Lifehacks are creative, relatively simple ways to take everyday tasks and make them way easier than anyone thought possible. There are lifehacks for just about anything, but there is also an overwhelming amount that seems to be a little more ridiculous than they are helpful. Here are ten hacks that are actually useful and practical to integrate into your life.

1. Quickly Check an Avocado’s Ripeness

Avocados have been enjoyed a boom in popularity lately, and many would agree that the delicious fruit deserves the acclaim. Still, choosing the perfect avocado can seem daunting.

Not anymore. Simply peel back the small stem cap at the top of any avocado. If the stem doesn’t come off easily, chances are it isn’t ripe enough. If the stem comes off and the color underneath is brown, the fruit is overripe. If the stem comes off to reveal green underneath, you have found your ripe avocado!

2. Save Your Fingers while Hammering

Almost everyone can recall a time that they’ve hit a thumb or fingertip while hammering a nail into the wall. This can be a thing of the past by using a clothespin! Use the pin to firmly hold the nail in place, and then hammer away while your fingers remain safely out of reach.

3. Get Creative With Command Hooks

There can easily be a whole section devoted to hacks using command hooks. From attaching them to wastebaskets to hold trash bags in place, to creating an organized holding space for your pots and pans lids, to holding onto items like cables, toothbrushes, and car keys, there’s seemingly no end to the use of these adhesive hooks.

4. Think Outside Ordinary Icecubes

There are plenty of drinks that are best served cold, but the downside to icecubes is when they inevitably melt, diluting the drink. If you’re running into this problem, consider alternatives to the traditional plain water cube.

If you’re drinking wine, freeze some grapes to plop in your glass. It’ll keep it cold and be a nice visual touch! Freezing coffee into cubes is perfect for iced coffee, and the same goes for freezing tea cubes for use in your iced tea. You could even freeze their favorite milk and creams to pop into your frozen coffee for instant flavor boosts!

5. Save Time on Moving Clothes

Moving is a time-consuming hassle, and packing is something nearly everyone dreads. Packing up your closet can be particularly annoying, but you can make things a lot easier on yourself if you forgo folding every shirt that’s hanging up.

Instead, take a large garbage bag and draw it fully around a wide section of shirts, tightening and securing the bag ties around the necks of the hangers. This way your shirts remain on their hangers, ready to go, but are still covered and protected as you move them from one place to another.

6. Use Drawers for More Prep Space

A lot of kitchens suffer from a lack of counter space. There just never seems to be enough! The next time you find yourself in this situation, try nestling a cutting board atop a pulled out kitchen drawer. You will have instantly created an additional prep area with hardly any extra effort.

7. Cupcake Wrapper For Popsicles

Most people never think of using cupcake wrappers for anything other than, well, cupcakes. While we can’t blame you for that, we can let you know about this clever lifehack that is especially useful when giving frozen treats to youngsters!

Simply poke the popsicle stick through an upright facing cupcake wrapper, creating a little safety net that will catch any drips and dribbles.

8. Hold Your Tape’s Place

Some people still use the “folded corner” technique for finding their place in a roll of packing or masking tape, but those can easily come undone or rending sections of tape unusable.

Instead, try sticking a paperclip between the end of the tape and the full roll. It’ll keep the tape sticky and safe, while also making it easy to find your place and start again!

9. No Drip Icepack

Icepacks certainly can come in handy, but the drippage that comes as they defrost can be a real uncomfortable nuisance.

To combat this, soak a sponge and place it in a plastic bag before freezing. This way you have a makeshift icepack that absorbs moisture as it starts to melt.

10. Store sheets in pillowcase

Folding, stored sheets have a habit of spreading out and separating from each other. It seems like you’re always missing a pillow sheet here, a fitted sheet there. Solve this issue with a surprisingly easy hack: Fold all the sheets in a set, as well as extra pillowcases, and then place them all neatly inside one of the pillowcases. Everything will stay together now, and you’ll be able to see the pattern right away!