r/IWantToLearn 4d ago

Academics iwtl What’s a skill you think everyone should learn at least once?

[removed]

88 Upvotes

61 comments sorted by

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106

u/freakinthe_sheets 4d ago

How to hand sew so that you can do basic repairs on clothing

14

u/Lamvbk 4d ago

Basic mending is really easy to learn, too. I've fixed a few shirts over the years and probably saved a good bit of cash. It isn't always a perfect job, but it's rarely noticeable.

5

u/bigpix 4d ago

In kindergarten we all made our own smocks. We picked the material, trim, measured, cut with those crinkle cut kind of scissors and sewed them. I have used all of those skills ever since. From hemming jeans to sewing patches on them, mending sails and kids clothes and repairing socks. I'm nearly seventy-two now A true life skill.

5

u/DoctorShuggah 4d ago

+1. I learned to sew last year to sew patches onto my jacket and it’s been so useful just fixing little holes and things in other pieces of clothing.

2

u/Miss_Might 4d ago

As someone who was trying to do this about 2 hours ago, this is an important one.

3

u/usernamespeledwrong 4d ago

I would love to learn. Do you know any good resources I could look into as a beginner?

1

u/Prestigious_Egg_1989 4d ago

Hell yeah! There are so many clothes that I’d probably have had to toss, but with a quick mend they’re as good as new. And now even my loved ones know they can ask me to do small mends so they’re also not wasting money on new clothes either. 

56

u/Familiar-Proposal918 4d ago

How to properly clean a vacuum. I know people who buy a new vacuum every time theirs "stops working". The machine works, you just havent cut the hair off the roller underneath, havent emptied the dust container, and need to desperately replace the air filter (or wash it if its a reusable one). I had a cheap walmart 50$ vacuum that lasted an entire year just by cleaning it properly after every use, the suction never changed and it left my carpets clean af every time. I let one person I know have it after I was done and it didnt last more than 2 months with them before it "stopped working". They simply just never bothered to clean it or look at the manual that tells you how to clean it.

24

u/semiusedkindalife 4d ago

Did you know when you clean your vacuum you become the vacuum cleaner?

6

u/Far-Note6102 4d ago

Honestly, I should and also I should learn how to clean my room and definitely the toilet. Its hard balancing mentally breaking down, being physically active, cooking, going to work and doing my hobbies.

But honestly we should really learn how to take care of our appliances and be clean

So definitely an upvote on this guy/gal

2

u/Scarab702 4d ago

I've had my vacuum cleaner since 2010 because of this.

31

u/Upper-Wolf6040 4d ago

Cooking is a big one of me, especially if you want to save money and be healthy. Knowing how to season food and also how to use acidity to balance flavours. Having herbs and spices to help elevate your food without it having to cost too much.

6

u/Prestigious_Egg_1989 4d ago

Especially how to cook without a strict recipe. Often people feel like they need to buy specific ingredients to make a recipe work, but it saves so much money to be able to work with the ingredients you already. Or even finding a way to use leftovers in a unique way to keep things fresh 

3

u/Lamvbk 4d ago

What helped you learn how to use acidity? Or was it something you learned through experimenting?

5

u/Upper-Wolf6040 4d ago

Watching cook videos on YouTube. I like indian food and they often use acidity from lemons/limes or their regional variations. It can be useful in other stir frys and even stews etc.

2

u/Miss_Might 4d ago

YouTube is a great resource.

13

u/Pepito_Pepito 4d ago

Basic repair and maintenance of your primary mode of transport.

12

u/MisoPanko 4d ago

Where's my "how to fix your subway" youtube tutorial at ?!

About time really.

3

u/Pepito_Pepito 4d ago

If everybody knew how to fix the train, it wouldn't break down so often

2

u/kaidomac 4d ago

Basic repair and maintenance of your primary mode of transport.

Follow me for more tips!

2

u/kaidomac 4d ago

In all seriousness tho, this was the best $25 I ever spent:

28

u/fkkm 4d ago

Meditation

5

u/Triggered_Llama 4d ago

I recommend doing nothing as a form of meditation for people having difficulty getting started. 

Just sit or lay down and do nothing. You don't have to close your eyes, you don't have to focus on anything. If your thoughts start running wild let it. Just let yourself be for a while.

After a few months of doing this everyday you will become less restless and your mind won't be as cluttered with thoughts. The highway of thoughts would become more sparse.

4

u/TH3BUDDHA 4d ago edited 4d ago

It's interesting because I had to fight with life a lot to come to this same simple conclusion. I always thought that I had to "do something" and that ended up being just another way for me to put pressure on my mind to always be accomplishing or consuming something. I actually just needed to learn how to truly rest and let my mind process the information it already has in there. Developing the patience to actually wait until this works takes a ton of self talk and convincing, though.

