Using the blade to scoop up food to place your ingredients in your dish can seem harmless, but you may be changing the shape of the cutting edge of your knife by doing so. You may think otherwise but under a microscope it would be quite clear just how fragile a sharpened blade is. Consider using a food scraper instead or the spine of the knife instead.

Scooping up food is the most common misuse of a knife, but there are others. Things like using it to cut non-food items (like plastic packaging, tape, paper, cardboard, etc.), prying things up or open with it, or stabbing it into a wooden cutting board so that it stands up.

Clean your knives properly. Hand wash your knives with warm water and a mild dish soap. Never run your knife through the dishwasher as this speeds up the dulling of the blade by colliding with other utensils.
If you store your knives on a magnetic strip, put the knife on the strip spine first, not blade first. This prevents the force of the magnet from slamming against the knife’s sharp edge.

Use a cutting board. Never cut anything on your counter tops or on any surface other than a cutting board designed specifically for cutting food. If at all possible, use wooden cutting boards as they are gentler on the blade than plastic ones, and never use glass cutting boards.