Life Skills (Page 4)

Research-backed advice to make your daily life a little better—or at least a little easier.

Latest in Life Skills

Hand holding a joint,

A step-by-step guide to rolling a joint

By Sandra Gutierrez G.

Baby with brown eyes and brown hair laying on their back. The baby is sleeping in a crib, not a bed, to prevent SIDS.

This is the safest way to sleep with your baby

By Jocelyn Solis-Moreira

Person in a dark room watering a houseplant with a beam of light. Illustrated.

How to grow plants in the dark

By Ellen Airhart

A group of people outside their cars along a closed road, wearing eclipse glasses to watch a solar eclipse.

Watch this week’s rare solar eclipse from anywhere in the world

By Briley Lewis

A carpenter bee on a white flower. If you're trying to figure out how to get rid of carpenter bees, it's best not to kill these crucial pollinators.

Easy ways to stop carpenter bees from remodeling your home

By Julia Rittenberg

Narcan naloxone nasal spray vending machine in Illinois to fight opioid overdoses

4 common myths about Narcan, the ‘antidote’ to opioid overdose

By Jocelyn Solis-Moreira

A wooden serving tray with a variety of dehydrated fruit and herbs on it, along with fresh fruit and herbs.

Dehydrating food can save you money and reduce waste

By Bridget Reed Morawski

A total solar eclipse, a bright ring of sunlight around a dark moon on July 2, 2019.

April’s skies boast the full pink moon, Lyrid meteor shower, and a total solar eclipse

By Laura Baisas

Hands putting bandage on a hiker's foot outdoors

How to save your feet from painful blisters

By Alisha McDarris

Two people, silhouetted, looking up at a clear night sky.

Catch 5 planets (including Uranus) in an ultra-rare planetary alignment

By Briley Lewis

A white clothes dryer with a clean dryer vent behind a white curtain, in front of a tall window with sunlight shining through.

How to clean your dryer vent so it doesn’t catch on fire

By John Kennedy

A pile of pills of various shapes and colors on an orange background. Some of these may be allergy medications.

The right way to use seasonal allergy medications

By Kate Baggaley

A Canada goose opening its mouth and spreading its wings to protect its nest and its mate behind it at the edge of a marshy area.

Read this if you’re too scared to walk past a goose

By Alisha McDarris

Foods that make you feel full on a beige background, including kale, raspberry, whole wheat pasta, salmon, green apple, steak, crackers, chocolates, popcorn, pink frosted donut, peas in a pod, and a basil leaf

How to feel full just by eating good food

By Betsy Andrews/Saveur

Black Mercedes Benz sedan hydroplaning in rain when speeding down highway

A driver’s guide to hydroplaning and how to handle it

By Tony Markovich/The Drive

Colon cancer shown in abdominal X-ray in red, blue, and green

Colon cancer cases in younger generations are rising. When should you get screened?

By Jocelyn Solis-Moreira

Start your garden early with the help of the best seedling starter trays.

The best seedling starter trays

By Timothy Dale

Hand holding a pen placing sticky note on planner, a good way to track your period without an app.

How to track your own period—without an app

By Sandra Gutierrez G.

Yellow, red, and white roses left at a memorial for the victims of the Half Moon Bay mass shooting. A white sign behind the bouquets says "as a community we grieve."

How to cope with collective grief—and even turn it into action

By Jocelyn Solis-Moreira

A set of hand soaps and shampoo bars over organic cotton covers and other wooden-made toiletries.

Travel more sustainably with a DIY zero-waste toiletry kit

By Alisha McDarris

Beech mushrooms growing on a substrate against a gold background

How to use the power of mushrooms to improve your life

By Julia Craven

A black backpack on a weathered wooden bench in the forest, with a silver metal water bottle next to it.

10 time-tested essentials that can help you survive your next hiking trip

By Alisha McDarris

A person pressing buttons on a microwave oven.

How to get more lemon juice, and 8 other genius microwave hacks

By Sandra Gutierrez G.

A person holding a shiny, clean showerhead, and you can see their reflection in it.

Use citric acid to clean your dishwasher and other gross household items

By Sandra Gutierrez G.

A man in a blue plaid shirt, jeans, and white socks using a cordless vacuum to clean a tile kitchen floor near a large window.

A bare minimum guide to spring cleaning

By Alexandra Frost

Guests at Filmmaker's Trivia Night during the 2021 Tribeca Festival at Battery Park on June 14, 2021 in New York City.

5 ways to get better at trivia, according to a Jeopardy! contestant

A large group of red and orange jellyfish floating in blue water.

A jellyfish sting treatment that actually works

By Sara Chodosh

A flock of chickens, including five hens and rooster, peck at a backyard

6 things to know before deciding to raise backyard chickens

By Sandra Gutierrez G.

