Thursday, May 23, 2013

Top 10 Everyday Life Hacks That Take 10 Seconds or Less

Sometimes, you can do something the fast way, or you can do it the right way. Other times, those two things are one and the same. Here are 10 everyday tasks that you can do in 10 seconds or less.

Ever get to the point where you're already 5 minutes late, but haven't even tied your tie yet? With this method, you can tie your tie in five seconds flat, meaning you can get out the door faster. It'll take a bit of practice to learn—and you may have to adapt it to fit your preferred type of knot—but once you get it down, you'll feel like a well-dressed version of The Flash.

You've probably heard a million hiccup cures over the years, but when our own Adam Dachis got hiccups that lasted over 36 hours, the one remedy he—and many others—found worked best was just a quick shot of applce cider vinegar. It only takes a few seconds, and works shockingly well.

I think the deliciousness of food is directly proportional to how much work it takes to eat. Case in point: pomegranates. They're delicious, but you have to work forever to get all those little seeds out into a bowl to eat it, right? Wrong! All you need is a wooden spoon and a little instruction. If you're of a plum fan, though, we've got tricks for that too.

Tying your shoes isn't exactly a long, drawn-out process, but every second counts—especially when you're in a rush. The Ian Knot is a super-speedy way of tying your shoes, and while it takes a few minutes to learn, it's pretty easy. Check out the video above to see it in action, and while you're at it, check out this method for untying double-knotted shoes with ease.

Most wine bottles come with a foil wrapper on top that, often, is a task to get off. Many of you wine experts may already know this, but for the rest: don't try to unwrap the foil. Just grab it, twist, and pull—you'll be enjoying your wine in no time.

Peeling garlic is messy and sometimes difficult, particularly if you have a lot of cloves. Why go one by one when you could stick them all in a bowl, shake it up, and be done in less than 10 seconds? It sounds crazy, but it works—check out the video above for proof.

These days, soda comes in some pretty handy "fridge packs" meant to dispense cans in your fridge, but they're not great. They won't fit into every fridge, and once you get a few cans into the box, you have to reach all the way in there to fish out the last few cans. Instead, unload the entire box in one swift move—just open up both ends and push the cans through, as shown above. Simple, huh?

We've all been there: you take a nice, long, hot shower, get out, stand in front of the mirror to shave/brush/whatever and your mirror is fogged beyond belief. Intsead of trying to wipe all that moisture off, just give it a quick blast of hot air from a hair dryer. After a few seconds, you'll be able to use your mirror as it was originally intended.

Everyone's always looking for a way to speed up laundry, the world's most boring chore, and nothing's better than the tried-and-true Japanese t-shirt folding technique. In fact, you guys voted it your favorite Lifehacker tip of all time, and with good reason—once you get it down, it's mind-blowing how fast you can get through your shirts. Check out the video above for more time-saving clothing tips while you're at it.

When you were in school, you probably learned all sorts of quick math tricks, like how to multiply numbers with your hands or square large numbers (if not, you should brush up on those methods now). But those aren't the only tricks you can do: there are a lot of quick solutions for real-world problems too, like converting standard time to military time, converting farenheit to celsius, and even figuring out the day of the week that any date falls on. The complexity of the problem may make it a bit longer than a few simple seconds, but it's amazing what you can do with the right tricks up your sleeve.

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