Landlords in New York City are taking unprecedented steps to get leases signed.

In January, concessions like a month of free rent and brand new appliances rose to a record in Manhattan and Brooklyn, according to the real-estate appraiser Douglas Elliman. Concessions hit new highs for a fourth straight month, and the share of new leases with such giveaways was above 30% for the first time.

Concessions climbed to a record 18.1% of all leases in Brooklyn, more than triple a year ago.

"It's one thing to give concessions because it's a new building and amenities aren't working yet or the building's not fully completed," Andrew Barrocas, the CEO of brokerage MNS, recently told Business Insider.

"And then there's concessions because you can't rent at that price."

It appears to be the latter in New York, as landlords adjust prices to be more in line with what prospective tenants are willing to pay. The heaviest concessions were in the market for two-bedroom apartments, according to Douglas Elliman's monthly report. 

The median net effective rent —which factors in concessions — slipped year-over-year by just 0.1% to $3,369, while the number of new leases signed dropped 5% to about $3,200. Both the number of days on the market and listing inventory were higher, suggesting that landlords had a harder time filling up vacant apartments.  

"Overall there's definitely signs of the rental market weakening," Barrocas said. The market slowed down, he added, amid disagreement over New York State's 421-a tax exemption for developers that would normally encourage the construction of affordable housing.

SEE ALSO: One part of Manhattan's housing market is going bananas

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NOW WATCH: Here's how to use one of the many apps to buy and trade bitcoin

Having a few good cocktail recipes in your back pocket is arguably the best accessory you can carry. 

But overstocking your home bar and trying to learn a bunch of drinks all at once isn't a good idea. Start with one recipe, make it a few times, and then move on to another drink that uses similar ingredients. For instance, start by perfecting the Old Fashioned and then pick up some mint and crushed ice and work on your Mint Julep.

Below, veteran bartender Eamon Rockey lays out a lesson plan for your cocktail education. Here's how to make 9 classic drinks, all using a combination of these core ingredients and tools.

April Walloga contributed reporting on an earlier version of this article.

SEE ALSO: This is the final word on whether you can wear a dress shirt without a tie

Want to be more productive? Dr. Brian Crane, professor of chemistry at Cornell University explains how to structure your work schedule to be more productive throughout the day.

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Despite surging home prices across the US, it's still possible to snag something affordable in a great city.

As evidenced by U.S. News & World Report's latest ranking of the best places to live in America, the top cities for settling down tout a strong job market, low cost of living, high quality of life, and affordable housing to boot.

To find out which of the top-50 best places to live have home costs on par with the national median listing price, we filtered the ranking for cities where the median home costs $250,000 or less.

Below, check out the top-25 cities and their median home prices.

SEE ALSO: The 50 best places to live in America

DON'T MISS: Home prices are soaring — here's how much the average home costs in the 15 most popular big cities

25. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Population: 1,318,408

Median home price: $149,646

Quality of life: 6.1

Value: 7.5

Oklahoma City's warm weather and low housing prices make it an up-and-coming place to live. Due to a recent inundation of millennials, the city now brims with energy, creativity, and new ideas, according to a local expert.

"The community's greatest asset is its people," he said. "The community is tight-knit, willing to offer a friendly hello, and ever aware that their city is really a small town at heart."

24. Tampa, Florida

Population: 2,888,458

Median home price: $170,495

Quality of life: 6.6

Value: 5

Tampa's laid-back atmosphere, warm weather, and barrage of entertainment options make it feel like a trip to paradise. "Living in the Tampa Bay is like being on vacation all year," said a local expert.

Tampa hasn't been overtaken by tourists, however. It retains several niche communities, including a strong Cuban influence in historic Ybor City, formerly known as the "cigar capital of the world."

23. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

Population: 558,198

Median home price: $83,500

Quality of life: 7.1

Value: 7.5

Located on the banks of the Susquehanna River and the foothills of the Appalachian Trail, Harrisburg offers residents unlimited access to the outdoors. Many are employed by the state and federal government in Harrisburg, but there's also several large private-sector companies that are top employers, including Hershey's, Rite Aid, and D&H Distributing.

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NOW WATCH: This is how much $100 is actually worth in every state

Americans adore pizza.

According to a 2014 study by the US Department of Agriculture, about 1 in 8 Americans ate pizza on any given day. That's a lot of pizza.

While local pizzerias are always a good choice, there are millions of die-hard chain pizza lovers out there. These acolytes of the Pizza Big Three are steadfast in their preferences: Domino's, Pizza Hut, and Papa John's.

