"Stressed spelled backwards is desserts." -Loretta LaRoche

"Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not get bent out of shape" - Anonymous

"We must learn to give ourselves permission to blunder, to fail, and to make fools of outselves every day for the rest of our lives."- Sheldom Kopp

"The best way to cheer yourself is to try to cheer somebody else up." - Mark Twain

"It is bad to suppress laughter. It goes back down and spreads your hips." -Fred Allen

"Do what you can with what you have, right where you are." - Theodore Roosevelt

"When one door of happiness closes, another opens, but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the see the one that has opened for us." - Helen Keller

"A smile is a curve that sets everything straight." - Phyllis Diller

"Be bold. If you're going to make an error, make it a doozy, and don't be afraid to hit the ball." - Billie Jean King

"The crisis of today is the joke of tomorrow." - H.G. Wells

Source: "Words to live by." Compiled by Sheri Rehwoldt. Sept. 7, 2004. Family Circle. P.23.

Many To do lists fail because lazy people (like myself, and some of you too) see making a list as a big "achievement" itself.

Some never actually get to completing anything on the actual list.

Then you feel guilty and disappointed in yourself for not finishing it.

In all my to-do-list-ums, I have never completely (to my knowledge) finished a to-do list. Problem is our lists are too unrealistic and too broad.

1. Turn broad steps into many little ones.

Take giant task and make them into to baby steps.

On my to do list you'll see stuff like clean room, write history report, and study for organic chemistry test (oh yes, it's true ;)). Who knows how long each of these things could take, so "break it down."

Instead of clean room, it could be fix bed, throw away trash and instead of write history report it could be write introduction, and instead of study for organic chemistry it could be spend 30 minutes memorizing reactions, etc.

2. Reward yourself!

Maybe R2D2 could go through an entire to-do list with out complaints, but unfortunately Real people need breaks.

Different types of breaks for different people and different task.  Test out how frequent your breaks should be(eg. after a large task, after 3 task in a row), the duration(eg. 30mins, 1hr, 2hr, etc.), and activity(eg. chocolate break, coffee break, relaxation break) that works best for you.

You could even reward yourself by giving yourself a easier task too accomplish.

3. Be realistic!

Some people may be able to put, read 4 chapters of microbiology by tomorrow on their to-do list, but don't be disappointed if that's not you.

Be realistic to your actual abilities! We all know you would like to clean the whole house within 3hrs, when in reality it may you take 4-5days.

Be careful, over exaggerating your capabilities will lead to disappointed and may cause you to give up on your to-do list all together.

Source: Is the To-Do List Doing You in? Psychology Today. Kathleen McGowan.

On a Diet? Well you better schedule time for sleep!

There's a study from Bristol University about the link between sleep deprivation and weight gain.

If you get less than 8 hours of sleep everyday you have increased levels of ghrelin, a hormone that increases appetite (sleep deprived people usually crave for salty, greasy food).

Sleep deprived people also had lower levels of Leptina, hormone responsible for telling you (after you've eaten) that you're satisfied. People with low levels of Leptina tend to eat more calories than they need to.

Oh that Freshman 15 is starting to make sense now. Stressed out and Sleep deprived college students is a recipe for fat.

So Enjoy your cat naps (You too Garfield)!

Sources: Sleep Off The Fat. Carlin Flora. Psychology Today.

1. Small doses of coffee (or any other caffeinated beverage) over a long peroid of time (instead of in one sitting)

2. Smell some lemons :). Some facial cleaners have a citrus smell to them.

3. Grab some Fiber! And eat it... of course. Whole grains give you "long-lasting" energy while sugary carbs are short-term.

4. Laugh! A good laugh places more oxgyen in your blood, which wakes you up. And yes Youtube does count.

5. Now Work it Out! "Low-intensity" exercise increases you're energy about 20% (University of Georgia in Athen).

Source: Lisa Freedman. Glamour magazine. September 2008. p180. "More Energy on Less Sleep."