If sticky weather makes you edgy and irritable, nibbling on fruit and cheese can calm your nerves and boost your pep for 4 hours straight. According to Stanford University researchers, fruit’s complex carbs switch on the brain’s production of mood-elevating serotonin while cheese’s casein spurs the release of energizing opiate hormones.

On days when you can’t seem to catch up, shift to a task that doesn’t require a screen (like watering plants or unloading the dishwasher). A study at James Cook University in Australia suggests doing so can help you feel like there is more time left to get everything else done. When researchers compared time perceptions of tech users, they found those who often worked with gadgets felt that an hour passed ten minutes faster than it actually did. Technology requires a faster cognitive processing speed that increases feelings of time pressure but stepping away helps restore what feels like lost time and sync people to a natural pace.

New research in the journal Environment & Behavior; when subjects gazed at an aquarium, or fishpond fill with colorful fish for 10 minutes, they experienced a 7% drop in heart rate and a marked decrease in systolic blood pressure, these are two key signs of reduced stress. They also reported improved moods and higher rates of relaxation. The combination of the stimulation of the creatures’ movement works to shift the mind out of thinking mode and into the present moment.
-Psychology