In today’s list of ‘things you’ve been doing wrong’ we have… hand-washing. You probably always thought that a squirt of soap and a quick scrub under hot water was enough (I know I did), but it turns out we were wrong. Very, very wrong.

According to the New York Times, a study in Scotland has found that the most effective way to rid your hands of bacteria is by following the method recommended by the World Health Organisation.

It takes approximately 42.5 seconds to complete and has a mind-blowing 11 steps. Better start scheduling longer bathroom breaks.

According to The World Health Organisation website, washing your hands should take approximately as long as singing ‘Happy Birthday’ twice.

That’s right. The entire ditty. Twice.

Here are the steps:

And your hands are safe. Sounds pretty exhausting it, doesn’t it?

Just in case you’re a visual learner, the World Health Organisation have also supplied this handy-dandy diagram:

Image via World Health Organisation.

If just thinking about this process is stressing you out, you're not alone. According to the study, a third of healthcare professionals were unable to complete the hand-washing method properly despite “having instructions on the technique in front of them and having their technique observed.”

The lead author of the study Jacqui Reilly of the Glasgow Caledonian University assures that the hard work of getting hand-washing just right is definitely worth it.

“[Hand hygiene is] the single most important intervention that you can do to prevent health care-associated infection but also to protect yourself and your family from infections and viruses,” Reilly said.

Now that have are blown your mind about hand-washing, how about some eyeopening facts about your health? This is how much sugar is really in your favourite drink...