'Everyday’ Intelligence: Pro- Bono/ Volunteering- Why I Do What I Do

 

Link to podcast to follow

‘’Jus Est Ars Boni Et Aequi ‘’

Law is the science of the good and the just.

Regardless of the fact that lawyers are nowadays often seen by many (including some Western governments, it would seem…) as ‘fat cats’, I firmly believe that the above is as true today as it was two thousand years ago.

People have often asked me why I’d chosen to do law; in fact, only recently, a colleague said I’d be better suited for a banker because I looked like someone who’d be highly successful in a cutthroat corporate environment.

Well, I chose law for several reasons:

• I enjoy it and that makes me good at it
• I am incredibly competitive and argumentative
• I like helping others; it makes feel useful and alive

 

I’m telling you all of that for a reason; bear with me.

The other day, I was talking to my brother who, unlike me, had never been a big fan of helping others than his good self.

I told him about this new pilot pro- bono initiative at the CAB which I was going to be involved in throughout the summer.

He then waited for my enthusiasm to subside and asked me, in the calmest and coolest manner possible:

‘So how much are they paying you for that then?’

‘Nothing’, I said. ‘That’s why it’s called pro- bono.’

‘But I thought you said that they chose you over the other applicants; I mean, surely’, my brother went on ‘if you are good at something (and, presumably, better than others), they should be paying you money to do it, right?’

To an extent, the (twenty-year-old) kid was right; after all, as he had once noted, it was sometimes very difficult to survive on nothing but others’ gratitude.

It’s not, he pointed out (in an unnecessarily sarcastic manner, I thought), as nutritious as, say, a rib- eye steak with roast potatoes.

Having said that thought, it must be borne in mind that the above applies only if you haven’t got your own means to buy the said steak; if you do, will it not make sense to help out those who can’t afford a steak on their own?

Leaving steaks alone for a moment and going back to law, with the coming of LASPO, more and more people are in need of free legal advice.

Why?

Quite simple, really; because they simply cannot afford it.

What I told my brother was, too, quite simple.

In reality, doing pro- bono work pays off because value is not always measured in money.

Put yourself in their shoes; you’d want to be helped out in your time of need, right?

Law is the science of the good and the just.

Do write that down, Mr Grayling; if you haven’t done so during your many years at law school, that is.

See what I did there?

‘Everyday’ Intelligence: Knowing How to Ask for Help

Link to podcast to follow

Being an incredibly jovial and approachable person, there are but a few things that can truly infuriate me.

As previously noted, one of those is people being late for no good reason and not letting me know beforehand; something I consider immensely disrespectful.

 (See << http://myveryownhell.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/social-intelligence-why-you-shouldnt-be.html  >> )

Another thing that can easily turn my smile upside down is someone asking me for help/ advice/ a favour and then saying something along the lines of:

‘But can we please do that on a Tuesday at 8pm in, say, two weeks’ time at the ‘Marine Pub’? That’d suit me best as I’d be quite busy during the next couple of weeks; plus, the pub’s, like, right next door to where I live. I think you can take a bus there as there’s a bus stop nearby. Thaaanks.’

Asking for help is fine; in fact, it’s more than fine- it’s as essential for your general well- being as it is for your professional development.

Having said that, it is imperative to ask for help in a correct and proper manner and to keep several things in mind.

Let us take the above example, for instance. Let us say that person A has asked person B for some free legal advice (you know, as a friend). Upon person B agreeing to provide the said advice, person A turns around and says the above.

Now then, what’s wrong with that?

Everything.

To begin with, when you ask someone for help, regardless of how close you two are, you must ALWAYS keep in mind that you are asking him to spend some of HIS time on YOUR problem.

Taking that into consideration, it’d make no sense for you to ask him to help you out at a time and place which are convenient for you but inconvenient for him; right?

Now, let us take another example:

Let us (theoretically, of course) imagine that my eighteen year-old cousin had asked me to help her choose the right universities to apply to. Let us assume that I had agreed and we had, consequently, agreed on a time (8pm on Thursday) and place (Skype) to have a chat about it.

Would I, do you think, appreciate it if I called her on Skype at that time and on that day only to be told by my aunt that my cousin had went off to a seaside resort earlier on during the day without letting me know that she would be unavailable to Skype me later on?

How would I feel if I, say, had had to cancel a couple of appointments and eat my otherwise delicious dinner in less than ten minutes so that I wasn’t late for the said Skype call...?

