All based on research-backed psychology and ideas from therapy — How and why do we make ourselves more miserable than we need to be? Why do we make life so difficult without even noticing? Luckily, psychology can explain what’s going on, and therapy can help and advise. Here’s a list of the things we can quit right now for an…

An impromptu snooze is a superpower, and the same methods can get you drifting off at night, fast. — This one’s a gamechanger. Productivity, alertness, memory, mood, vigilance and health — all improved by taking 25 minutes out of your day for a quick snooze. Let’s look at the whys, whens and hows of the perfect power nap, and how those methods can help you sleep at night, too. Why so short? …

Offer an Endless Summer and just see what happens — Back in 1966, the Beach Boys were sitting on top of the world. At the height of Beatlemania, a Rolling Stone poll put the Beach Boys as number one. Pet Sounds, an album still often touted as the greatest ever, had just been released. Their biggest-ever single, Good Vibrations, would…

Components from psychology and the world of acting will add up to the most charismatic version of you. — Charisma isn’t magic. As an acting coach, I teach young actors how to bring it out in themselves and have chemistry with their scene partners. As a psychology fan and writer, I love to look deeper into the hows and the whys through science’s eyes. Here it is, all laid…

These books are used by therapists to bring genuine psychological change. — When I was training in therapy, one of the things I found fascinating was the transformational power of stories, and in particular, metaphors. Our minds can make new connections when hearing these stories and apply those connections to our own lives. When a story like this hits home, people make…

From the countless books that claim to help our lives get better, this is my list that tops them all. — Well, I got here in the end. I’m not anxious anymore. I’m making enough money writing to travel long-term, and I can cope with pretty much anything that comes my way. I’m, well, pretty happy. I wasn’t always. A decade of self-help was massively instrumental in getting me here. I’m…

Thailand briefly became the world’s most progressive cannabis country — Asia has some of the strictest cannabis laws in the world with some very harsh penalties. At the extreme end, in the Philippines, not so long ago thousands of people were being shot in the street in extrajudicial killings, even just for suspected use. …

And why a weird court ruling has just listed bees as a type of fish — Bees are in the news more than most insects because they’re incredibly important. If a recent court ruling is to believed, they’re a very important fish. But more on that later. First, an interesting incident occurred a few years ago when a queen bee found herself trapped in a car…

The American DEA makes a few dubious claims about several illegal drugs. Here are the claims alongside the contradictory science. — How accurate is drug information from the US government? The problem with getting our information on drugs from government sources is that they’ve been politicised for years, and information will always be spun in a way that suits the politics and the law. I wondered how this would translate to official information, and how much that information would conflict…