If you haven’t been living underground for most of your life, you will notice a big difference in the summers of your childhood and today’s summers. The differences are even more obvious in the cities especially those located near the equator because of the cumulative effects to the environment of modernization. How do you survive in this inferno?

Check the ventilation in your home. Do not rely entirely on air conditioners to keep you cool during hot days. You should also keep in mind that air circulation and humidity can be huge factors. You can minimize the heat by making sure to close the curtains on the windows facing the sunlight and to let out the air occasionally by opening the windows near shaded areas.

Avoid caffeine. Limit your coffee consumption to early mornings when the day is still cool. If you need to keep energized at work, you should substitute coffee with other food and beverages. Caffeine is a diuretic, which means you will feel dehydrated easily if you rely on it too much.

Turn off your appliances. If you don’t need lights to move around in your home, then turn them off. You should also put down your cell phone if you have nothing better to do. The heat and light from appliances can make the place warmer.

Avoid alcoholic drinks. Alcohol is also a diuretic like caffeine, so you should limit your alcohol intake as much as possible.

Wear comfortable clothes. If you are staying at home, wear your most comfortable light-colored clothes. But if you need to go to the office, you should choose garments that are made from light fabric and have light colors. Dark colors absorb heat.

Limit protein intake. Protein can increase body heat and metabolism, which is why you should eat more fruits and vegetables instead during hot days.

Limit rigorous workouts. You might want to reschedule biking and hiking to cooler months in the year. Instead, summer should be for less rigorous workout routines like swimming, yoga, and indoor sports. Or you could also schedule your outdoor activities in the early hours of the morning or after sunset when it’s cooler. Stay out of the sun if possible.

Cool off downstairs. If your apartment has a lobby or sitting area in the lobby, you should stay there if your unit feels warm and stuffy. Remember that hot air rises because cool air is heavier. It is also a good opportunity to go to a park where you can enjoy fresh air.

Get a haircut. It is also the best time to get your hair trimmed. You will also spend less time fixing it in the morning.

Keep hydrated. Always take a bottle of water with you to stay hydrated. Do not wait for your body to feel thirsty before drinking water. If possible, avoid fruit juices, sports drinks, and tea because they are sugary. Clean water should be enough.

Lack of sleep is a silent epidemic in the modern world. Most of us associate health problems with poor diet and lack of exercise, but we fail to acknowledge how sleep affects mental and physical health.

In the world, researchers have found that for most working adults, the 7-hour sleep is considered normal. While sleeping may be different for individuals, an average of 7 hours is still considered inadequate.

Below are some habits that contribute to difficulty sleeping.

Eating just before bedtime

This is a common scenario in a busy household. After doing extra hours at work, you come home late to have a late dinner. You don’t give your body enough time to start digesting before going to bed because you’re tired from work. If you want a late-night snack, try food which contain calcium which promote sleep such as milk and crackers.

Drinking coffee before bedtime

Do not drink coffee, tea or soda three hours before bedtime. There are also plenty of food that contain caffeine such as dark chocolate. You will be tossing and turning in bed until the caffeine wears off.

Drinking alcohol before bedtime

There is a belief that alcohol promotes good sleep because it makes you feel sleepy, but most people forget that falling asleep quickly does not equate to a restful sleep. Alcohol disturbs the body’s sleep cycle when it is metabolized.

Relying on your alarm clock to wake up

If you go to bed anxious whether you will wake up on time, you are just making it more difficult to sleep. Maybe you should get rid of the alarms completely and focus on going to bed early instead.

You don’t try to relax before sleeping

Tucking yourself in to bed and then closing your eyes will not guarantee you will sleep within minutes. In fact, you might feel even more anxious if you’re still awake with your eyes closed. Try to relax first to signal to your body that it’s time to go to bed. Turn down the lights, put away your phone, and keep away distractions. Reading on your phone, laptop or e-reader or reading a printed book under a lamp are bad ideas, too.

Your bedroom isn’t cool

Not only will lights and noise make for an unrestful sleep, but even warm temperatures. Your room should be cool and relaxing, not hot and humid.