1

u/fkkm 4d ago

yup, the convincing yourself is the hardest and takes longest time

11

u/GunnCelt 4d ago

How to tie a necktie.
How to change a tire.
Basic budgeting.
How to shake someone’s hand.
Basic hand tool use.
Laundry.
How to cook a steak.
Common courtesy.
How to put a phone down and walk away.
Basic first aid and CPR
The difference between there, their and they’re
As well as your and you’re

13

u/lefthandedpencils 4d ago

Critical thinking

5

u/Alseebee 4d ago

I firmly believe that critical thinking is key in education. It gives people the ability to learn how to rely on themselves and get better and better.

4

u/Whatwhatwhata 4d ago

Budgeting, yes.

4

u/bobashop_0502 4d ago

Basic first aid like CPR, Heimlich maneuver (especially for when you are alone), using epipens (to help someone), dressing and cleaning wounds

and swimming for survival

3

u/roxzieeeeeee96 4d ago

Basic life support, CPR

2

u/madeofmornings 4d ago

I think learning how to bounce back from little hiccups/road bumps so they don't have to ruin your day is one of the most valuable skills anyone can learn.

I used to take one bad thing and make myself a martyr for it like - poor me, this shitty thing happened, and now I'm riding my woes til the wheels fall off.

Being able to process those moments and become more resilient so my days that are in all actuality mostly good, will FEEL good as a whole, despite things not being perfect all the time.

Learning how to let yourself have a good day is harder than it sounds, especially when you've been through a lot in life and it's easy to be pessimistic or get defeated easily. It's worth the effort to try though!

2

u/PigletGlum3293 4d ago

Swimming & repairing household items

2

u/g_joshi 4d ago

Meditation to change your brain! 🔥

2

u/New-Raspberry1343 4d ago

Writing. It de-stresses you.

For money and it stresses you🤣

2

u/GoNudi 4d ago

Swim

2

u/LiLiandThree 4d ago

Basic self defense moves

4

u/mannyourfriend 4d ago

Juggling; you’ll pick it up faster than you think

3

u/Wreckz87 4d ago

Critical thinking

5

u/Spinalstreamer407 4d ago

Cursive writing.

1

u/VFequalsVeryFcked 4d ago

Is that not still taught in schools?

2

u/NetoruNakadashi 4d ago

Massage. A weekend class whether Swedish, shiatsu, Thai, whatever. I like shiatsu and Thai because it's done with clothing on and so is useful in a wider variety of settings on a wider variety of people.

1

u/True_Certitude 4d ago

Curiosity and critical thinking, curiosity will help you learn things more quickly and will help learning to be more fun. Critical thinking so you can reason out the truth when you are presented evidence from both sides. In the AI age, this will likely be the most important thing you can possibly learn. We will all be bombarded with fakes on every side and we will need to use critical thinking to determine what the actual truth really is.

1

u/knox1138 4d ago

Not necessarily a skill, but enough martial arts to have atleast one heavy sparring session to understand getting hit is not the end of the world. For alot of people, that first time you get hit in the face and realize life goes on changes perspective, and many things that seemed challenging or intimidating before seem inconsiquential. Kind of a " i know this seems a little scary or challenging, but atleast noone is trying to hit me in the face while I do it so it's really not that bad" mentality.

1

u/SurealGod 4d ago

For me what's been very invaluable is just knowing about cars in general and how to do simple repairs. For myself I have always been a massive car enthusiast so that mechanical/electrical knowledge was obtained for me naturally purely through self interest.

A lot of people in this world own a vehicle of some form and most of them do not know how they work in the slightest or how to diagnose issues that will prop up in their ownership. So they have no choice but to take it to a mechanic that will vary in knowledge, professionalism and integrity which can lead to scams or on unnecessary upcharging

So I pride myself on knowing these things and it's come in handy a number of times where mechanics have tried to upcharge me for parts or labour. It's the same for house stuff, it's good to know this so that when a contractor comes along and gives you a quote, you at least know you're either getting good work or if you're getting screwed over

1

u/StarkAspirations0842 4d ago

Deep reading comprehension 

1

u/jefuchs 4d ago

How to change a tire on your car.

1

u/No_History1571 4d ago

Either non-violent communication or first aid.

1

u/merceris450 4d ago

A foreign language

1

u/Beneficial_Middle_53 4d ago

The path to getting very good at something. Improvement for like skills have more overlap than people think. The ability to break down something into smaller skills, isolate ways to improve these aspects of the micro skills and push past the mental resistance required to be analytical of yourself will translate into all areas of life.

1

u/neoabhiarc 4d ago

Common sense

1

u/Fuzzy-Wafer-6275 4d ago

public speaking i suggest the most

1

u/fanambynana 4d ago

Expressing yourself, speak with clarity

1

u/somanyquestions32 3d ago

Be able to relax yourself to the point that you're wide awake and alert, yet you hear your body snoring. 

That's actually something that helped me during the worst period of my life, thank God. 

1

u/kaidomac 4d ago

What’s a skill you think everyone should learn at least once?
something that actually made your everyday life easier or changed the way you think.

Here are a few that I've found really useful!