But the question is, from which chain to order?

As today is National Pizza Pie Day, we decided to take the matter into our own hands and test the Big Three pizzas head-to-head to see who has the best pizza.

Who is crowned the classic-cheese champion, and who snags the supreme-pizza prize? Keep scrolling to find the results.

Our test has three categories: the classic cheese pizza, the supreme pizza, and breadsticks — the pizza palace essentials.

First, the cheese pizza choices — still hot and cheesy.

The smell of mozzarella and tomato fills the room. No matter how disappointing, all pizza is still good, so this will prove tricky. Are any pizzas truly bad?

Just about everyone knows that you should never text and drive, and that you should stop, drop, and roll if you catch on fire.

But life can also throw situations at us for which we don't have a quick, handy response.

Commenters in a recent Quora thread about life-saving facts offered their best tips, which are easy to remember and could have a huge impact if you ever find yourself in a dangerous situation.

You might want to save these for later.

SEE ALSO: 6 animals that attacked critical human infrastructure

Your brain can't handle walking and using your phone at the same time — so look up.

Safety adviser Murali Krishnan points out that walking and using your phone both demand large amounts of cognitive effort. 

As a result, you can't fully focus on both at the same time in the same way you can with walking and gum-chewing, for instance. You'll suffer "inattention blindness," where you may see an object but not process that it's a car speeding toward you.

Eliminate your car's blind spots by adjusting your mirrors properly.

Blind spots aren't inevitable in all vehicles, argues user Kristen Rush. 

By adjusting your mirrors so that you barely see the edges of your own car, you can effectively eliminate the blind spots on the sides of the vehicle. The rear-view mirror should be able to locate any car behind yours. It's worth the few seconds it takes to adjust these when you get in the driver's seat.

Heat transfers faster through liquid than gas, so keep warm by staying dry.

There's a connection between being wet and getting cold, and vice versa for heat, says engineer Lia Lavoie. 

To ensure your body temperature doesn't fall too quickly in cold environments, invest in clothes made of wool instead of cotton — they'll absorb more moisture so that dampness doesn't linger on your skin. And, of course, do your best to stay dry.

Simon Wong has spent the last 20 years learning the hard way how to live with less. Less clutter, less money, and, most noticeably, less space.

Wong, a 61-year-old Hong Kong resident, is one of a growing number of citizens forced into so-called "coffin homes," 20-square-foot cages that offer just enough space to lie down and hang a few shirts and pairs of pants.

His monthly rent of $226 would be enough to share a roomy one-bedroom apartment in many American towns (though admittedly it would only be enough to rent a closet in big cities like New York City and San Francisco). Instead, his living space measures just 4'x6'.

Hong Kong's housing prices are currently at an all-time high, with the average price per square foot now hovering around $1,380. (In New York City, it's roughly $1,645.) Hong Kong's chief executive, Leung Chun-ying, has called the housing crisis "the gravest potential hazard" to society, as only 7% of the city's land is zoned for housing.

People like Wong are casualties of that affordable-housing scarcity. The government estimates some 200,000 people live in coffin homes, but as a spokesperson for the Society for Community Organization told Reuters, the true number could be much higher.

Wong says he's applied for public housing, but has received no response indicating whether he's been accepted or denied.

His only luxury may be that he's single. Unlike people living with family members or spouses, he doesn't have to negotiate scarce resources like food or privacy. Some families have no choice but to live in subdivided housing, meaning a father and daughter could live in one room while the mother and son live down the hall.

Wong, meanwhile, is free to watch TV or smoke a cigarette within the confines of his box at all hours of the day.

Hong Kong has announced plans to build more affordable homes over the next decade. By 2027, it plans to add 280,000 public homes and 180,000 private homes.

But in the meantime, many residents have no choice but to move into increasingly smaller homes, even if it means sacrificing every last creature comfort for a roof over their heads.

SEE ALSO: 28 crazy pictures of micro-apartments around the world

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NOW WATCH: This 50-lane holiday traffic jam in China will make you regret ever complaining about your commute

Small homes — even ones that measure less than 400 square feet — are becoming increasingly popular.

Besides being cheaper to buy, small houses might also be better investments than larger ones, according to a new report from financial-services company Nerdwallet.

The analysis (first reported by Curbed) compared home-listing prices and sizes in America's 20 largest metro areas between 2013 and 2016. It found that, on average, the value of smaller homes rose faster than that of larger homes.

