Willpower Is a Muscle—Here’s How to Make It Stronger

According to the American Psychological Association (APA), children who demonstrate stronger willpower in the lab end up having better school attendance and stronger academic performance while also being more likely to have “greater physical and mental health, fewer substance-abuse problems and criminal convictions, and better savings behavior and financial security” as adults. Yet, in the APA’s Annual Stress Survey, lack of self-control is the leading reason Americans fail to follow through with healthy lifestyle changes.

Texting and Dating: Best Practices

On the back of one of his albums, Bob Dylan reportedly wrote, “I accept chaos, but does chaos accept me?” In most areas of life, rules and procedures govern everything. However, when it comes to texting and dating, people tend to accept chaos. Should this be the case? Consider whether the following texting and dating guidelines would improve your chances of finding love.

1 Introduce yourself in your first text and use the name of the recipient: “Hi, Kirsten.

25 Homophones That Most Spell-Checkers Won’t Catch

Spell-checkers have come a long way since a West Coast beach boy with an FBI record invented the first prototype at MIT in the 1960s. Nowadays, the überhelpful technology is not only ubiquitous in all word processors, quietly creating more error-free writing around the world, it also exists online, where it can point out mistakes in real time while we write emails or post on social media.

2 Pairs of Words People Confuse All Too Often

Antidote vs. Anecdote Antidote: A remedy to counteract the effects of poison; something that counteracts or prevents something harmful. For example: We must find the antidote to the poison before its effects spread throughout the body. Her sense of humor is the perfect antidote to this stressful situation.

Anecdote: A short account of a real incident or person, often humorous or interesting; an account which supports an argument, but which is not supported by scientific or statistical analysis.

Words of Wisdom from Great Women Writers

In honor of International Women’s Day, we rounded up nine of our favorite quotes from women writers about reading. Share your favorite quotes about reading and writing in the comments section!

Just Memorize These Irregular Verbs

Is there a foolproof strategy for remembering irregular verbs? Absolutely. Just memorize them! Of course, that’s easier said than done. Do memory tricks actually work? Why not try to create a mnemonic for each of these common irregular verbs?

Henry L. Roediger III, a psychology professor at Washington University’s Memory Lab, confirms that songs help encode information into the hippocampus and frontal cortex of the brain.

What Do You Think About Correct Spelling in Emails?

What do you think about the state of writing in the workplace? Share your thoughts in our weekly poll!