I wouldn’t have a been a happy bunny, I can tell you that. Thank God the above is only a hypothetical situation, eh...?

To conclude, when asking someone for help/ advice/ a favour, remember that YOU need HIM and NOT the other way around.

In the end of the day, if you do any of the above, chances are that the same person shan’t help you ever again.

Unless he’s your cousin...

‘Everyday’ Intelligence: Turn the Things you Hate in Ones you Love

Link to podcast to follow

I used to detest Tuesdays. It all started in the fourth grade when we began taking up subjects like History, Biology and Geography at school.

We had one of those on each other day BUT Tuesday; on Tuesdays, we had all three. That, of course, meant more studying, more fear of getting examined in either one of those, less time to play outside with friends, watch TV and play video games.

In the light of the above, as a ten- year- old, there were very few things that I hated more than Tuesdays (broccoli, though, had always topped the list).

Alas, things didn’t improve with time; on the contrary, I loathed Tuesdays even more.

It so happened that, in the high school, I had French, Biology, Chemistry, Physics AND Geography on Tuesdays which, of course, meant that the stress of being orally examined in any of those quadrupled.

Even at university, my Tuesdays were nightmarish- I had three seminars and two lectures in a day! (Whereas I had one seminar and one lectures on all other weekdays).

As I soon as I graduated, however, I thought to myself:

‘Tuesdays will finally be just another day of the week and I will have no legitimate reason to hate them anymore!’

How wrong was I?

When I started working full time, I found out that I still detested Tuesdays because (silly as it may sound) they were neither here nor there.

Monday was the beginning of a new week which gave you the (often false) hope that everything was going to be alright in the end.

Wednesday was in the middle of the week which meant that you were half- way there.

Thursday was…well, one day away from Friday.

Friday was the, albeit temporary, end.

And Tuesday? Well, Tuesdays were solely a reminder that you had four more days before the weekend as well as a looong week ahead of you.

To sum up, then, since the age of ten I had always found Tuesdays to be quite stressful, unnecessarily long and unjustifiably demanding.

Having become an incredibly positive person lately, however, I decided that the above had to change so that I could start acting like a normal human being on Tuesdays (as opposed to an annoying and whinging wimp).

You’d be happy to know that I did find a way to do that. One day, a friend of mine to me to this nice little local pub called ‘The Cricketers’, claiming that they had the best burgers in the world.

Although I’d never cared much about burgers, I agreed to accompany him and grab a quick bite.

I must say that the pork burger that I had that day was one of the most delicious things I had eve tasted in my life.

To top it all up, it came with a pint of lager, chips and salad for the price of £ 5.95.

I told that my friend how amazed I was and how I was going to turn this into a regular thing, at least twice a week.

He then smiled and said:

‘Ah, they only do burgers on Tuesdays.’

Since that day, I had indeed turned the above into a regular thing in that I’d been having my delicious burger every single Tuesday for over four months now.

On a Tuesday- my favourite day of the week.

Moral: Find your burger, change your life.

‘Everyday’ Intelligence: Insanity: Doing the Same Thing and Expecting Different Results

Link to podcast to follow

I know that the above sounds way too smart for me to have come up with; in fact, it was Einstein who did.

On the other hand, though, people say that repetition is the mother of all knowledge.

So which one is it then?

Vox Populi, Vox Dei, you’d say. But, from a purely logical point of view, is there any point in keep doing the exact same thing over and over again?

‘Yes’ and ‘No’; and here’s why:

Scenario One, Coca- Cola

‘I’d like a glass of Coke, please.’

‘Is Pepsi ok?’

‘Is Monopoly money ok?’

The above is funny solely because a fair percentage of people prefer Coke to Pepsi; and there’s a reason for that.

Good advertising. NOT.

The secret is, allegedly, in Coca Cola’s secret recipe- a recipe that hasn’t changed (once again, allegedly) since 1886.

Put simply, Coca- Cola has been doing the exact same thing for over a century with the clear idea of producing the same result.

Simple, really; why would you try to fix something that wasn’t broken in the first place?

Also, did you know that it was Coca- Cola that turned St. Nick into the Santa we know today?

Scenario Two, Applying for a New Job

Having carefully considered your application, we are sorry to inform you that you have not been short- listed on this occasion as we have had other applicants whose experience and profile have better fitted in with the job description.

We would, however, like to wish you all the best in all of your future endeavours.

Thank you.

