Theatre gave me a lot of things. It was a place where my weird mannerisms and silly voices became unique tools. Performing also got me to break out of my shell and stop fearing what others thought of me, which, in turn, helped me learn to accept and be myself. But most of all, theatre taught me how to empathise with others better.

In comedic improvisation, the principle of "yes and" means that first you agree with your partner's premise, and then you add to it. Without this essential principle, the scene couldn't go anywhere. And while applying "yes and" to real life is a bit of a business-world cliché, I've found that it's a great way to redirect potential arguments into jovial banter, and keep everyone on the same team.

During last weekend's March for Our Lives, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School student Samantha Fuentes, a wounded survivor of the shooting tragedy, got on stage to give an impassioned speech to thousands of protesters. Halfway through her address, she ducked down behind the podium and vomited.

Most full-time employees spend around half their waking hours at work. It is therefore perilously easy to slip into depression if you aren't enjoying your job. Here's some advice to help you get into the right headspace and rise above the negativity.

I have a bad habit of trying to meditate, getting distracted, and immediately giving up, just to try it again six months later. So this observation from redditor Subduction really got me.

Cognitive bias occurs when we make subjective assumptions about people or situations based on our own perception of reality. This can lead to irrational decisions and judgement calls that affect those around us. They can alter the way you see everything without you even realising it.

Identifying the problem is the first step towards rational thinking. Here are 24 distinct biases that you need to be aware of - from "declinism" (believing the past was better than the present) to "fundamental attribution error" (judging others on their character but yourself on the situation).

The maximum number of face turns needed to solve the classic Rubik's cube is 20, and the maximum number of quarter turns is 26. It took 30 years to discover these numbers, which were finally proved by Tomas Rokicki and Morley Davidson using a mixture of mathematics and computer calculation. (The puzzle does have 43 quintillion possible configurations after all.)

So how did the current world-record holder SeungBeom Cho manage to solve Rubik's cube in under five seconds? (4.59 seconds to be exact.)

The goal of brainstorming is to find possible solutions to a problem, but the process often becomes a platform for the outspoken, who offer the same perspective time and time again. Instead, ask everyone to generate more questions about the problem so you get a better understanding of what it really is. This counterintuitive method from Hal Gregersen, the executive director of the MIT Leadership Center, gets everyone thinking and participating, and can turn a lacklustre brainstorming session into something far more effective.

For many of us, checking boxes on a to-do list is a never ending cycle, the key way we measure our productivity and self-worth. And we're constantly adding new things before we've checked off the old.

The hardest part of doing most things is just starting. We often think about what a big project we have ahead of ourselves, and that's what makes it so daunting to begin. I know when I was writing my book, it seemed like most of my day was spent fighting the agony of just getting started. It was hard to ignore just how big a project it was.

Thankfully, I've found a great hack for getting started. It's called The 10-Minute Hack.

Epictetus, in Discourses, wrote: "And since strong habit leads, and we are accustomed to employ desire and aversion only to things which are not within the power of our will, we ought to oppose to this habit a contrary habit...". If you want to break a bad habit, try doing something new or develop a new good habit that contradicts your bad habit.

You're thinking of jumping ship. Maybe it's your job, a relationship, a degree or some other commitment that's both so hard to keep doing and so hard to leave. Should you stay or should you go? Here's how to decide.

Between hygge, the Danish concept of cosiness, and Sweden's lagom, which encourages living a balanced life, there are plenty of buzzy Nordic lifestyle methods that proponents claim will make you a better person. But if your problem is less about finding happiness and more about tuning out the nagging voices in your head, you may want to head slightly south and check out the Dutch concept of niksen.

Happiness is so interesting, because we all have different ideas about what it is and how to get it. I would love to be happier -- as I'm sure most people would -- so I thought it would be interesting to find some ways to become a happier person that are actually backed up by science. Here are 10 of the best ones I found.

The workday, for me, has a predictable arc: Those first glorious hours of possibility and productivity; lunch; dead-eyed stare/coma; revival in which a hour or two of work is accomplished; and then one final hour of trying not to click on Olympians curling with cats.

Practising yoga offers many benefits to your health and general wellbeing - but who has time to join a class? Between work, family and social engagements, there's simply no room for stretchy exercises down the park. Fortunately, it's possible to pack the mental benefits of yoga into just 10 minutes - without leaving your home or office. Read on for step-by-step instructions.

The numbers and icons displayed on our device's screens are meant to be useful; they tell us how much battery is left, how many unread messages we have, and when we need to update something. But more often than not, this data just nags us, constantly poking us like a toddler who wants their mother's attention. It doesn't have to be that way.

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.

The world appears to be in a rough place right now. If you turn on the TV or open up your web browser, you're almost guaranteed to be bombarded by bad news. But is the world really doomed? Or is your animal brain playing tricks on you? Chin up -- things aren't always as bad as they seem.