Artondra Hall, Flickr
If you’re like most people, you want to unload some of the pressures of daily life and make it easier. That’s what life hacks are all about: smart ways to simplify life. What are some of the best life hacks you’ve picked up along the way?
Photo credit: Artondra Hall, Flickr
11 Get Rid of Threads
martinak15, Flickr
Everyone has learned the hard lesson of pulling on a thread or having it catch on something just to see it unravel and ruin whatever you’re wearing…bummer. The solution? Preserve your clothing by burning errant threads with a lighter instead of pulling on them. They’ll burn up quickly and stop after the thread is no more.
Photo credit: martinak15, Flickr
10 Reheat Pizza Quickly
Paul Lowry, Flickr
No one can deny that cold pizza is delicious, but sometimes we want to reheat our leftover pizza as if it was just delivered fresh. The problem is that nuking it will make the crust, well…not very crusty and baking it in the oven takes too long. Instead, flip your toaster on to preheat it, microwave your slice of pizza for about 45-60 seconds and then when the pizza comes out of the microwave you can put it in your toaster to heat it the rest of the way and re-crisp it. Works like a charm every time.
Photo credit: Paul Lowry, Flickr
9 Respond to Something Specific in GMail
FixtheFocus, Flickr
If you’re a GMail user (why wouldn’t you be?), here’s a tip for simplifying your response to a multi-subject message or long email string. Just highlight the text you’re responding to and click reply. Your email will show up with only that selected text below your response. Sweet.
Photo credit: FixtheFocus, Flickr
8 Make a Perfect Breakfast Sandwich Egg in the Microwave
Dan4th, Flickr
Making an egg quickly is great. Making an egg that can be used on a sandwich is even better. Get a small, shallow dish or bowl that’s only a few inches deep and four or five inches across. Then spray it with cooking spray, break your egg in it, mix with a fork, add a splash of water, your choice of seasonings and/or cheese and then microwave for 45-75 seconds (depending on your settings) until the egg is cooked without being dried out. You’ve got yourself a delicious, disc-shaped egg perfect for throwing on a toasted English muffin and you won’t even have a frying pan and spatula to wash.
Photo credit: Dan4th, Flickr
7 Make One Battery into Six
yellowcloud, Flickr
A nine-volt battery is really just housing for six triple-A batteries. With some pliers you can open one up without damaging the triple-A’s. It’s not dangerous at all and it works in a pinch if you need some extra juice for a small device.
Photo credit: yellowcloud, Flickr
6 Keep Bread From Getting Moldy
Teuobk, Flickr
This one is simple: just keep your bread in the freezer. It toasts ultra fast right out of the freezer and if you want it un-toasted then microwave it for just a few seconds and it’ll hit room temp. Keeping your bread frozen will make sure it stays mold-free for months.
Photo credit: Teuobk, Flickr
5 Eat Cupcakes the Right Way
Eva Blue, Flickr
Two words: cupcake sandwich. That’s right, rip the top half of your cupcake off, turn it over, slam that bad boy down and take a glorious bite. I’ve been doing this for years and I’ve still never seen anyone else do it, but I know it’s becoming a thing lately. And that’s for good reason: you get the perfect amount of frosting and cake in each bite and it’s handheld.
Photo credit: Eva Blue, Flickr
4 Clear Out Your Clogged Up Desktop
ToddWCarpenter, Flickr
There’s no real trick to this, but it can easily save you tons of time spent poring over your cluttered desktop (if you still have a Windows machine) for important files. All you have to do is right click on your desktop, select create new and make folders for all of your unorganized mess. You can sort your files into a few categories. For example: downloads, pictures, videos, word files and most importantly, “other” which will allow you to toss all the stuff you’re not sure where to put.
Photo credit: ToddWCarpenter, Flickr
3 Sterilize Your Dirty Sponge
the Original Muddog, Flickr
Sponges soak up all the germs you’re trying to get off your plates, pots and pans. Instead of cleaning or throwing it out you can de-germify by microwaving it for 30-60 seconds.
Photo credit: the Original Muddog, Flickr
2 Open Pistachios
somegeekintn, Flickr
If you’re like me and get upset at specific pistachios that refuse to open, just use another pistachio shell to open them up. Break off half an empty shell, insert it into the opening of another pistachio, twist and voila. This doesn’t work for the ones that are almost completely shut, but hey, no hack is perfect.
Photo credit: somegeekintn, Flickr
1 Righty Tighty, Lefty Loosey
Fort Meade, Flickr
…but you already knew that.
Photo credit: Fort Meade, Flickr