Unlike the pseudo- joke about Pepsi and Coke (no rhyme intended), no- one (and I mean NO- ONE) will ever consider the above funny.

Why?

Well, mainly because we’ve all been there; in fact, some of us have not even had an automatic reply such as the above back.

Yet, some recruiters maintain that it’s all a matter of a chance: if you are to send one- hundred applications, they say, at least five of those are (statistically) bound to be successful.

Now, THAT is insanity.

First and foremost, it’s all very well advising people to file in hundreds of applications; who, however, has the time to realistically submit those in, say, a week?

Also, what will the quality of those applications be? Copy- paste, most likely.

Let’s the compare the above to a game of basketball; if you shoot in such a way that you only score five times out of a hundred, what would make more sense:

To keep doing more of that

OR

To change the way in which you shoot so that you can score more?

Sooooo…

Don’t Go Insane;

Stay on Top of

Your Game!

(talk about being cheesy, eh?)

‘Everyday’ Intelligence: Feeling Angry Today?

 Link to podcast to follow

We’ve all had bad news on a Friday morning; a good example of that is someone coming up to you at work and patting you on the back whilst laughing heartily and saying something along the lines of:

‘Long week, looong week! Thank God tomorrow’s Friday, eh, buddy?’

Most often than not, of course, the ‘bad’ news are not as bad as they initially seem; they’re much worse.

For instance, chances are that your colleague was, in fact, pulling your leg in that it wasn’t Friday tomorrow; it was actually Thursday.

Naturally, he would’ve found that hilarious; you, on the other hand, wouldn’t have found it amusing in the slightest.

To you, it would’ve been as amusing as the following…joke:

‘My father went into our backyard the other day, dug a hole and filled it with water…Poor thing, he meant well…’

Sad, at the very least. So sad, in fact, that I’m almost certain it made you laugh.

But you don’t WANT to laugh; you want to be angry. In fact, the angrier you feel, the angrier you want to be.

Regardless of the gravity or nature of the issue that initially got you mad, your mind starts racing for other potential catalysts to fuel your anger.

• That person who bumped into you over lunch.
• That drink you spilt on your new tie yesterday.
• That train to London you missed a couple of months ago.
• The relationship you messed up three years ago.
• That lecturer who constantly gave you 68% just to annoy you at university.
• The obnoxious eight grader who picked on you some fifteen years ago.

How could you have possibly ignored all of those things at the time, you wonder?

You suddenly feel so angry that you can…

…you can…what?

Nothing, that’s what.

Look at what’s happened; being angry has made you go back to past occurrences that have no relevance to your present.

A friend of mine once said:

‘I never look back because I’m not headed that way.’

Quite simple, really.

Further to the above, anger clouds your judgment and prevents you from thinking in a clear and logical manner.

To get back to our example above, whilst in a fit of rage, you are quite likely to tell your colleague something along the lines of:

‘Shut the Hell up, Joe! I know full well that it’s not Friday today and I don’t need any muppets to remind me of that! Now get back to work and leave me alone!’

Uttering the above will give you a temporary, brief and unjustified sense of satisfaction. What it will also lead to is, put simply, a lot of trouble. Raising your voice at a colleague and being rude for no reason? Calling someone at work a ‘muppet’? Telling a colleague of an equal rank to ‘get back to work’?

That’s not going to fly, is it now…?

So, next time something makes you angry, calm down before doing ANYTHING.

Let me suggest a couple of effective ways of doing it:

1. Take up boxing, three times a week. 
2. Say ‘Goosfraba’, inhale deeply once, now exhale deeply once, now listen to this:

‘Everyday’ Intelligence: How Joe got it All Wrong (A Narrative)

Link to podcast to follow

‘Your average Joe’; that’s what they called him.

He liked his black tea and his white coffee.

He had been going to work in a plain black suit, white shirt and a skinny black tie since the dawn of age.

In fact Joe had ten plain suits, twenty white shirts and eight skinny black ties; all of them the same.

He always walked to work, going through the same alleyway so that he could get a fresh-out-of-the-oven Giant Belgian White Chocolate Cookie from Tesco’s and a Regular Skinny Late to go from the local Costa.

He always arrived on time; neither too early, nor too late; at exactly 8:49, in fact.

He turned on his PC, looked through his various email addresses and, at exactly 09:00, started working on his menial tasks.

Those included all sorts of admin work that Joe was incredibly proficient at.

