10 Life Pro Tips of the Week – Part 19

Here are this week’s Life Pro Tips.

01. Use a water bottle as a dry bag

Need a dry bag? Use a water bottle such as a Nalgene to store things like keys, wallet, snacks or cell phone for a day on the water. Almost everyone has one and it floats. Obviously a dry bag will provide much more utility in this department than a water bottle. I have a dry bag but I frequent the river so much that I have showed up without it and tend to always have my water bottle which has kept my thing dry for the day.

02. Set yourself a target of 2 “development days” per week

Do this to stop yourself stagnating/doing things that need doing. If you want to change your career, set yourself a target of 2 days learn things about your new career. If you’re happy with your career and don’t need to do this, instead make your development day something that you need to do but would normally put off (tidying up, laundry, reading a book) in favor of playing games or watching TV. Give it a try and see how much extra you get done! Two days a week is enough to see progress being made, yet not enough to stress out the average procrastinator. It also means you can relax guilt-free on your non-development days.

03. Admit when you are wrong instantly

It stops many a conflict, creates an opportunity for you to learn, also humbling yourself in such a way is very respectable. It’s just the mature thing to do. Taking responsibility for when you wrong is just as important as taking credit for when you are right. Plus you can be stubborn sometimes when you know you’re wrong and want your way, but people will assume you aren’t because you normally admit your mistakes.

04. Running low on black ink?

If you are running low on black ink and need to print something in a pinch, change font color to #010101 (99% gray).

You can also save ink just by changing the font.

Century Gothic, for example, uses on average 30% less ink than Arial. The top five fonts according to Printer.com for low ink usage are

• Century Gothic.
• Times New Roman.
• Calibri.
• Verdani.
• Arial.

05. If you’re apologizing to someone…

Don’t end it with “but…(this is why I did what I did).” That’s not an apology, and it sounds like you’re not sincere, you’re just making an excuse. Lay out what you did wrong and ask for forgiveness, that’s all you have to do.

Also, apologize for your actions, not for how people reacted to it.

“I’m sorry I forgot your breakfast pita” – Okay.

“I’m sorry you didn’t like that I forgot your breakfast pita” – Not okay.

06. If you like the idea of a product but not the product itself…

Type in Google “[product] vs” and check the search suggestions for alternatives. For example, as you type “Facebook vs” you’ll get autocomplete suggestions like “Facebook vs Google+” or “Facebook vs Twitter.” This allows you to find new alternatives to try out. Some things I’ve found using this method: Todoist (“Wunderlist vs”), KAT (“The Pirate Bay vs”). It works for other things too, not just software (“Leatherman vs”), (“ballpoint vs”), etc.

07. When talking about your accomplishments…

Finish by mentioning your goals for the future. This applies to business settings, dates, whatever. Don’t just list what you’ve already accomplished, talk about your goals and dreams for the future. It shows people you have ambition and drive to succeed, which is a very attractive quality both in the eyes of potential employers and lovers.

08. When making homemade tacos…

Put cheese on the bottom of an empty soft shell before your toppings. The melted cheese will prevent your taco from falling apart and you won’t need to use 2 tortillas.

09. Brush your teeth with your off-hand

I learned this when I broke my left hand (I’m left handed) and was forced to do everything with my right. I found that brushing my teeth was one of the harder things I had to do every day, but after only a day or two it was much easier. I’ve continued this practice until this day. It is a great way to increase your strength and dexterity in your off hand, without having to do any extra working out. This can be especially helpful for athletes who play sports where ambidexterity can give an advantage, like basketball or baseball.

10. When making homemade fries…

After slicing the potato, put the slices in a bowl of cold water to soak. This allows some of the starches to release into the water, which makes the inside of the fries more tender while allowing the outside to be crispier.

The Dutch way of making fries is, cut potatoes, put them in water. Wait for about a minute, throw away the water and add fresh water. Keep doing this until the water stays clear.

Put fries on a towel to dry, put in oil at 160 degrees Celsius (320 F) for 6 minutes. Don’t fry them all at once (it will cool the oil too much). Let them cool and make sure to let all the oil drip away. Now fry them at 200 degrees (390 F) until they are brown.