience

The Most Generous Acts Of Kindness

Life if hard, but people don’t have to be. From neighbors who dug deep to silent protectors, cheer up to these sweet stories about acts of kindness.
March 19, 2019 Christine Tran
momsinternal

Moms Share The Dark Secret They Know Their Child Is Hiding From Them

Kids are sneaky, but moms are sneakier. They have years of experience being sneaky, and they know a whole lot more about our dark secrets than we think.
March 20, 2019 David Chung


Want to learn something new every day?

Stories that matter — delivered straight to your inbox.

Thank you!

Error, please try again.