His decades of experience in the said sector had honed his skills to an almost inhuman level, one that God himself would envy if he hadn’t outsourced his admin work to humanity ages ago.

Joe saw to each and every task with incredible alacrity and pedantic precision.

He worked alone; his only aid was his stapler and its offspring, the staples.

To him, his little box was his castle; on the inside of dividers that were separating him from his colleagues, he had put up various pictures of his proudest achievements, including:

• Several ‘Employee of the Year’
• A Copy of His Birth Certificate
• Several Letters from His Mother congratulating him on the ‘Employee of the Year’ awards
• Several Pictures of him and his mother around the world; both wearing plain black suits, white shirts and skinny black ties, weather and location irrelevant.

In fact, if you didn’t know Joe, you’d say that he was a big fan of the Men in Black.

But if you did say that, he’d label you ‘racist’, contact Human Resources and get you fired within a matter of seconds because he wouldn’t stand such vigilante remarks on his ground.

His ground, of course, was everywhere because everyone had a stapler and was using staples.

He was the king and they were his pawns; the way he saw it, he provided them with food and water on a daily basis.

Unfortunately, one day, as he was triumphed over yet another completed set of paperwork, his queen walked in.

Slender, dark- haired, wearing a black business skirt, knee- length, a white shirt and a silk black scarf.

As she was going past him, she shot a glance at his wall of fame, smiled and said:

‘I bet you can do better than that.’

A couple of days had passed when the queen decided to walk past the king’s castle for another brisk stroll.

What she saw made her chuckle, turn her back and walk away as swiftly as her 2-inch heels allowed her to.

The inside of the castle were now swarmed with even more ‘Employee of the Year’ awards coupled with a copy of Joe’s mother’s birth certificate and an array of pictures depicting their adventures around the world.

Joe looked quite smug and content with himself.

‘Yes, I can.’, he said and got back to work.

And that’s how Joe got it all wrong.

‘Everyday’ Intelligence: Karma and The Third Law of Motion

Link to podcast to follow

“When a first body exerts a force F₁ on a second body, the second body simultaneously exerts a force F₂ = −F₁ on the first body. This means that F₁ and F₂ are equal in magnitude and opposite in direction.” the Third Law of Motion, Isaac Newton.

We have all, at some point of our lives, realised that ‘what goes around comes back around’ sooner or later.

Many authors have written on the above subject, referring to ‘karma’- a Hindu concept that is nowadays associated with mystery, destiny, fate, etc.

A fair amount of people believe that their ‘aura’ (presence) is directly influenced by their actions- it can, thus, be negative or positive, depending on what you do.

The more negative your aura gets, the more horrible things tend to happen to you.

I have, however, chosen a different way of looking at the above; a way which, in my view, at least, tends to be a bit more logical.

To begin with, I don’t see karma as anything mystical; mainly because it operates on established law of physics- the third law of motion.

To paraphrase (and somewhat simplify) the law: for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.

Even though the above might sound shockingly simple to you, I can assure you that it is quite a logical conclusion to reach.

Some of you might disagree and say that Newton’s laws are about forces and not actions; let us explore that in some detail.

Let’s say you decide to say something horrible about someone behind his back, in an attempt to sully (dramatic, I know) his good name and destroy his reputation.

Many would say that some people would do the above without thinking twice about it; I beg to differ.

In order to take such a decision, a human being, however ‘horrible’ and ‘demented’ he might be, must exercise a very important force- his willpower.

As humans, we have certain principles and morals (even on a subconscious level) that we find quite difficult to neglect.

In a situation where it is essential for us to do so, however, we are often able to override the said principles and morals if we apply enough willpower.

Regardless of the viewpoint, a human being’s willpower is a considerable force, albeit on a mental rather than physical level.

The laws of physics, then, dictate that every application of willpower will lead to the emergence of an external force which is as powerful and opposite in direction (id est, towards you).

To use the above example, the moment you say something bad about someone behind his back, someone else will say something bad behind yours as well.

The above, of course, works both ways; if you do something good for someone, another person will do something good for you.

To conclude on a less serious note (it being a Friday and all),

Why be silly

And act on emotion,

When you can embrace

The third law of motion?

‘Everyday’ Intelligence: Leave your Comfort Zone; and Fast

Link to podcast:

<< http://www.mixcloud.com/antonipeychev/everyday-intelligence-leave-your-comfort-zone-and-fast/ >>

I am fully aware of the fact that the above sounds unbelievably simple; so simple, indeed, that many of you will opt to ignore today’s entry as they will surely consider it as a rather pointless narrative which is the product of my having nothing else to write about.

