18 skills you can master in 10 minutes or less

The hard truth is that there just aren't quick fixes for most things in life. It takes time to gain experience and build up an expertise in most fields.

That being said, other abilities are easy to pick up after just a few minutes, as this helpful Quora thread pointed out. These tricks can really save you a lot of time and hassle when it comes to life's little problems.

Here are some of the best responses from the thread, with a few tips of our own thrown in:

2. Identify the freshest strawberries

Cyndi Perlman Fink

3. ...and oranges

4. Remove tourists from vacation photos

Vishal Gala

5. Learn how to speed read

Raj Rai

6. Recover when you forget someones name immediately after meeting them

here

7. Comfortably fit everything in your suitcase

"You can learn the art of packing. —Carlos Amezquita

8. ...and pack a suit in your carry-on without wrinkling it

10. Calm nervousness

Abhishek A. Singh

11. Turn your watch into a compass

Amarnath Ganesh

12. Easily insert mathematical symbols and special characters into Word documents

Trey Brisbane

13. Save time with computer shortcuts

When using Chrome on a Mac, ⌘+a selects all; ⌘+c copies; ⌘+x cuts; and ⌘+v pastes. You can also use ⌘+n to open a new window and ⌘+t to open a new tab.

14. Unsend emails in Google

Google recently made it easier to unsend potentially embarrassing or harmful emails. First, redownload the application on your desktop. Next, click "enable undo send" under the "general" tab in the top right corner, and set how long you want the cancellation period to be.

15. Teach yourself to fall asleep faster

"—Arpit Pareek

16. ...and wake up earlier

A few simple tweaks to your morning routine — including ignoring your snooze button and getting outside as soon as possible after waking up — can help you turn into an early riser. on how to train yourself to master the early wake-up call.

17. Neatly fold a shirt in two seconds

18. Look more sincere

Humans are hardwired to tell fake smiles from sincere, or "duchenne" smiles.

Duchenne smiles don't just incorporate the corners of your mouth; they activate the muscles that go around your eye socket as well.

Spend a few minutes practicing in front of the mirror. It's pretty easy to get the hang of, and flashing a real smile will help you look more sincere, whether you're meeting new people or posing for a photo.

Emmie Martin contributed to a previous version of this article.