Unless you're a masochist and/or sociopath, you probably don't indulge in bad habits by choice. Instead, it's usually something you "fell into" and can't seem to navigate your way out of. This infographic explains the psychology behind bad habits along with some tried-and-trusted tips to help you break them.

Think about something that happened to you this morning. That there, is your memory. We recall thousands of events and procedures every day, but how exactly does the brain do it? This comic-esque infographic breaks down the science behind this essential and primeval mind hack alongside some valuable improvement tips.

Most of us are familiar with the concept of "inbox zero", the state (and long-term goal) of having and keeping an empty inbox. Productivity blog Johnny Moneyseed explains why it's even more important to apply this concept to your mind.

Making conversation seems easy enough on the surface. You talk and they talk back, right? But then you find yourself in one of those awkward situations where you're just staring at someone you barely know and you have to figure out how to keep the conversation interesting. Here are the most common mistakes we all make and how to avoid them.

Feeling so busy, so pushed around and bullied that you don't have time to be stressed? Australian researchers have found that workplace aggression and stressful situations get better by adding a little humour.

Being anxious about the future can cripple your ability to do well. If you're anxious, change how you look at your future to turn your behaviour from nervous and tepid to confident.

The Ivy Lee method is a 100-year-old strategy for helping people become more productive at work. Under the method, at the end of each night you write down your six most important tasks to accomplish the following day in order of importance. The next day, you begin working on the tasks one at a time.The strategy works because it reduces "decision fatigue," saves you time, and forces you to prioritise your goals.

A person's body language can reveal a lot about what they're thinking and feeling. That's especially true if their nonverbal displays don't match what they're saying out loud.

In a very simple version of the “tipping point” theory, a new paper says that in groups of anywhere from 100 to 100,000, just 25 to 31 per cent of the group can set a new behavioural norm for the whole group. This finding is drawn from just one study using online participants, so its results shouldn’t be exaggerated, but it at least shows a consistent pattern in how a minority of group members can change the mind of a majority.

On my 20th birthday, I got drunk and peed on some old ladies' front lawn. A cop saw me and stopped me. Fortunately, I talked my way out of going to jail that night. I already had an arrest record, but he didn't bother to check. My 20s started out with a bang.

Things weren’t looking promising. Less than two miles into the 42km run, my hastily scoffed pre-race breakfast – one banana, one sachet of Justin’s nut butter and two glasses of milk – was starting to re-appear in my mouth. I was also feeling decidedly delicate in my stomach.

Brilliant.

Have you ever inexplicably forgotten your PIN in front of the ATM? Or drawn a terrifying blank in the middle of an important speech? We bet you regularly type in the wrong website passwords too. Same.

If your memory just plain sucks, there are a host of scientifically proven techniques you can employ to combat your chronic forgetfulness. Here are seven of the best, with extra tips that will help to make this newfound knowledge stick.

There are a few tricks that architects use to make spaces appear bigger – and you can use them too. Here are some of the most popular hacks, according to interior designer Kirsten Day.

Your floor is dirty. Your rubbish bin is overflowing. You need to change a light bulb and do the laundry. You're always busy and household errands fall through the cracks. Here's an idea: get drunk.

How can the average citizen prepare themselves for having to speak to a hostile audience? The best people to answer these questions, of course, are politicians and former politicians, so I got Michael Dukakis, the three-term former governor of Massachusetts and the 1988 US Democratic presidential nominee, on the phone.

It's good to have a schedule planned out each week, but having too many appointments set for each day might be be more harmful than helpful. A recent study suggests the more self-imposed deadlines we have in a day, the less deep work we can get done.

I don’t wish that I’d finished university. I dropped out one semester early, for exactly the kind of media job that I’d hoped to work toward after graduating. So why have I had the same dream for years, where I’ve gone back to school for one last semester, moved away from my wife and into a dorm, and I’m already late for class? And how do I stop having that dream? Apparently I can’t.

Hunger has a strange effect on our emotions. Even the nicest folks can get a little upset, irritable, and snippy the minute they start to feel those familiar pangs down in their stomach. One solution is to eat, of course. But when that's not an option, there is another way you can avoid transforming into a bad Snickers commercial.

Welcome back to Mid-Week Meditations, Lifehacker's regular dip into the pool of stoic wisdom and a guide to using its waters to reflect on and improve your life.