BusinessVoice News Network

The window in an oven door gets grimy, but there’s an easy way to clean it. Make a paste using baking soda and water and add a few drops of a grease-cutting dish detergent. Spread this on the glass and let it sit for 15 minutes. Then scrub with a non-abrasive sponge and wipe with paper towels or a microfiber cloth. Source Link

With voice cloning becoming easier, getting a fake call from a child or grandchild needing money for an emergency is a common scam, and you can fight back with one word. Create a unique family code word and ask for that if you get such a call. If they don’t say the word, hang up. You can make it even safer by using a common word but mispronouncing it as the code word. Source Link

We’ve all had times when you can’t fall asleep because your mind is racing. You might overcome this by listening to soothing sounds or a calming meditation on your phone. You can also try rhythmic breathing like the 4-7-8 exercise, with a four-second inhale, a seven-second hold and an eight-second exhale. Source Link

A parking lot, a flight of stairs, a street corner and even your bathroom can be places for exercise. Try a combination of fast running and then walking 50 yards in a parking lot or take a flight of stairs two steps at a time. When waiting to cross the street, alternate standing on each leg for 10 seconds or add 10 reps of standing up from sitting on the toilet. Source Link

It’s called a “baker’s week” and it might be the best choice for planning that next vacation. A seven-day getaway with an extra day at the end for traveling home can give you the feeling of a real break from a Monday thru Friday job. Booking a three-or-four-day trip may not be enough time to get into that relaxation groove. Source Link

Let’s see if your bedtime routines among America’s favorites. In a survey, 39 percent of people took a bath or shower before bed, 29 percent read, and one in five used meditation or deep breathing. About half ran a fan to help them nod off, 29 percent had blackout curtains, and one in five used weighted blankets, sleep masks, noise machines, apps or ear plugs. Source Link

Tackling a sink full of dirty dishes may be just the thing to boost your creativity. That’s because doing mundane tasks and simple chores like washing dishes can provide time for more deep thinking. The technique has some big proponents including billionaires Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos who have both said that they do the dishes at home. Source Link

Spending more can actually save you money if it’s on the right things. Analyze your buying and look for items you use consistently and stock-up. Then focus on finding the best prices, whether that’s watching for sales, taking advantage of coupons or buying in bulk at a membership store. Source Link 

Some driving habits may be a silent sign of a sleep disorder. Always needing a window open for a blast of cold air, sipping coffee behind the wheel, or cranking up the tunes during morning drive could be efforts to make up for poor sleep or even sleep apnea. It’s estimated that one in five collisions on the road may be caused by fatigue or sleepiness. Source Link

For the most effective way to argue with your spouse or significant other, the eyes have it. Looking eye-to-eye provides the visual cues that add context to what you’re hearing and help avoid misunderstanding what’s being said. It’s only after you each get better at communicating face-to-face that you should consider debating by text message. Source Link

Make laundry day easier on you and your clothes with a shortcut that’s built into many washers. The “express cycle” has a shorter wash time and a high-speed spin cycle for quicker drying. And that shorter wash cycle can lengthen the life of clothes because it means less time that items are rubbing together in the washer. Source Link

Deep breathing may ease anxiety and it’s easier to do when you remember two shapes. Box breathing has you breathe in, hold, breathe out and hold again for four seconds in each step.. Triangle breathing does the same in three steps and visualizing a box or a triangle as you breathe can help set a good rhythm. Source Link

Amazon will help you recycle small consumer electronics for free instead of tossing them in the trash. Any brand of cellphone, e-reader, tablet, chargers, cables, keyboards, mice, and even video game consoles are on the list of accepted items. You provide a box and Amazon gives you a free shipping label for drop-off at any UPS Store. Source Link

Cleaning your glasses isn’t something you should do with a shirt tail or sleeve. Cloth, paper towels, napkins, tissues and toilet paper can scratch lenses. Use a microfiber cloth, but skip the household glass cleaner and your hot breath which can damage lenses or make those smudges worse. Plain water or a lens cleaning spray will do the best job. Source Link

Many people will agree that flying these days can bring you to tears, and it’s not just the stress of it all. The air pressure inside a plane at cruising altitude is similar to when you’re a mile or more above sea level. That reduces the oxygen in your blood and combined with the effects of dry air can heighten emotions and make it more likely you’ll cry during that sad in-flight movie. Source Link

You can avoid home WiFi problems starting with your router. Update the firmware, create a strong WiFi password and change the router’s default administrator password. Turn off remote access, create a guest network to keep visitors and smart home devices away from your personal devices, and consider buying a new router if yours is more than three years old. Source Link

Using an air fryer can save time and make meals with less oil, but is it an economical choice for cooking? The power bill to run an air fryer might be only half of what you’d pay for natural gas or electricity to cook the same dish. And there’s more savings because you don’t have to use energy to preheat an air fryer before cooking. Source Link

Road rage is all too common and you can help yourself from becoming that person who’s always angry at other drivers. Don’t drive if you’re upset and keep the car comfortable with the right air temperature and some soothing music. And give other drivers some grace and the benefit of the doubt if you get cut off. Remember times when you’ve done the same thing without thinking. Source Link