That’s fair enough; mainly because such people tend to think of today as a bank holiday and do not want to be reading about knowledge or limits or knowing no limits- they just want their chocolate eggs.

On an unrelated topic, the next person who wishes me a ‘Happy Easter!’ on Good Friday shall be blocked from all of the social media platforms that I am on.

Easter is on SUNDAY, as for Good Friday, here’s a refresher course:

<< http://www.examiner.com/article/holy-week-what-happened-on-good-friday >>

Going back to the topic, though, most of the people who choose to ignore today’s entry are quite comfortable with the way there life is. They like their 9-5 jobs, being around their family and, occasionally, drinking out on Fridays and Saturdays.

There is, of course, absolutely  nothing wrong int that; especially if you want to live a tranquil and stress free life.

There is, however, one major disadvantage in that, namely: if you live comfortably your whole life, chances are that if something UNCOMFORTABLE happens to you, you will have NO idea what to do.

Let me share a little example as an anecdote.

Back at uni, a very good friend of mine was completely financially dependent on his father and was counting on him at all times.

 Long story short, one day the ATM swallowed his international debit card which, of course, left him without any money (save for the tenner in his pocket).

He used to always drive to uni but that day he skipped lectures and slept throughout the whole day.

Why, you ask?

Well, mainly because he had absolutely NO idea what to do. What was he to use the £10 for? Was he to spend it on some petrol for his car and drive to uni? Was he to buy some food to last him until his new debit card arrived? Was he to go out and get a pint to think things through?

What he COULD HAVE done was to explain to me what happened; I would have then lent him some money which would last him until he got his debit card.

What he chose to do, however, was to stay at home for three days, sleeping most of the time, until such time that his debit card arrived.

The above story mind sound quite unbelievable to you but I can assure you that worse things have happened to me when I first came to England as, prior to that, I had NEVER been abroad before (but more on those some other time).

I am by no means telling you to enroll in the army and go fight some insurgent rebel formation or take up crocodile hunting as a weekend hobby.

What I am merely saying is that, every once in awhile, you must put yourself in situations and do things which make you uncomfortable for several reasons:

1. To find out how you react under such circumstances
2. To prepare yourself, both mentally and physically, for any such future scenarios
3. To show yourself and others that you are capable of anything if you put your mind to it

Trust me, it doesn’t cost that much effort to try and the results are almost immediate.

Have a great Easter everyone.

On Sunday.

‘Everyday’ Intelligence: No Rest for the Wicked

Link to podcast:

<< http://www.mixcloud.com/antonipeychev/everyday-intelligence-no-rest-for-the-wicked/ >>

08:00 AM, time to get up.

As you slowly come out of your warm and comfy covers and into the damp coldness of your room, you think to yourself:

‘It’s probably the flu again; it must be.’

But you know full well that what has nailed you down to your bed is the pure physical and psychological exhaustion that you have been feeling lately.

It’s just been building up; it’s grown from a speck of dust into a mountain the size of your own ambition and ego.

Making yourself a second cup of coffee, you look in the mirror and smile at the ludicrous state of your hair, wondering whether it will not, indeed, make a good nest for the local cuckoo bird.

The bags under your eyes do not worry you at all because they kind of suit your eyes; they make them stand out and cost less than your average make- up; at least in the short- run.

As you reach for the comb, your elbow joint locks up and an incredible rush of pain goes through your nerves and into your brain, reminding you of your age.

The smile slowly, yet steadily, turns into a horribly distorted frown; a process which, surprisingly enough, was not triggered by the sudden rush of pain. Rather, it was triggered by the imminent realisation that a person in his early twenties should not be feeling as though he was in his mid- fifties.

You ponder on the above for a fraction of a second and decide that you haven’t really got the time to think about it at present as you have other more important things to do.

On your way to work, you feel as though you don’t really know where you are going. The podcast that you are normally listening to on your way to work has started blending in with the song of the cuckoo bird which has, until very recently, nested in your hair.

You walk into the office, grab two cups of cappuccino, sit at your desk and stare at the screen for a while, expecting the PC to turn itself on, log you in and tell you what to do.

Suddenly, as your mind wanders around floors of the office, pretending to play hide-and-seek, you hear someone raising his voice at you:

‘Snap out of it, will you?’

