Sometimes, people give us advice and we roll our eyes. Sure, like THAT’s ever going to work. But desperate times call for desperate measures, right? Maybe you try it out, just to see…even though it totally won’t work.

And then it works. And now you have a whole new perspective on life.

In a recent Reddit thread, people share the top piece of “useless” advice that actually wasn’t useless at all. Who knows, one of these might even change your life, as it did for these folks!

1. “Always Ask, Even if You Think the Answer is ‘No’.”

   “My dad always told me ‘Ask anyway, the worst they can say is no’ when buying something or when I needed something from another person. Seemed stupid to ask if I was sure they would say no but I was also a socially anxious kid. Turns out that advice has helped me with school, with raises, with people in general, with plans with new friends…”

2. “This Too Shall Pass.”

   “On those days when I just feel like I can’t take it I think of that, and I know tomorrow will be different. Someone once told me, ’tomorrow may not be better, but at least it’ll be different.’ In a strange way that too is comforting.”

3. “Once Begun is Half Done.”

   “I am a terrible procrastinator by nature. I have totally done the “well now it 5:02 so I have to wait until 6:00 to start cleaning” and I like making things seem like Soo much work that I can’t possibly do them unless I take time off of work. In reality if you just start a project without thinking about it you can get everything done in like fifteen minutes a day and it’s never really that bad.”

4. “Keep Your Shoulders Back.”

   “It was a suggestion I saw for preventing panic/anxiety. Idk what it is, but when your shoulders are in that position it gives some strange feeling of control. I also read somewhere that during panic attacks the body basically wants to curl into fetal position for protection, so I feel like focusing on keeping your arms down and shoulders back is a conscious way to go against that and stay grounded in reality. Works for me, could work for you too.”

5. “Don’t Suffer Future Pain.”

   “In other words, worrying about all the stuff that could happen stops you from doing things and worse, turns potential pain into actual worry and mental pain.”

6. “Don’t Drink Today.”

   “Just don’t drink today. Surely you can do that. Then just repeat. It’s been 19+ years.”

7. “Buy the Cheap Tools First.”

   “My grandfather told me this and I never understood it until I had my own place. Always buy the cheap tools at first and if you wear it out/break it then you use it enough to justify getting a nicer more expensive one.”

8. “Just Have One Panic Attack.”

   “My therapist told me the next time I’m going to have a panic attack to just give in and tell myself it was ok to have one . I told him he was crazy. After a couple tries it started working to my amazement. I haven’t had a panic attack in 3 years.”

9. “Bribe Yourself with Fun Things to Do the Not So Fun Things.”

   “Today I was tired after work but got a little care package in the mail, so I made myself go on the 2.5 mile run I didn’t want to do before I could open the package. Now I’m refreshed and happy that I did the thing I was pseudo dreading, and I have a fun care package to open.”

10. “Don’t Take Your Phone to Bed.”

    “After awhile, you will sleep much easier without the distraction and blue light shining straight into your eyes before bed.”

11. “Floss More And Your Gums Won’t Bleed.”

    “Your gums bleed when you floss because you don’t floss enough. Turns out if you floss enough, your gums won’t be inflamed so they don’t bleed when you floss.”

12. “Exercise Helps With Depression and Anxiety.”

    “It’s not a cure all and I needed to be on meds to get to the point where I could do it, but it really does help me. I’ve been off my meds now for over a year (under doctors’ supervision don’t stop taking your meds unless you run it by your doctor) and when I can’t exercise for a few days, I can feel the depression and anxiety coming back. Now instead of going through a million things I did wrong in my head, I run for 3 miles or lift some heavy stuff.”

13. “Clean Before You Leave.”

    “Cleaning your house before leaving for more than 5 days. Nothing is better than coming to a clean house.”

14. “Stick to the Same Sleep Schedule Even on Days Off.”

    “I spent my whole life sleeping until noon on weekends, thinking I was storing sleep in some imaginary sleep bank. I recently started waking up early on weekends, and now I don’t have trouble waking up when my alarm goes off during the week. Plus, I have all this extra time to do stuff because I’m not sleeping all day.”

15. “One Day at a Time.”

    “It’s been helping me stay focus in the NOW.”

Have you ever gotten a piece of advice you thought was useless, but wasn’t at all?