These easy remedies will eliminate all of life’s little annoyances – and improve your wealth, health and sanity

Take care of the small things – maintain your kit, clean your room, say you’re sorry – and life improves in big ways. Little fixes cut stress and build a reassuring sense of control.

“Once I have success with one goal,” says Dr Tim Pychyl, an associate professor of psychology at Carleton University in Canada, “it increases my happiness, wellbeing, satisfaction and self-confidence. And that motivates me to do more.”

It’s like the broken-window theory that big-city cops swear by: correct the little eyesores and it’s more likely the community will pull together to overhaul everything in sight. Try it in your life, starting now.

CLEAN THE COFFEE STAIN (before your 9:30 meeting)
Stain removers are excellent. Don’t keep one in your desk? Find a sink fast. Use soap and hot water and blot out the stain, pouring the water through the fabric if you can (take off the shirt if you’re in the bathroom). Whatever you do, don’t rub it. Blot dry with paper towels, or if there’s a forced-air hand dryer, crank it up.

FIX YOUR POSTURE (while you work)
Use the 20-20 rule. “Trying to sit up perfectly straight all day is impractical and will only tire you out,” says Dr Alan Hedge, director of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Laboratory at Cornell University in the US.

Every 20 minutes, stand for 20 seconds and stretch or shake things out. “Just 20 seconds away from your computer screen reduces fatigue and increases blood circulation,” says Hedge. Now you’ll have the power to sit up straight.

RECHARGE YOUR WORKOUT (and find your abs)
Do something that seems crazy: a one-sided workout. Unilateral training will trick your body into reaching new levels of strength and muscle, says David Jack, director of fitness for US-based Teamworks Centres. One-sided exercises demand stabilisation, so you’ll strengthen your core, improve coordination and (counter-intuitively) prevent muscular imbalances.

Add these exercises to your workout: single-arm dumbbell bench press, single-arm shoulder press and single-leg squat. Start with 8-10 repetitions on one side of your body, then switch sides and repeat the reps to complete the set. Rest for a minute and perform two more sets.

For an extra boost, mix up the order of your unilateral exercises every four weeks and adjust your rep ranges a few times a week. You’ll have to reduce the weight you lift initially, but you’ll soon pack on new muscle.

FIX YOUR KICKS (and save money)
Instead of spending $150 on new shoes, spend less than half that on new soles or heels for your favourite pair. Not a bad price for saving something you really like. Plus, there’s no break-in period. Check out for more information.

STOP PROCRASTINATING (right now!)
Do not make a to-do list. Do not research power tools. Do not clean your desk. Just dive in. That’s the advice of Pychyl, who has studied procrastination. Your to-do list is just another delaying tactic with a short-term rush.

“We relieve our anxiety by making this false schedule,” says Pychyl. Procrastinators aren’t necessarily bad at time management, he says, “they’re just not willing to deal with the discomfort of getting started”. But starting will ultimately make you feel better about working. “Our emotional wellbeing and our satisfaction with life is based a great deal upon the successful pursuit of our goals,” says Pychyl.

FILL YOUR WALLS (and cover that stain)
You don’t have to pay thousands to a sniffy gallery owner for original paintings. But you really should replace your Crowded House poster and VB mirror. Starving artists are everywhere, dying to be taken advantage of. Check out local art schools and shows put together by newly minted Masters of Fine Arts, says Alan Bamberger, an art appraiser and author of The Art of Buying Art.

The US-based has art-school graduates’ works priced from just a few dollars to several thousand. It delivers internationally and even offers a money-back guarantee.

In Australia, offers ready-to-hang oil paintings starting at less than $100. If you’ve got a bit more cash to spend, check out australianartists.ws, an online gallery featuring emerging home-grown talent. Other affordable alternatives: antique prints and maps, and photographs.

FIX YOUR BUDGET (and save your credit rating)
New concept: read your bills. Do you truly understand your mobile phone plan? “Most people don’t thoughtfully take the time to analyse what they’re spending their money on,” says J.J. Burns, founder of the US-based wealth management firm J.J. Burns and Co.

1. Mobile phone: analyse how your plan compares with your usage. Not using all your minutes? Opt for a different plan. And remember: if you’re an infrequent user of your mobile, a prepaid plan may be cheaper.

2. Utilities: do a year-over-year analysis of your bills using a program such as Quicken or Microsoft Money. Unexplained jumps? Make sure your meter’s not being misread. Burns did this, and his water company sent him a refund cheque for almost $500.

3. Mortgage: make one extra payment towards your principal every year to save thousands of dollars of interest and pay off your mortgage earlier. Or when interest rates fall, keep paying the amount you did when they were high.

4. Stuff you buy: some big stores offer to beat a competitor’s price by up to 10 per cent. Spend 10 minutes online or on the phone getting the best price you can, then head to the store that’ll beat it and win yourself that saving.

CONQUER YOUR CRAVINGS (and lose your gut)
Toss out all your chips. Then take this tip from Cornell University: you’re 2.7 times more likely to eat healthy snacks if you place them on the middle shelf of your refrigerator than if you’ve hidden them in the crisper. So stock that shelf with some low-fat cheese and sliced red capsicum to cover your cravings for sweet, savoury and crunchy snacks.