From 2013 to 2016, the value of the smallest 25% of homes (most of which measure less than 1,800 square feet) grew by 8.9% annually in 17 of the 20 areas studied — the largest percentage hike of all homes studied.

The region of Florida that includes Miami, Fort Lauderdale, and West Palm Beach saw the most dramatic growth, with the smallest home quartile appreciating by 19.5% each year. The area's largest 25% of homes appreciated by only 5.1% annually.

Richard Green, chair of the Lusk Center for Real Estate at the University of Southern California, says the price appreciation of small homes could be a result of more people choosing to live in cities, where spaces tend to be smaller. When there's a high demand for a certain type of home, it becomes more valuable.

The report also found that while smaller homes increased in value by percentage, larger homes appreciated higher by dollar amount; since larger homes are more expensive, a rise in price inevitably involves larger sums. While the cost of the smallest homes appreciated by $57,535, on average, since 2013, prices of the largest homes increased by $99,790.

Still, the report suggests that if you're looking for the best home investment, downsizing may be the way to go.

SEE ALSO: These beautiful tiny homes cost less than $20,000 to build — take a look inside

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NOW WATCH: This $250M mansion is the most expensive home for sale in the US — complete with a helicopter and a $30M car collection

President Donald Trump's immigration ban is on hold as the executive order behind it makes its way through the courts, allowing family members stranded by the ban to reunite and refugees to enter the US after fleeing their countries.

The executive order, which Trump signed on January 27, temporarily suspended travel from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, and Syria. It also indefinitely barred Syrian refugees from entering the US and temporarily halted all refugees from entering the country.

Three judges will decide as soon as Thursday whether to allow the ban to be enforced as the executive order is further debated in court.

Here are the stories of families who did get to arrive in the meantime:

SEE ALSO: Watching cable news in a bathrobe and holding meetings in the dark — 9 bizarre descriptions of the Trump White House

DON'T MISS: Trump has already signed 22 executive actions — here's what each one does

The Alis, from Yemen, hadn't seen their family in six years.

Twelve-year-old Eman Ali and her father, Ahmed, were then stranded in Djibouti after being denied entry into the US because of Trump's executive order on immigration.

But on Sunday, the Alis were reunited.

When winter gets you down, there's only one thing to do: plan a beach vacation and get out of town.

Whether you're in the mood for pristine white sand and quiet days of relaxation or umbrella drinks and a raucous party scene, you've got plenty of options. 

We've compiled a list of the hottest sand-and-surf destinations around the world, where you can finally fix your Vitamin D deficiency with some sun therapy. 

Grab a book and some sunscreen and get out there.

Raisa Bruner contributed reporting on an earlier version of this article.

SEE ALSO: The 25 best Caribbean islands, ranked

Looking for big-city action with a top-of-the-line beach scene? Bondi Beach in Sydney will fit the bill. Always packed with locals — and keeping a laid-back Aussie vibe — Bondi is having a moment, as lots of big-name visitors and new fans have recently made the trek down south.

St. Barts is the place to be for your winter getaway: just ask the celebrities and socialites who regularly ring in the new year on the Caribbean island. You can't go wrong with any of the beaches, but our sources recommend Colombier Beach for the hike, Shell Beach for the sunset, and Flamand Beach for fluffy sand. Don't forget to bring your superyacht.

If you like to snorkel, you'll love Tobacco Bay in St. George, Bermuda. The brilliantly clear waters are hotbeds for colorful fish sightings, while white sand beaches make for ideal sunbathing when you're ready to dry off.

What could be more terrifying than talking to someone you're attracted to?

On Valentine's Day, no less?

Luckily, social science has figured out what makes flirting work — or not.

Below, we've rounded up some of the most intriguing findings on the art of flirtation, so you can saunter over to the object of your affection with confidence.

This is an update of an article originally posted by Drake Baer.

SEE ALSO: 15 relationship facts everybody should know before getting married

People flirt for six different reasons

In a 2004 review of the literature on flirting, Northern Illinois University professor David Dryden Henningsen identified six different motivations for the behavior: 

• Sex: trying to get in bed
• Fun: treating it like a sport
• Exploring: trying to see what it would be like to be in a relationship
• Relational: trying to increase the intimacy of a relationship
• Esteem: increasing one's own self esteem
• Instrumental: trying to get something from the other person

In that study, Henningsen asked 101 female and 99 male students to write out a hypothetical flirty conversation between a man and a woman, then identify the motivations for the things they said. 