Using your smartphone before going to sleep

Blue light can disturb your sleep pattern. The content you browse will also keep your mind alert and might not make you feel relaxed. No social media post if worth losing sleep over.

You don’t go to bed consistently

It is important to stick to your regular sleeping schedule no matter how busy you are. It might be strange to you, but our bodies cannot adjust quickly to cope with changing sleeping patterns. You will notice this when a person moves to a location with a different time zone.

A lot of men think it’s too much of a hassle to know about fashion and style. Of course, that is partly true, but one should think of it more as an investment than a liability. Let’s say you’ve been invited to a small event.

You’ve been told to wear simple, business casual but you have no idea what that is so you just wear a polo shirt and jeans. Simply put, knowledge about style will not only save you from embarrassment but you’ll also look more appealing and confident! So, here are some style tips you should consider.

Have a go-to tailor

Any piece of clothing will look better on you when it perfectly fits. When you’re looking for long sleeves or a suit, for example, you will most likely find some in a department store or a specialty store. But, if you do find one, 90% of the time it won’t fit perfectly. This is why you go to a tailor for adjustments. Better yet, if you become a loyal customer, you can get custom-tailored clothing that will always fit you perfectly.

Shop with a friend

Preferably a girl you’re comfortable with. This is because they simply have more basic knowledge about fashion already. Of course, not all girls will be good at this so if you were to bring a female friend, choose someone whose fashion you also like.

In addition, if we’re being real about it, salespeople will sell you items no matter if you look good in them or not. If you have a friend with you, he/she can give honest feedback and give all sorts of recommendations.

Shoes are underrated

Once you start paying attention to your style, you’ll realize that shoes are a big factor. Sometimes it’ll feel like everything looks good but only your shoes are out of place. This is because there are shoes that look okay with certain types of pants and there are also some that simply look horrible.

That’s why it will be better to buy more shoes. Not exactly a lot but one of each style like a pair of sneakers, a pair of running shoes, one pair of oxfords, etc.

Anything you haven’t used for a year, sell or donate

There are a lot of establishments in Singapore where you can donate clothes. If you haven’t worn a piece of clothing after a year, it’s better to just get rid of it. Chances are it doesn’t fit you anymore or you’ve just moved on from those designs and styles. You can reduce the clutter in your wardrobe and free up more space.  Plus, if you’re looking to make a little money, you can always sell those clothes online as well.

Many distance running and marathon events are held in Singapore yearly. This is a sport that’s been constantly evolving throughout the years. Elite runners are getting faster and records are getting broken left and right. Even so, there are still many misconceptions about running itself, both from average, “non-running” people and other fitness circles. Here are some of those and why you shouldn’t believe them too easily.

Running is easy

Obviously, everyone knows how to run. But not everyone can run competitively. In this case, running competitively means knowing the bodily mechanisms and movements that help one run in the most effective way possible.

For instance, the strategies and training programs can be very different for a sprinter and a long-distance runner. But then again, they do share common knowledge about running itself. If you don’t know the proper running form for example, and you challenge a long-distance runner to a sprint, it’s still very possible for you to lose.

Too much running can decrease muscle mass

Though this is partially true, running doesn’t exactly eat away at your muscles. This misconception is fueled by the fact that just about all elite runners we see are skinny. But it’s exactly because they’re skinny that they become elite runners and not that they’re skinny because they run.

In reality, if you do strength training, you won’t reduce your muscle size even if running is your main form of exercise. Of course, if you start increasing your mileage and stop lifting weights, that’s when you’ll stop seeing muscle gains. You won’t get smaller but won’t get any bigger as well. 

A runner has to take in as much water as possible

When it came to hydration, the runners from before thought they shouldn’t let themselves get thirsty and filled up on as much water as possible. This is because thirst is a sign of dehydration and they thought that becoming dehydrated was their body’s way of telling them to slow down.

However, because they were runners, they could never slow down. Later on though, studies have found that too much water intake before a race could drop blood sodium levels. This can cause swelling and have many long-term repercussions on our health. So, it’s been recommended to drink water only when you get thirsty.

You don’t need to build strength, just endurance

Strength and power are very important aspects in a runner’s arsenal. To use the classic example, you can’t put a Lamborghini engine on a regular old compact car. The car itself won’t be able to take the power. You need to make your body stronger so that you can maximize your potential for endurance as well.

