Chopsticks are the ultimate tool for snacking at your computer

Image: ZLATA ILEVA / MASHABLE

Essentials Week spotlights unexpected items that make our daily lives just a little bit better.

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We’ve all been there: You’re typing away at your keyboard, busily getting stuff done, and suddenly you hunger for a snack. You’re like, hmmm, I sure would love to grab a bag of chips and devour each and every delicious, salty crisp!

As you reach your fingers into the bag, you realize you just unleashed hell: potato chip fingers. It’s too late to stop. And the more savory the chips, the more seasoned your fingers are gonna be.

Only savages don’t wipe their oiled, salted, or Cheetos-dusted fingers before moving back to the keyboard.

But you can’t help yourself. Maybe you wipe them down a few times, but you’ll eventually cheat. It always happens. It’s just too much work to eat-chip-and-wipe-fingers every single time.

Enter your new best friend: chopsticks.

There’s a reason chopsticks have stuck around for some 9,000 years: They’re super versatile.

Maybe it’s the Asian in me, but from the moment I could pick up chopsticks, I’ve used them to do more than just shovel rice into my mouth.

With a little out-of-the-box thinking and a firm grip, you can pretty much use chopsticks (provided they’re made of the right material) to pick up almost anything.

So, it was a no-brainer when it came time to apply my chopsticks mastery to eating snacks while working at my computer.

I honestly don’t even know if I really need to explain it further: Use chopsticks to pick up chips, drop in your mouth, and voilà, clean fingers. Your keyboard stays clean, and belly gets fed.

It works for any kind of food. Cookies, sliced fruits, Cheetos (god, chopsticks were made for eating Cheetos), and any foods or snacks that crumble or could dirty up your fingers.

Forks and spoons work for foods, but chopsticks are superior in every way.

They’re perfect for picking up pretzels:

Image: ZLATA IVLEVA/MASHABLE

Or the cheesiest, most nacho-y chips:

Image: ZLATA IVLEVA/MASHABLE

Or popcorn…

Image: ZLATA IVLEVA/MASHABLE

If you’re not adept at using chopsticks, go ahead and get a pair of the practice kind — you know, the ones for beginners where the two sticks are connected together at the top — and start using them.

The reason so many people can’t figure out how to use chopsticks properly is because their technique is garbage. It’s all in the index finger — this finger does all of the grabbing. 

Here’s a detailed video on how to master chopsticks:

Though I’ve been using this “hack” my entire life, it’s actually become popular over the years. This Wondermark web comic from 2012 is just too on point:

Alternatives like this potato chip hand grabber thingy exist, but why pay for something that comes free with your takeout order? Besides, those plastic toys are prone to failure. The spring could break and the chips could fall out. 

Good chopsticks won’t let you down like that. 

Image: ZLATA IVLEVA/MASHABLE

Now you have no excuse for this ever again:

Image: zlata ivleva/mashable

You can thank me later when your keyboard isn’t disgusting AF.