The behaviors broke down along gender norms: Men were significantly more likely to have a sexual motivation, while women tended to have a relational one.

Couples need to flirt, too

Like Tinder, cats, and dying alone, flirting is usually associated with single people. 

But couples need to know how to flirt, too.

After studying 164 married people for a 2012 study, University of Kentucky researcher Brandi Frisby noted that most of them flirted — by playing "footsies" or whispering in their partner's ear, for example — as a means of maintaining and emphasizing intimacy. Oftentimes, she wrote in her paper, married couples flirted to "create a private world with the spouse." 

Some conversation starters are better than others

For a study in the journal Sex Roles, University of Alaska psychologist Chris L. Kleinke asked 600 respondents to rate the effectiveness of three varieties of opening lines in a flirtatious situation: 

• "Pick-up" lines like "You must be a librarian, because I saw you checking me out" 
• Open-ended, innocuous questions like "What do you think of this band?" or "What team are you rooting for?"
• Direct approaches like "You're cute — can I buy you a drink?" 

The responses were pretty evenly split along gender lines: While the men in the study tended to prefer the more direct approach, the women tended to prefer the open-ended, innocuous questions. Not surprisingly, very few people said they preferred the pick-up lines.

Being with someone for a long time changes the way you see the world.

It also changes you.

More importantly, close relationships may spark an entirely different way of thinking and acting, something Joshua Wolf Shenk, author of "Powers of Two," chalks up to having a "shared mind." Shenk, who has written extensively about psychiatry and psychology for outlets including The Atlantic and The New York Times, also directs the Erikson Prize for Mental Health Media.

So, how do you and your significant other stack up? Check out these signs psychologists have observed in long-term couples that they say point to having such a shared mind.

SEE ALSO: Psychologists say one behavior is the 'kiss of death' for a relationship

DON'T MISS: A man who took magic mushrooms for a scientific study said it helped him see a basic truth about relationships

You and your partner develop your own private language.

Ever get a text from your significant other that means absolutely nothing on its own but carries a certain significance that you can't quite explain?

This "insider" language is one of the first signs that the two of you are operating in sync, writes Shenk. According to a study from Robert Hooper, a University of Texas professor of communication, secret communication accomplishes two things: It helps deepen your bond — romantic or platonic — and establishes a unique, shared identity.

Private language can include everything from inside jokes to nicknames, writes Ohio State University psychologist Carol Bruess in a study of romantic couples. Bruess' research suggests a link between how often partners use these private words and how satisfied they are with their relationship. Bruess found that the more often couples used secret words and phrases, the happier they tended to say they were.

You stop self-censoring when you're together.

The way most of us speak with strangers, acquaintances, and even close friends is markedly different from how we talk when we're alone with our partner.

When we're with others, most of us "self-monitor." That is, we try to please the people around us by adapting our behavior to suit theirs.

But when we're with an intimate partner, we often let go of this pattern of behavior and instead "talk fluidly and naturally," Shenk writes. In other words, we stop having to constantly check ourselves before we speak. We're more candid and open.

Many of the pairs Shenk talks to in his book have such a relationship. University of California at Berkeley psychologist Daniel Kahneman, for example, tells Shenk: "Like most people, I am somewhat cautious about exposing tentative thoughts to others." But after he'd spent a few years working with his research partner, cognitive psychologist Amos Tversky, "this caution was completely absent."

You have a bunch of inside jokes that no one else finds funny.

Research suggests that couples are more likely to mirror each other's body language — which in turn makes them look alike — because they're drawing from a wealth of knowledge that only they share. This "insider info" — all of your shared experiences and memories — informs your gestures and posture and the words and phrases you use with each other.

A 2007 study, for example, found that people were more likely to copy each other's eye gaze when they both heard the same background information before their conversation.

On August 1, 2016, Brandon — the blogger behind the Mad Fientist, a financial independence blog — retired at 34.

My colleague Libby Kane talked to Brandon— who doesn't use his last name online for privacy reasons — about his journey to early retirement; he revealed that he saved and invested around 70% of his take-home income in order to reach his goal.

After hearing Brandon's story — and so manyotherslike it— I decided to try my hand at saving the majority of my earnings as well.

While I have no plans to retire early, I wanted to see firsthand how attainable that lifestyle is. After crunching the numbers with my editor for a solid half-hour, we concluded there was no way I could put away 70% of my total income for a month and still afford both rent and food, so I aimed to save 50% of my disposable income instead.

