27 useful life skills you can learn in less than five minutes

Skill 1: Change a tire or jumpstart a car

We've all been there at least once in our lives. Why not learn how to change a car tire or how to jumpstart a car, so next time, you don't have to wait half an hour for Roadside Assistance. You'll be amazed at how good it feels to be self-sufficient.

Skill 2: Speed Reading

Speed reading is the ability to read with your eyes only and not use your inner voice while you read. It's a little hard to master at first, but once you learn it's a great skill to have.

Skill 3: Enable Undo Send in Gmail

If you've ever sent out an email that you with a spelling error or maybe you even sent it to the wrong person and wished that you can recall that email, now you can with Gmail. Enable Undo Send in Gmail to recall emails from the world wide interwebs.

Skill 4: Use a fire extinguisher

Any skill that could save the lives of loves ones is valuable. If you have a fire extinguisher but don't know how to use it, what's the point of having it in the first place? The worst time to learn this new skill would be when you're under the pressure of a real fire situation. Learn the basics in just a few minutes and be prepared.

Skill 5: Survive in a rip current

If you live in Australia, or any coastal town or plan on travelling to one, you should definitely know this one! You just need to sit down and watch one episode of Bondi Rescue, to know that rips are really dangerous and you can get into a lot of trouble in a very short amount of time. Without our awesome lifeguards, many lives would have been lost to rips that all too often drag unsuspecting victims out to sea. Fight against it and it's a no-win situation. Here's two good articles on How to spot a rip and How to survive a rip tide.

Skill 6: Righty Tighty Lefty Loosey

My Dad taught me this one and it's one of those skills that has just stayed with me throughout my life and that I actually use a lot more than I thought I would. Righty Tighty, Lefty Loosey is a great way to remember which way to turn bolts and screws to either loosen (loosey) or tighten (tighty) them.

Skill 7: Pack a suitcase

Are you the person that shoves everything into your suitcase the night before you leave? Or do you take your time to pack and ensure that you're going to be able to fit everything in and even prepare for having room for bringing back presents and travel keepsakes when you come home? If you're the former, learn to pack your suitcase right and it will make your holiday or travel plans less stressed and hey, who doesn't want to buy more stuff that you don't need when traveling!

Skill 8: Shortcuts on your macOS or Windows 10

It's incredibly useful to learn the shortcut keys on Windows 10 or macOS. Sometimes we get so caught up with working and just doing everyday life things that we forget to stop, take a moment and think if there's a more efficient and quicker way to get the job done. Here's some cool shortcuts that you might not know about for your macOS and Windows 10.

Skill 9: Fold a T-shirt

First there was Netflix and chill, now there's Netflix and clean! Marie Kondo will teach how to fold a t-shirt the proper way, so they stay crisp and clean.

Skill 10: Master a really yummy sauce recipe that goes with everything

This could be my favorite skill to master. One sauce, one thousand different ways. Imagine impressing the significant other in your life every night, with the same recipe! Mind blown.

Skill 11: Time Management

Another particularly useful life skill is time management. Let's face it, you're either that person that shows up first or last - which one are you? If you're the latter, you might want to improve your time management skills. Think about it, if you can manage your time better, there's a lot of useful things that could be done with your new free time. Like starting a new side-business hustle, one that you're really passionate about, or spending more time with loved ones.

Skill 12: Goal Setting

Goal setting helps you keep your life on track and keeps you focused on what you really want. Use it and you will notice the difference. Set your first goal by simply writing down what it is, and the date you want to achieve it by. You can add it as a calendar entry in your phone or get a goal setting app to help.

Skill 13: Use Google to fix computer problems

Did you know that your Grandchildren don't really know how to fix computers, they just Google the problem and wing it from there. Following online tutorials and videos to fix computer problems is a great skill to learn. Try it now. Simply type the exact problem you are having with your computer into Google.com, follow the first or second article that shows and up and voila, you will impress even yourself with the results.

Skill 14: Origami

Origami is the Japanese artform of paper folding. It's a calming activity which can help to reduce stress and anxiety. Get started with some basic origami techniques such as folding the popular Crane, Butterfly or Jumping Frog, then work your way up to more advanced creations like a boat or ice cream cone.

Skill 15: Create an Email Signature

In 2019, there were 3.9 BILLION email users worldwide. Having your own personalised signature included at the end of your emails is a great way of appearing more professional for work use, and isn't something that's difficult to do.

Check out some premade email signature designs for inspiration.

Skill 16: Change a Lightbulb

We've all had that moment where a lightbulb has blown and we've been waiting for our signficant other to replace it, but it just never seems to happen. Sometimes we've gotta take things into our own hands and do it ourselves so why not learn how to change a lightbulb? It's actually not that difficult, just don't forget to turn the power off!

Skill 17: Deeply Relax or Focus

Meditation and the ability to deeply relax and focus can be one of the most useful skills you will ever learn. Do it now and feel the difference a calm mind has on you in a week or two.

Skill 18: Draw your favorite animal or cartoon character

Remember when drawing was fun? Learn to relax your mind by drawing or even just coloring in. Yep! There are adult coloring in books available.

Skill 19: Learn Sign Language

Did you know that New Zealand's third official language is sign language. How cool is that as an entire country!

Skill 20: Say "Hello" in 30 languages

Hola! Bonjour. Nǐ hǎo. These are all ways to say Hello in different languages. You never know when know how to greet someone from another country may come in handy, so why not learn today?

Skill 21: Emergency First Aid

Take an up to date emergency first aid course once a year. Things change quickly in the medical industry, something you learned ten years ago might not still apply.

Skill 22: Find the right food for you

Finding the right food for your body can help you in so many ways. Food is medicine. Just a warning, unfortunately it's probably not going to be fried foods, burgers, pizzas or any other fast food.

Skill 23: Solve a Rubik's cube

Did you know that creating a white cross on one side of a Rubik's cube is the first step to solving it? Neither did we! Learning how to solve a Rubik's cube is great for your memory, problem solving ability and can also be a fun party trick. Get started now.

Skill 24: Tie a bow tie or neck tie (or why not both)

Whether you're female or male, this is a good skill to have. If you're a male, you probably should know it, it comes in handy when you're getting married, or are best man at your friend's weddings. As a female, you might have sons or husbands who need the help and mastering the perfect neck tie or bow tie.

Skill 25: Dress for your Body Type

I'm a big believer in wear whatever you want to wear. My five year old son regularly gets around in the weirdest outfits, boots, dress-ups and I couldn't care less, I love that he's different and I love that people dress differently too. But I must say, when I started looking into dressing for my body type, it helped me understand what clothes made me look frumpy and what clothes made me look not. Most days, I don't care if I look frumpy, but it's the days when I'm going to party and I want to look good that I utilize this skill set.

Skill 26: Sabre a Champagne Bottle

Because it's just plain cool.

Skill 27: Make an open fire

There's something to be said about someone that can still make an open fire even though we probably haven't really had to do this for quite a long time now. Bonus points if you cook something on it too.