At that point, you are reminded by a colleague that staring blankly at the screen does not normally contribute to your productivity in any way whatsoever rather than making you look even more alien than you normally do.

You can’t think of a comeback and that’s bad; you always had at least a couple of those ready in your back- pocket.

You close your eyes for a second, take a deep breath and do some work; all of it, in fact.

As you’ve had enough of your current state, both physically and mentally, you pop out of the office to see your GP over lunch.

As you walk into his office, you start whinging about how physically weak you feel and how it’s probably related to all of the things that you have been doing lately; you have been living quite a ‘busy and manic lifestyle’, you say.

GP looks at you; he then takes his ‘tools of the trade’ and checks you up.

‘Drink lots of fluids, take some painkillers, stay in bed for a day or two and rest up. You’ll live’

‘I suppose I need to rest up a bit more in general the, eh, doc? I think I’ve been overworking myself lately…’

‘No, you haven’t; you’re twenty four. You’ve just got the flu. And stop yammering like a little girl.’

Silence. And then hearty laughter.

Ah, yes. No rest for the wicked; that’s how it had always been and how it would always be.

‘Can’t argue with that.’ you say and buy yourself a 99p cheeseburger from MacDonald’s; now THAT was a good comeback.

‘Everyday’ Intelligence: Mornings are Wiser than Evenings

Link to podcast:

<< http://www.mixcloud.com/antonipeychev/everyday-intelligence-mornings-are-wiser-than-evenings/ >>

The heading of today’s entry is a Bulgarian proverb of which I have been trying to find the English equivalent for ages; alas, to no avail so far.

Upon reading it, you might think that I have consumed a fair amount of ‘wodka’ as it does not really make much sense.

After all, mornings cannot, logically, be wiser than evenings as wisdom is most definitely NOT a characteristic that you can apply to either of those.

Teeth, maybe; but definitely not mornings or evenings.

Nevertheless, I can assure you that, by the end of the article, you will all be like ‘ahhhh, right, that makes sense!’

Or not.

We’ll see.

What the above proverb means in reality (or at least in a Bulgarian’s reality) is that it is much better to make decisions in the morning rather than the evening.

There is, of course, quite a logical reasoning behind the above statement, namely:

When you wake up in the morning, you will have regained most of your strength and will think a lot clearer than you would have during the evening when you would have been exhausted from a long day’s work.

That’s the simple bit; there are a couple of other reasons that add up to the truth value of the statement.

For one, it’s quite a good idea to make decisions in the mornings as your whole day lies ahead of you. Making a decision often gives you a boost of confidence and makes you feel happy about yourself; factors which greatly assist your productivity and mood elevation throughout the day.

Furthermore, if you make the decision in the morning, you will, quite logically, have less to worry about throughout the day and in the evening which will, in turn, help you deal with your daily tasks more efficiently as well as enable you to properly relax at home when you get back from work.

In addition to the above, it has been proven (by someone at some point) that people are generally more positive, energetic and ‘brave’ in the mornings which results in their being able to make a decision on the spot and without making too much fuss about it.

The significance of making a decision on the spot and sticking to it is apparent; we’ve all sat exams that included multiple- choice questions.

How many times, and let’s be honest here, have you circled ‘A’, thought about it, crossed it out, and circled ‘C’ instead, only to find out in the end that the correct answer was actually the one you had initially and, rather spontaneously, selected (‘A’, in case you’re wondering)?

I’m pretty sure that most people’s answer to the above is ‘many, many times’.

Last but not least, it must be noted that, when making a decision in the evening, you feel a certain sense of urgency which predisposes you to make rather silly and wrong decisions.

This, of course, is quite normal because our busy- body routines can be quite exhausting (regardless of how enjoyable they might be) and, in the end of the day, all we want is to finish up all of our tasks, as swiftly as possible, sit down, mellow out and wait until it’s time to go to bed.

The thing is, though, that, at that point, we rarely ever care about the consequences and repercussions that such hasty decision might have; in fact, we often say things like ‘ah, well, I’ll sort that out tomorrow’.

If you make such a decision in the morning, though, you tend to subconsciously take into account the fact that it already IS tomorrow.

Quite silly but, for some reason, incredibly true.

All in all, if you have a major decision to make, do so over a cup of coffee and a sober mind in the morning and not over a can of coke, a Papa John’s pizza and an episode of ‘Desperate Scousewives’ in the evening.

Also, don’t watch ‘Desperate Scousewives;. Ever.

I mean it.