Because I live in New York City, my rent is higher than it would be in most places in the country. And since I wasn't going to move out of NYC just for a monthlong experiment, to make the project more realistic I decided to count disposable income as everything after rent. So after paying rent, I put half of what remained of my monthly paycheck in savings and lived off the other half for the entirety of September.

While I'm lucky to have more than enough to continue to live comfortably, it was immediately challenging to adapt to a much lower budget than I was used to. But it didn't prove impossible.

SEE ALSO: Here’s how I spent a weekend eating and sightseeing in New York City for less than $50

DON'T MISS: I moved to New York City 2 years ago — here’s what I tell my friends who say they can’t afford to

With 50% of my income in savings, my budget came down to around $550 for the month — after taking out some fixed costs.

After determining how much disposable income I'd have for the month — calculated by subtracting my rent from my monthly take-home income and then dividing by two — I immediately accounted for nonnegotiable expenses. This included $116 toward an unlimited monthly subway pass and $60 dues for a leadership class I'm enrolled in, as well as utilities and tithe.

I'm still on my parents' health insurance, and my gym membership and 401(k) are automatically deducted from my paycheck.

With my fixed costs taken out, I was left with around $550 for the month for everything else, including groceries, laundry, and entertainment.

WEEK 1: I went into the challenge expecting it to be unbelievably hard — especially in New York City.

I'm frugal by nature, but I still love to indulge in everything New York has to offer. While I monitor my spending, I'm quick to say yes to dinners out, ice cream dates, and spontaneous adventures.

I also knew going in that I needed to save up for a bachelorette party I was attending in Nashville at the end of the month. I considered pushing the challenge back a month, since I knew the party would be hard on my budget. But the thing is, there's always something. If it wasn't the bachelorette party this month, it would be attending two weddings in October, going out of town for Thanksgiving in November, or holiday shopping in December.

But once I mentally committed to the challenge — and didn't allow myself any leeway for failure — it became much easier to pare down my spending.

September 1 fell on a Friday, so I started the challenge by tackling weekend spending temptations head-on.

While it's relatively straightforward to curb my spending during the week — pack a lunch every day and hit the gym instead of the bar after work — weekends tend to be full of expensive activities, from late-night cab rides and mozzarella stick deliveries to $18 eggs at brunch the next morning.

I started Labor Day weekend off with breakfast with a friend at an oatmeal bar in the West Village. I was more than ready to fork over $5 for a bowl of hearty oats, but my friend graciously bought mine as a belated birthday gift — before I even had a chance to tell her about my new savings goal. Win!

Besides catching up over breakfast instead of dinner, a few more key decisions kept the three-day weekend under budget. For one, I stayed in town instead of heading out of NYC, as several of my friends did. Because of multiple other trips and weddings lined up for the fall, I opted in June to save money and stay home for Labor Day.

When's the last time you ate just two Oreos?

Yeah, we can't remember the last time we did either. Yet that is the standard FDA serving size listed on the back of the package.*

Read on to see what the standard serving size — or around 150 calories — of your other favorite snack foods looks like.

SEE ALSO: The truth about how many chemicals are in everything we eat

DON'T MISS: Surprising 'natural' ingredients in your food you've probably been eating without knowing it

Bear Naked Go Bananas Granola: 1/4 cup

Granola is commonly touted as a health food, but in reality it's pretty high in sugar, carbs, and calories and not very high in protein. A quarter-cup serving has:

150 calories
7 grams of fat
18 grams of carbohydrates
3 grams of protein

Twizzlers: 4 twists

This movie snack is fat-free but still pretty high in calories. Just four sticks have:

160 calories
0.5g fat
36g carbs
1g protein

Skippy Creamy Peanut Butter: 2 tbsp

Despite being a classic sandwich ingredient and go-to snack, peanut butter is pretty high in calories and fat, with two tablespoons of the spread having:

190 calories
16g fat
7g carbs
7g protein

Nike's HyperAdapt shoes are all about the self-lacing technology embedded inside. This represents a major shift for the brand, and helps explain why the shoe was in development for so long.

But so far, the self-lacing tech has been mostly heard and not seen, as Nike has stayed very quiet about the actual gadgets that went into the making of the shoe.

However, a teardown of the shoe by engineering startup Mindtribe has finally shed some light on the HyperAdapt's internal components.

Here's what they found inside the shoe, which retails for $720.

SEE ALSO: Athleisure is not just a trend — it's a fundamental shift in how Americans dress

The HyperAdapt's technology is unlike any other shoe on the market. It's not just "smart" — it's intelligent.

