When I can’t sleep, I turn around and sleep “upside down” - moving my pillows to where my feet were beforehand, and my feet to where my head was beforehand - and I stick with that for a week or so. It gives me a week or so without insomnia and then wears off, so I have to turn myself back around for the next 7-12 day period.
Admittedly this could just be a me thing, but let’s put our faith in this method and let the power of placebo effect take hold. Boom, minor bouts of sleeplessness are cured.
What are your own examples of this?
This is more relationship advice. Ask your partner to have a day of sex where you just communicate what you want with words.
The first year of the relationship, I was using tricks I saw in porn. I was doing things to my wife that she didn’t care for, but didn’t say anything because she thought I enjoyed doing it. We later talked and the next session, we just followed what the other person wanted. And now it’s part of our tricks.
Next time your jabbing your sausage into her armpit, ask her if she’s liking what you’re serving.
An easy trick to immediately get a better posture when walking is to pretend that you have laser cannons attached to your nipples and you are trying to zap people you meet in their faces.
If you can’t find a comfortable temperature when you’re sleeping under blankets, just stick one foot, and maybe part of your lower leg, out from under of the blankets. It acts like a radiator, and will release much of your excess heat.
A kid showed this to me at a childhood slumber party, and it’s been a useful tip ever since.
cook bacon in water.
don’t drown it, but add just enough to render out the fat without the bacon being in direct contact with the pan, preventing sticking and burning. then once the water steams out the bacon is left to fry in its own juice, giving perfectly crispy bacon every time.
Not really nonsense but in the winter to stay really warm in your bed, just lay a fleece blanket flat over the fitted sheet. Sleep directly on top of it with your usual blankets covering you. The fleece will radiate your heat, which will then get trapped by the top blanket keeping you much more insulated.
If you want to have a deep rejuvenating sleep, wake up for about an hour in the middle of the night after a few hours of sleep. Don’t do anything that will make you wide awake. Just chill out for an hour and then go back to sleep. The second period of sleep will be so much better than the first.
Throw a square of dark chocolate in chili next time you make it, at least 70% cocoa but the higher the better. Next time you make boxed Mac and cheese, add a dash or 2 of Worcestershire sauce to it. The best egg you’ll ever eat: 1 egg, 1 tbsp of mayo whisked together in a glass container or small bowl. Add 1tsp of butter on top and microwave for 40-60 seconds. You’ll be pissed off about how good it is.
Next time you eat Oreos and milk, put the Oreos in a bowl and pour the milk over them and eat them with a spoon like cereal. Next time you eat cupcakes, carefully break off half of the bottom and put it on top of the icing so it’s like eating a sandwich.
This is cooking advice.
If you struggle with cooking or find that you mess up often, try preparing all of the individual ingredients before you start cooking. Eg. measure, wash, cut every ingredient. Apparently this practice is called mise en place.
If you ever watch a cooking video and it looks so effortless this is probably why. It was a game changer back when I was learning to cook. Suddenly it felt like I could make every recipe with ease.
This practice has drawbacks as it could dirty more dishes and increase cook times but it allows you to tackle most dishes at your own pace. I definitely recommend it whenever you make something new for the first time.
Mise en place is essential in my mind and one of the most important skills I learned early on in culinary school. At home if you don’t want to dirty a ton of dishes, you can organize ingredients (veggie ones anyway, still need bowls for spices/liquids) into small piles on your cutting board. Then just grab a bench scraper or the side of your knife and toss the ingredients in as needed.
Also, get a kitchen scale. You won’t need it all the time but it’s so much easier to just stick a pot on top of a scale and add 500 ml of chicken stock than it is to have to measure 2 cups in a separate container. This is especially good if you’re looking to blanche/simmer something in a flavorful liquid like stock or broth
In a financial negotiation, avoid saying a number first, even if it seems like you’re being rude, just say stuff like “what’s your budget” instead. This trick sounds really stupid but somehow it is extremely effective.
I took a community college class on business negotiations. I learned about BATNA (best alternative to a negotiated agreement) and it’s been extremely helpful as a tool for negotiations. It’s setting a baseline and reduces any emotional toll.
Tl;Dr: define your BATNA before any negotiation. For example: say you know your salary industry standard is at $80k. You receive an offer for $70k, politely see if they have wiggle room for more, based on industry standard. If they come back with $75k, your plan is clear. In this negotiation, your BATNA is to walk away - no hard feelings.
When I sold my car, I set my BATNA to $9k, and put it for sale at $11k. The guy immediately tried to haggle and offered $10k. I shook his hand immediately and sold it.
It doesn’t have to be a hard number either. Like comparing benefits or perks.