In addition, strength training will help you make your bones, joints, and muscles stronger. This means that when you do some kind of strength or mobility-focused exercise, you’re not only making yourself more explosive, you’re also becoming less vulnerable to injuries.

Anywhere you work in Singapore, you’ll always have a bad coworker. This isn’t just some dude who annoys you, he’s bad bad. He’s the type to gossip about every person he has a fight with, he’s the person who always talks back, he’s the person who passes all the work to you.

Now, if you work 8 hours a day, you’ll be spending that long with this person. And for some people that can surely be a bit too much. So, here are some things you can do.

Just look for ways to avoid them

The easiest way to handle a bad coworker is simply to avoid them. One great reason is that you won’t have to confront them about their attitude when the time comes. For example, if your cubicle is right next to this person’s you can try asking your boss to move.

Another thing you can do is to move to another team or change your schedule. This approach, though, isn’t necessarily very effective in the long term especially if your workplace is relatively small.

Acknowledge your differences

One of the most common reasons why there’s conflict in the office is everyone’s differences in personality and work ethic. Some work faster than others and it could annoy them if those people can’t keep up.

There are also those who like to work alone and others who thrive in group work. So, the best thing you can do is try to understand everybody’s situation. If you understand the other guy’s personality, you can adjust easily and handle them better.

Consider the work culture and office environment

Most of the time, it’s also best to consider how the work culture affects the employees. For example, famous companies are likely to be more demanding from their workers. This can encourage competitiveness which, in turn, might also lead to different conflicts.

In this case though, having a bad person won’t be much of a problem if you also have a lot of people on your side. In bigger companies, employees usually approach their higher-ups if the person goes overboard. Whereas in others, it might be difficult to kick them out because of a shortage of employees.

Discuss it with the supervisors

Speaking of approaching the higher-ups, it’s exactly what you should do if you really can’t handle it anymore. If you’ve talked to this person one-on-one and things still don’t change, just save yourself the trouble and go to the higher-ups. Make sure to express how it’s affecting your work and maybe even your mental health. If many other coworkers share your sentiments, you can also approach your higher-ups together.

In our time today, it seems like more and more children show signs of aggressive behavior. Of course, there can be many factors as to why this is, but we all know that aggression is not really a good thing.

That’s why it is important to teach your child anger management skills. Though anger is a normal emotion, we need to show them that there are many healthy ways to deal with it. Here are some ways you can teach your child how to control their anger.

Be a role model

Everything starts with you. Because children imitate what the adults around them do, you have to be careful with your own actions. Teaching your child about anger management requires that they see it in you as well. That means it’s better to teach them with actions than with words.

For example, if you start shouting at them for vandalizing a wall even just for the first time, then you’re not really setting a good example. Teaching them to manage their anger will be very easy once you show them how you do it too.

Teach assertiveness

One of the main reasons why we develop anger issues is because of pent-up emotions. When we bottle up our negative thoughts and feelings, it will all blow up sooner or later and lead to aggressive behavior. This is why it is important to teach your child to speak their mind.

You should teach them how to be assertive but, of course, only to the point that they don’t hurt others with their words as well. When they learn to speak up for themselves in an appropriate manner, it will also be easy for them to express their thoughts and feelings, regardless if it’s positive or negative.

Show them the difference between anger and aggression

It is also important to teach your child about the difference between being angry and showing aggressive behavior. Anger is not really a good emotion but it is normal for everyone to feel it and it can be acceptable.

Aggressive behavior, on the other hand, simply is not. Slamming a door, throwing their phone, even simple verbal aggression will not be acceptable. Show them that these actions will have grave consequences no matter where he/she is in.

Teach them how to recognize their signs

Each and every one of us have signs showing that we’re angry. Some feel like their heart beats faster while others start clenching their fists or gritting their teeth. One way you can stop a child from lashing out at someone is to teach them to recognize these signs.

This is so that they can redirect their attention and stop themselves from being aggressive. Some effective methods to employ when their signs start showing up is to have them take deep breaths or even simply count slowly to 10 in their minds.