This is a revelation.

You're probably had more than enough of life hacks at this stage but the good news this is one you'll genuinely put into practice on a daily basis. If you use a smartphone, you've probably heard the old spiel about how you should let your device keep going until it's about to power out and then decide to charge it. This particularly applies to iPhones because the battery life can be absolutely terrible at times. However, according to the experts at Battery University, this isn't advisable at all. Instead, you should be charging it at various intervals throughout the day which I had always thought was the wrong way to treat the battery. Apparently, charging it for short bursts at regular intervals keeps the battery in good shape. The folks at BU say:

"Li-ion does not need to be fully charged, nor is it desirable to do so. In fact, it is better not to fully charge, because a high voltage stresses the battery".

Our phones are apparently sensitive to 'stress' and keeping it going until it runs out of juice puts extra pressure on the device. This might sound a bit OTT, to begin with but if you think about it, this makes perfect sense. Another mistake made is leaving your phone charging overnight so that you'll have a full battery when leaving home in the morning. This can damage your phone over time as the 'chemistry of the battery' can be altered when your device is kept charging after it's reached 100%. The site says that when your phone is kept charged after it's reached its full capacity of 100%, this causes it to stay in a 'high-stress' state. Battery University advises:

"When fully charged, remove the battery” from its charging device. "This is like relaxing the muscles after strenuous exercise".

If you want to read the exact science behind this theory, you can check out the post in full here.