7 Genius Solutions to Everyone’s First World Problems
First world problems may seem trivial but they sure can get on your nerves! But fret not, we reveal 7 genius solutions and how you can solve them in a jiffy.
Updated 19 Aug 2021
A problem may be trivial but it doesn’t make it any less frustrating to deal, whether it’s struggling to open a stubborn jar or having your cables break constantly. With that, we reveal 7 brilliant solutions to solving the annoying problems we face daily.
#1. Get rid of songs that are stuck in your head
There’s nothing more irritating than having your least favourite song stuck in your head. That’s called an earworm and the worst part is, the more you try to get rid of it, the more it’ll etch in your memory!
The good news is, there is a way to get rid of this musical parasite. According to researchers, the best way to expel earworms is by solving anagrams. The key is to find something challenging enough that’ll shift your focus from annoying tunes to solving a problem. You’ll be less likely to have intrusive songs enter your head when you’re cognitively engaged!
So the next time you come across this annoying problem, try to solve a riddle or sudoku.
#2. Stop your straw from rising
Imagine trying to drink a can of cold beverage on a hot day but your straw just won’t seem to stay in place. Not only that, you also can’t multitask since you need to hold your straw from floating out of the can.
There’s a reason for this — and it’s because the carbon dioxide bubbles in carbonated drinks stick to the straw, making them more buoyant!
Fortunately, this is something you don’t have to worry about as it comes with an easy fix — simply use the tab from the can itself. While the hole on the tab is for better leverage to pull the tab open, you can also use it as a straw holder. Once you’ve opened the can, simply slide the tab over the hole and place your straw in it. Easy!
#3. Stop your fruits from going bad
Do you often find yourself throwing out pieces of fruit that had gone bad before you had a chance to finish them? Not only is throwing out food wasteful, but it also does damage to our planet. Fortunately, there are ways you can preserve your products’ shelf life. In fact, if stored correctly, apples can last for at least two months!
Fruits like bananas, apples and avocados emit ethylene, an invisible and odourless gas that helps fruits ripen faster. So, having these fruits stored together with other products will only quicken the ripening process — more than they would on their own. To keep your fruits fresher for a longer duration, you’ll need to separate and store them in different spots.
Keep in mind that not all fruits produce ethylene gas such as berries and they can still be affected by ethylene fruits. Separate and store these fruits in different ziplock bags to prevent the gas from accumulating and affecting other products.
#4. Toss a coin to make decisions
From contemplating whether to get up or hit the snooze button to deciding what to eat, it’s obvious that we make thousands of decisions every day. But feeling conflicted between two options that you want is the worst.
If you can’t commit to either, just toss a coin… but with a kicker.
Think about the choices you want to make and then assign the outcome to each side of the coin before tossing it. Once it lands, cover it with your hand and think which side you do want the coin to land on — and voilà, you’ve made your decision! Don’t bother looking at the results or you’ll just get confused again. The point of this trick is for you to learn what you actually want.
In truth, you already know what you want but you’re just torn between options. Your inner voice (or intuition) is often much wiser than your reasoning voice, and this ingenious little trick makes you pay more attention to that inner voice.
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Explore Now >#5. Opening a stubborn jar lid
Opening a jar of tomato sauce doesn’t sound like a killer but unscrewing a stubborn lid can make you feel guilty for not hitting the gym enough. But the truth is, lids can be hard to open for plenty of reasons and none of it is because you’re not strong enough.
When you come across a situation like this, simply break the seal of the jar by targeting the sides of the lid. Use a sturdy rolling pin or the back of a kitchen knife and tap the sides of the jar a few times while rotating it. When you hear a pop, it means that the vacuum seal is broken.
However, if this trick doesn’t work, run the lid or dip it under hot water. Hot water helps in expanding the metal and loosening the lid to make it easier to unscrew. Make sure to rotate the jar so that all the sides of the lid get wet!
#6. Protect your charger cable from breaking
Have you had your expensive charger cables constantly tear or break even when they’re safely placed in your bag? In reality, nobody can afford to keep purchasing a new cable every now and then.
The occasional bending and twisting is what led to these delicate gadgets to break so easily. And the best way to prevent this and have your cables last longer is by doing a simple DIY with a spring. Scavenge any spring from an unused pen, stretch out the spring and attach one end to the cable and twist the spring into the cable. Once the cable is in the spring, slide the spring closest to the edge of the cable. Now, your cable is all protected!
#7. Keep your cables neat and tidy
Scattered and tangled wires on the floor don't only look messy but they can also cause people to trip. The easiest hack to keep your wires tidy and organised is by utilising binder clips!
Get the clips and clamp them to the edge of your desk. Take any cables that you have around and slide the cable into the handlers. And that’s it — your cables are neatly attached to your desk! Not only will it look more organised but you also won’t have to struggle to look for the right wire for your gadgets.
If the cables are too big or small, get binder clamps that can roughly support their size. Simply rummage for any in your drawers or head to a stationary shop. This is one cheap and genius DIY trick that solves your clutter problem in a jiffy.
There you have it — first world problems and smart hacks to solve them! If you have any genius solutions to more trivial but frustrating problems, share with us in the comments below.
Surprised by these hacks? Wait until you know about these hidden-tricks to searching Google efficiently!
Nina Fazil
A work in progress — has been for the past 24 years.