The "laces" themselves are complicated. There are actually two components: the lace stand-ins, and the much skinnier "Flywire," which is woven through and connected to the motor-tightening mechanism.

Mindtribe found that the laces are made out of a super-tough, liquid crystal, Kevlar-like substance called Vectran.

The New York Transit Museum archives have this vintage video produced by the NY Transportation Board in 1949 about the New York City subway system.

At the time, the fare was $0.10 - and the turnstiles had been modified to accommodate a dime. The first subway token wasn't used until 1953.

Video courtesy of the New York Transit Museum

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Expats move abroad for new job opportunities, for relationships, or even just to live a simpler life.

In a new survey by InterNations, the world’s largest network for people who live and work abroad, the company asked 14,300 expats, representing 174 nationalities and living in 191 countries or territories, to rate 43 different aspects of life abroad on a scale of 1-7.

One of the sub-indexes was the cost of living, where the data was based solely on the ratings given by respondents to the general cost of living in their respective country of residence, also on a scale of 1-7.

67 countries were included in this index. The minimum sample size per country were 50 respondents. Over 45 of those countries had more than 100 respondents.

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L.L. Bean is looking to cut costs as it looks to treat its employees better.

The Maine-based retailer is considering cutting its famous "100% satisfaction guaranteed" return policy to cut costs amid weak growth. The privately held company is also considering limiting its offer of 100% free shipping while simultaneously boosting employee benefits, freezing pensions, and offering early retirement, according to the AP.

Bean's offer is exceedingly generous by retail standards, and it allows customers to exchange any item made and sold by the store for a replacement if the customer is unhappy with it in any way with no questions asked, no matter how old the product is. Unfortunately, this trust the company placed in its customers has left the policy open to abuse.

"Fraudulent returns have been a problem and we are definitely reviewing our policies, but we have made no decisions," L.L. Bean spokeswoman Carolyn Beem told the Boston Globe. "We will always stand behind our products."

The change to the return policy has been under consideration for almost a year, the company says. L.L. Bean considers a return fraudulent when the item was not purchased directly from them, such as from a flea market or thrift store.

In August, L.L. Bean spokesperson Mac McKeever told Business Insider that the "vast majority" of customers adhere to the original intent of the guarantee.

"Our guarantee is not a liability, but rather a customer service asset —an unacknowledged agreement between us and the customer, that always puts the customer first and relies on the goodwill of our customers to honor the original intent of the guarantee," McKeever said.

Chairman Shawn Gorman, great-grandson of founder L.L. Bean, told the AP that the decision will "weigh heavily" on the family-owned business, but that it's a necessary step for the company to survive in an increasingly competitive retail environment.

The company expects to reduce its workforce by about 500 employees through early retirement incentives, as well as boosting benefits like flexible time off and paid parental leave or elder care support.

Customers are already voicing their displeasure at the possible change.

SEE ALSO: I tested L.L. Bean's legendary return policy by returning 4-year-old shoes

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NOW WATCH: Here's what makes L.L.Bean's '100% satisfaction guarantee' the best return policy of any retailer

An unusual diet is gaining traction among health nuts from Hugh Jackman to "4-Hour Workweek" author Tim Ferriss to startup workers across Silicon Valley. It's pretty simple, with no calorie counting or intense exercise regimen involved.

Here's how it works in a nutshell: Just don't eat during certain hours of the day.

When people practice intermittent fasting, they go without food for anywhere from 14 hours to several days. Some techies claim intermittent fasting helps them focus and be more productive, while others laud the diet as an easy weight loss hack.

Here's what you need to know if you're thinking about trying a fast.

SEE ALSO: San Francisco biohackers are wearing implants made for diabetes in the pursuit of 'human enhancement'

Hugh Jackman did not wake up like this.

In 2013, the "Wolverine" actor gave Australia's "60 Minutes" an interview in which he revealed he fasts 16 hours out of the day while training for the big screen.

Source: YouTube

"From about 10 in the morning till 6, for this, I eat way too much. And then nothing after that," said Jackman, who apparently got the idea from Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson.

The most common intermittent fasts last between 14 and 36 hours. Giving up food, even the milk in your morning coffee, can be difficult. But there's one major perk — simplicity.

"Lots of us are eating at work or on the run. It's kind of hard to control what you eat these days," Dan Zigmond, director of analytics at Facebook and author of "Buddha's Diet," says. He rattled off the extreme diets his friends have tried and abandoned.

"But one thing that basically everyone can control is time," Zigmond says.