UNTANGLE THAT MESS (because it looks like hell)
Unplug everything. Label each cord. Screw your power strip to the underside of your desk, or to the wall. Tie off excess cordage with cable ties. Reattach your (wisely labelled) connector cords, gathering them as you go and bundling them with more ties or even carabiners to minimise tangle. Now, don’t you feel better?

REPAIR YOUR SCRATCHED BUMPER (yourself!)
Examine the scratch to see if there’s still colour left in the groove. Yes? Good – you’ve only scraped the clearcoat, a finish that protects the paint from sunlight and gives it that glossy sheen. You’ll be able to fix it yourself, says Dennis Parks, the author of The Complete Guide to Auto Body Repair.

First, buy a clearcoat polishing compound. Two good ones are Turtle Wax or Meguiars. Using a soft cloth dabbed in the compound, buff out the scratch, using circular motions.

If the scratch has chipped the paint, clean the area with a wax and grease remover. This removes crud and will help the new paint stick.

Next, pick up a bottle of touch-up paint at a local auto-parts store. (Colours are typically broken down by manufacturer, but for the exact shade, find the tag on your car that lists the paint number. The staff at the store can help you.)

Apply the paint in light coats, allowing it to dry in-between. When you’ve covered the scratch, let the paint dry for at least 24 hours. Moisten a piece of 2000-grit wet/dry sandpaper and gently smooth out any bumps, ripples or runs. Finally, rub on some automotive wax. Smile, and inspect your teeth in the reflection.

LOSE THAT 5 O’CLOCK SHADOW (before your date)
Keep an electric shaver in your desk. They’re much better than they were in Mad Men days. No cords, for starters. The Braun PocketGo ($18.99; is compact, quiet and can be rinsed clean when you’re done buzzing off stubble. She’ll love it.

FIX YOUR GAME (because she’s heard it all before)
Relax and set your approach on Deeply Subtle. Make talking to you her decision, which will make her feel better about herself – and you. Never butt in while she’s with her friends.

Wait until she’s alone, then issue a drive-by compliment (keep it above the neck or below the ankles).

“We’re used to men approaching us,” says Lisa Altalida, the authorof  The Pocket Idiot’s Guide to Getting Girls, “but if a man says something and then walks away like he doesn’t want anything, it piques our curiosity.” Now she’ll feel in control. Is she glancing your way? That means you’ve been cleared for approach.

FIX YOUR HEARING (without a cotton bud)
Doctors who peer into ears with otoscopes all day long know a dirty little secret: lots of men have too much wax in there. And many of those men have jammed the stuff (cerumen, technically) deep into the ear canal by using cotton buds improperly.

At-home kits can’t always reach the wax deeply impacted against the eardrum, says Dr Mark Pyle, a professor of otolaryngology at the University of Wisconsin in the US. So have a doctor remove the build-up with saline or suction. Sometimes docs need to use small scoops called curettes. Whatever the method, it’ll be a 10-minute procedure that yields glorious results. (Is your mobile phone ringing? No, it’s that one across the room.)

And while you’re at the doctor’s surgery, why not make an appointment for that check-up you’ve been putting off for years?

FIX YOUR EYESIGHT (without a prescription)
Eyestrain (tired eye muscles) isn’t the only cause of poor vision. It could be dry eye. A study by researchers at Buskerud University College in Norway recently found that people blink 10 fewer times a minute while staring at a computer screen than they do while having a conversation. This causes your “tear film” – the outer layer of moisture on your eyeball – to evaporate more quickly.

“When your tear film isn’t healthy, your visual acuity won’t be as sharp and clear,” says Dr Patricia Sabb, an associate professor of ophthalmology at the University of Wisconsin. So take a break and close your eyes. (I’m not napping, boss, just restoring my tear film.) If you still need more moisture, try Visine Tired Eyes ($6.95/10ml;.

FIX YOUR STORYTELLING (before people nod off)
Get to the point. Get to the point. Get to the point. Details – about the weather, colour of the bike, height of the rosebush – make people’s attention span collapse. A brief story lets them play along and fill in their own details.

Start telling your tale when the conversation provides a segue and not after someone just scored a big laugh. (If you tank, you’re the bloke who killed the mood.) Tell the story quickly, make yourself the fool and exaggerate. “Take it to the edge of believability. Stuff happens every day to people. You need to make it stand out,” says US comedian Jack Gallagher.

RESTORE YOUR ENDURANCE (and set a PB)
The secret to improving endurance is to go faster, not lengthen a plodding run. Certified strength and conditioning specialist Bill Hartman suggests breaking your run into intervals at your goal speed. If your five-kilometre goal is 25 minutes, you must run a kilometre in five minutes, a half-kilometre in two minutes 30 seconds, and a quarter in one minute 15 seconds. Pick the distance you can hit in that time and run those intervals, resting for as long as you ran. Once you can run, say, four quarters in a time of 1:15 for each, move up to a longer interval. Work your way up to your goal distance.

FIX A LEAKY TAP (and impress her)
Many single-lever taps leak when crud collects and causes a gap in the seal so it can’t shut off, says Danny Lipford, host of US TV show Today’s Homeowner. First, shut off the water supply under the sink, then use an Allen wrench to loosen the screw at the base of the tap handle and lift it off. Remove the washers and movable parts, soak them in white vinegar and wipe them down. Reassemble and turn the water back on.