Wish someone had told me that earlier, ow.

There are countless blogs on the internet that offer suggestions and tips as to how to improve your life/business/marriage, etc, etc. They drive me crazy.  But, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em, I say.  So, here it goes...my top 3 lifestyle tips:

1.  Invest in blackout curtains
Even if you never own the house/caravan/trailer/car in which you regularly sleep, buy some blackout curtains.  They are honestly the best thing ever invented (even better than curly fries dipped in aioli and sprinkled with rock salt, and that's sayin' something).  I'd bet my last dollar that John Donne would have killed for blackout curtains when he wrote the following in the early 1600's:

THE SUN RISING
by John Donne

Busy old fool, unruly Sun, 

Why dost thou thus,
Through windows, and through curtains, call on us ?

I had to analyse that sonnet at university (just to clarify - that was my first attempt at university, a combined Law and Arts degree.  Ended up getting a waaaaay better Business degree in the end). Anyway, in our English Literature tutorials, we spent so many hours on Donne's works, that ever since then I've automatically quoted those first few lines to myself whenever I've been woken up by that annoying blazing orange thing way up high, in the middle of the sky.

Seventeenth century sonnets at 6.13am after downing a case of beer in the previous 12 hours?  Yup, its all fun and games inside my head on those particular mornings 8-/

2.  Hide an emergency $20 note from yourself

My friends and I began doing this when we first started hitting the town.  All you need to do is fold up a $20 note and put it in a section of your wallet or purse that you generally don't look in for cash.  Twenty bucks can get you out of all sorts of strife.  It'll pay for a taxi, food and (these days) can be used to top up pre-paid phones.

There is NOTHING like finding that magical $20 note when you're drunk, sitting on the curb and just need to get home. 

The magical part? The cash didn't appear when you were at that last bar, it appeared when all hope seemed lost.

3.  Take up a hobby you enjoyed as a kid

Remember the good ole days before mortgages, bills, credit card debt and needing to work full-time?  Life was all about school, soccer practice, birthday parties and your next new set of wheels (of the bike, rollerblade or skate variety).

One of great things about being a kid was not being afraid to try something new (especially if the popular kids were doing it).  And nah, I don't mean secks, drugs and rock'n'roll, I mean music lessons, playing sports, delving into fine arts.

My sister and I kept ourselves flat-tack after school with with piano lessons, clarinet (for me), trumpet (for her), netball practice (for me), soccer practice (for her), ballet, gymnastics, Girls Brigade, Sunday School, horse-riding, cooking, sewing, water-colour painting and origami classes.  Hell, I even had Mahjong lessons!

In the last few years, I've started playing the piano again, painting watercolours (of cats and deer, mainly), doing some origami and have taken up tap dancing.  All of these things have made my life fuller, and definitely more fun. 

Many of my school friends who I've connected with on facebook have also reaped the benefits of going back to activities they enjoyed as kids.  A couple of them are even posting their Nike app running times to keep the other runners inspired. 

So, drag out Mum's photo albums, check out the stuff you were doing as a kid (except eating worms, Perrin) and pick up one of those activities again.  I swear you'll wish you'd done it sooner. Promise.

Pinky promise, even.