Small psychological tricks that you use to your advantage in everyday life.

Ah, Reddit. The place where dreams go to die.

To be honest, my Reddit is curated with lots of feminist subs, pictures of Taylor Swift and Harry Styles (not together, although now that her and Joe are over...) cute animals, happy crying dads, kids doing stupid things, memes, and whatever show I am currently binging.

Yesterday I came across a cool thread that asked people to share 'a small psychological trick that you use to your advantage in everyday life.

Some made me laugh, some made me stop. Some were about work, some about parenting, some about self, some were just crap to be honest.

But since they made me feel, I thought hey, why not share some of your favourites on LinkedIn, the social platform most known for sharing feelings.

For those of us who battle against our brains:

• The power of?"Might as well..." - I get up to put food in the microwave I'm going to be standing in my kitchen for exactly 1.5 minutes.?Might as well?put dishes away while I wait. I'm waiting for the shower water to turn hot, Might as well do some squats. (Might as well share some stuff that I found funny and helpful...)
• I get terrible anxiety attacks from time to time, and my brain basically convinces me I’m seconds away from dying. When I start to go down this spiral, I tell my brain in Samuel L Jackson’s voice “I don’t remember asking you a GODAMN thing!” (*This is my favourite!)
• I try to determine if I can remember any one person’s mistake. Like can I remember their name, what they did, or when it happened? It’s almost always no, that I can’t remember it. So I then I remind myself it’s ok for me to make mistakes. (OK, this one made me feel big time inside my heart and my tummy!)
• If my "plans" don't exist on the face of a clock then they are not actually plans. I can tell myself "I'm gonna do the dishes today" all I want but if I don't make those plans more concrete then they are less likely to actually get done. So I try to say things like "I'm gonna do the dishes at 2:30 today". (This. All of this. Everywhere. All at once.)

For those of us who have small humans:

• If you whisper to a crying toddler,?they'll quiet down to hear what you're saying. (I can't wait to try this tonight with my kids! Ha!)
• When dealing with children, don't just ask "What do you want to eat?" or "Where do you want to go?", instead, give them two choices when asking this question. "Would you rather have fish sticks, or hot dogs for lunch?" "Would you rather go to the playground, or the park?" This gives them the illusion of choice without "really" having a choice. (This made me smile - I have been doing this since I was a Nanny in London! I called it 'frameworked-choice'!)

For those of us who ever talk to other people:

• Assume stupidity instead of malice. (My best friend says this all the time to me - honey, you assume everyone is at your baseline. They are not.)
• If?I want to sway one specific person in a meeting, I attach my opinion to something THEY said. "I agree with Erica" or "To Erica's point earlier" makes Erica much more likely to agree with what I'm about to say next. (Next found of Charity funding is COMING IN to The Period Place with this one, I gaurantee it, Red Cross New Zealand...)
• When someone asks me an impertinent or nosey question, instead of answering I ask them why they are asking. (This one made me laugh out loud at the memories I have of using it - it absolutley changes the dynamic and the power in the situation!)

For those of us who need to live more:

• Taking recommendations. If someone recommends a movie or a restaurant, I make an effort to try it out. (I recently started doing this and have found new shows I never would have chosen that have brought me joy, and have a new resutarant to try with my husband on our next night out together in Glen Eden, called Fantasy Korean!)
• I have two body washes. One is my normal body wash, and then I have a fancy one that smells nice that I keep in my gym bag. I use the fancy one exclusively after working out as a nice little bit of positive conditioning to go to the gym. (This is everything.)
• I remind myself that not every meal needs to be your favorite food or best meal ever. (This hit me in my very hungry stomach - OK lunchbreak over, I am going to get something average and be thankful!)

I'm off to heat a delicious soup and be happy for it. Tell me if you have any tips to get through all the days and all the nights!