Super Bowl-qualifying Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts throws a perfect football spiral

Throwing the perfect football spiral is a feat in science

By Jocelyn Solis-Moreira

A blonde person leaning over to water a potted houseplant near a window.

How to water your plants less but still keep them happy

By Ellen Airhart

Close up to a stack of AA batteries

How to turn AAA batteries into AAs

person hiking with backpack and hiking sticks

What to know before you go on your first multi-day hike

By Alisha McDarris

A person standing over a board, using a circular saw to rip it to width, hopefully considering woodworking safety.

The best safety advice for any beginner woodworker

By Jean Levasseur

A half dozen eggs sitting on a marble kitchen counter

6 egg alternatives for these trying times

By Sandra Gutierrez G., John Kennedy

Four people hiking through a snowy landscape, all very bundled up to prevent frostbite.

How to prevent, identify, and treat frostbite

By Alisha McDarris

Nuclear shelter basement sign on brick building to represent survival tips for a nuclear blast

The best—and worst—places to shelter after a nuclear blast

a young black woman jogging outside on a track smiling

5 surprising beauty benefits of running

By Jocelyn Solis-Moreira

close up to person squatting down to lift weights at the gym

It’s time for your 2023 fitness journey—here’s how to get started

By Sandra Gutierrez G.

Personal trainer helping man exercise header image

Best personal trainer certifications

Jar of cucumber water on white marble to illustrate how to detox your body the wrong way

The only real way to detox your body

By Donavyn Coffey

person-in-work-out-gear-standing-in-kitchen-chopping-fruit-

Nutrition tracking can put you on the path to meet your fitness goals

Half Dome in Yosemite National Park at sunset, where people have fallen to their deaths.

How to avoid dying in national parks

By Alisha McDarris

Person in blue shirt doing crunches on an exercise ball during a Pilates workout

Pilates can improve your posture and balance. The killer body is just a bonus.

By Jocelyn Solis-Moreira

A LifeStraw water filter and bottle on some gray rocks.

Don’t ruin your next camping trip by storing your portable water filters wrong

By Alisha McDarris

Person lying on couch covering their face with a book about Spanish grammar

Learning a new language? Here’s how to perfect your pronunciation.

By Sandra Gutierrez G.

Roof of a house without AC surrounded by trees, with a red and orange color overlay.

7 tips on how to build a house that stays cool

A man standing under a blue sky with white clouds, wearing a black baseball cap and a red shirt while closing his eyes and breathing deeply.

Understanding your emotions can help you manage your anxiety

By Wendy Suzuki

Notopteris neocaledonica, the New Caledonia blossom bat, an endangered bat species endemic to New Caledonia.

How to get a bat out of your house

By Natalie Wallington

Prickly pear cactus spines closeup

How to remove cactus spines (including ones stuck in your throat)

By Kate Baggaley

Holiday cake filled with chocolate stars, icing, and orange slices poses a sugary nightmare to people with diabetes

A diabetes-friendly guide to holiday parties

By Jocelyn Solis-Moreira

A silver Macbook Air keyboard that someone needs to learn how to clean. There are crumbs and even a hair on it.

How to clean a keyboard without breaking it

By Claire Maldarelli

Three hikers in rain jackets and other rain gear, hiking through a wet forest, hopefully with well-maintained waterproofing.

The right way to wash your waterproof clothes

By Alisha McDarris

person-lifting-weights-at-the-gym

How to get muscle gains: A beginner’s guide to becoming buff

A person cleaning a laptop screen with a microfiber cloth and small brush.

How to clean a computer screen without destroying it

By Sandra Gutierrez G.

Spray-bottle-with-DIY-rosemary-water-for-hair

Rosemary is the secret to long and healthy hair. Here’s how to use it to grow luscious locks.

By Helen Bradshaw

hand holding a smore in the woods

How to make the perfect s’mores—with science

By Alisha McDarris

hand out revealing a watch on wrist

It’s never too late to learn to be on time

By Daryl Austin

How to build a fire in the wilderness

How to build a fire in the wilderness

By Alisha McDarris

A woman sipping from a teacup while taking a break.

Improve your focus by taking more breaks every day

An old man panning for gold in a river.

Enter your prospector era by learning how to pan for gold

By Alisha McDarris

A single large leaf, with some crinkly, brown edges that may be indicative of a nutrient deficiency.

What your houseplants’ yellowing leaves are dying to tell you

By Helen Bradshaw

sleeping cat face peeking from under bed covers

How to wake up when it’s still dark outside

By Whitson Gordon

person-riding-a-fully-loaded bike in the desert

How to ride off on your first bikepacking adventure

By Alisha McDarris

Three burgers getting cooked on a stainless steel pan while a hand with a spatula works with them

Use the Leidenfrost effect to make your stainless steel pan non-stick