10 best life hacks: From reheating pizza to cleaning keyboards

Tips to save you time and hassle

Tuesday 31 March 2015 08:15 EDT

(Getty Images)

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The word hack is synonymous with the image of tech wizards sitting on their laptops trying to break into the FBI servers, steal celebrity photos from the iCloud and listen to voicemails. Hacking has always been surrounded with these negative connotations, but life hacks are the complete opposite and are intended to make your life a lot easier. They’ve taken the internet by storm and some of the life hack videos on YouTube have over 10 million views.

So what is a life hack? A life hack is a tool or technique that makes an aspect of life slightly easier or more efficient. The term was coined over 10 years ago by Danny O’Brien an English technology journalist, who used it to describe the “embarrassing” shortcuts IT professionals use to get their work done quicker.

The expression has essentially snowballed from there, and now refers to anything that simplifies life. The Yolk Hoover is one of the best examples, and is a quick and easy way to separate egg yolks from whites. Using an empty plastic bottle, you can essentially ‘hoover’ up egg yolks with speed and ease.

I decided to share this particular hack with a friend of mine and her immediate response was ‘Oh wow’. That reaction is not unique in the slightest; in fact it’s the staple reply when you first see a life hack. That essentially summarises why they’re so popular. Not only do they have that instantaneous wow factor, but they’re also invitingly shareable, making them perfect for the social media driven world that we live in today.

Dan Marshall, author of the book ‘Life Hacks: Handy Tips to Make Life Easier’ which lists and explains over 130 different hacks, said: "Life hacks by their very nature are designed to ease the problematic everyday task. How can they not be useful? The Yolk Hoover would make any budding chef's life easier, not to mention quicker."

He also spoke of the best hacks he has ever seen: "My favourite has to be rolling your t-shirts instead of layering them so they are easier to find in the drawer. My best t-shirts have never seen so much use. A close second, is the Plastic Bag Beater [this is where you stretch a carrier bag, hold the top in the middle and pull on a handle]. No longer do I have to spend what seems like hours at the checkout trying to open the flimsy bags. A quick stretch of the plastic and I’m in."

Life hacks like these can not only save you a lot of time, but they also impress colleagues and friends.

Here’s a list of 10 of the best:

Use dental floss to cut cake into perfectly sized pieces.