It’s 4pm at the office. Your last cup of coffee has worn off and you’re officially stuck in the afternoon slump. How do you stay on track, when all you want to do is nap?Your natural instinct is to muscle through it. You rely on sheer willpower to concentrate harder or avoid a temptation. But a study has shown that by taking that approach, you actually deplete your willpower. The harder you try, the more fatigued you get, and the less energy you have left to complete the task at hand.In 1996, Roy Baumeister and a group of Case Western Reserve University colleagues put willpower to the test in an experiment. The study’s 67 participants were led into a room that smelled like freshly baked chocolate cookies. The actual baked treats were then brought into the space. Some participants were given permission to devour the sweets, while others were told to eat radishes instead.As you’d expect, the radishes group showed clear interest in the cookies, looking longingly at the display of sweets and in some cases even picking up the cookies to sniff them.Following the first half of the experiment, Baumeister’s team then asked participants to solve a seemingly-unrelated persistence-testing puzzle. Those who ate the chocolate treats worked on the puzzle for an average of 20 minutes, while the radish eaters gave up after only 8 minutes. Why? Because those who had to resist the tempting baked treats had already depleted their willpower. There was little leftover to focus on a second demanding task.The study’s central finding was ground-breaking because it disproved the notion that willpower is an innate virtue you either possess or don’t. Some days you’ll have it, some days you won’t, and, like a muscle after a strenuous workout, it can get fatigued and lose its strength. Overuse leads to exhaustion.The good news is that, like that muscle, your willpower can be strengthened with practice. The key is to hone in on one thing at a time. Trying to change your sleep cycle, exercise more often, learn a new language, and cut out sugar all at the same time will sap your self-control. If, however, you start with one goal and gradually add more, you’ll end up with more willpower than you had starting out – not to mention new skills and a healthier life.

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When you’re a noted designer of fashion and furniture, your home is expected to meet certain standards of chicness. James Perse’s six-bedroom Malibu estate, freshly on the market for US$12.995 million, has style and sophistication to spare.

Located on roughly 2 acres in the Point Dume area, the Wall Street Journal reports that the Perse property includes a 50-foot-long swimming pool and an attached two-car garage, as well as keyed access to Little Dume Beach. Perse purchased the home in 2013 and spent a year renovating it, aiming to infuse the house with an “old-world kind of farmer charm” inspired by the location’s “ranch sensibility”.

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From carefully crafted cuisine to daring fashion statements, the Japanese clearly have no shortage of style. This sense of individualism and innovation also crosses over to living quarters of Japan‘s locals.As one of the world’s densely populated countries, Japan have long been experts in making the most of small spaces and turning them into bold and stylish homes that are mimicked around the world.From lush, light-filled hideaways to minimalist concrete bachelor pads and high end homes full of magnificent bastard-approved materials like wood, stone, fur and suede, here are our top picks of the coolest Japanese apartments sure to blow your mind and give your some serious micro-envy.

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We’ve all been there. That soul-destroying moment when you realised you’ve just sent an incredibly embarrassing text. Whether you’ve sent the wrong thing to the wrong person, you’ve gone on a drunken text rampage, or you’ve just fallen victim to the evil clutches of autocorrect, it’s never a good look.

Luckily, Maci Peterson experienced her very own texting blunder when she sent her ex-boyfriend a message that read “Hey, sorry, I keep missing your calls”. When it got autocorrected to “Hey, sorry, I keep missing your balls” she decided it was round about time there was an app to avoid this kind of embarrassment.

Cue On Second Thought, an app that lets you set a delay of up to a minute on a text, allowing you to swipe the text back and interrupt sending it in case you have second thoughts about what you’re about to send.

Users can also set a curfew that will hold texts until the next morning. Perfect for those of us who are prone to a drunk message, or ten.

Since it launched in 2014, On Second Thought has been running mostly on funding from friends but already has 67,000 users spread throughout 200 countries. Clearly sending embarrassing texts is a worldwide epidemic. If you’re guilty of regretful texting we recommend getting familiar with On Second Thought before you’ve burnt all your bridges.

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Barcelona isn’t just home to bull fighting and awesome paella. GCA Architects have brought to life this amazing apartment in Spain which takes the best of contemporary living quarters and mergers it with modern industrial flair.

To pull off the modern art inspired decor, the designers employed the use of raw wood for seating, unpainted concrete walls, steel accents and a copper-clad exterior.

RELATED: 35 Amazing Dining Room Inspirations & Ideas

The space itself contains a living area which extends to a second level via floating steps contrasted against a concrete wall. This flows onto a dining room complete with a hardwood table and burnt steel chairs. Look up and you’ll also notice the wood finish graces the curved ceiling to add an extra dimension.

This neo-industrial theme continues into the kitchen where a floor to ceiling bookshelf resides to break up any monotony or lack of character in the expansive space.

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G’day mate. Ever wondered why you feel so inclined to use these words? Well, a Queensland linguistic researcher has nailed down the origins of the Australian accent and why we’ve come to embrace our ‘bogan solidarity’.Dr Michael Carey from the University of the Sunshine Coast has researching the Australian accent for 20 years, the effect culture has had on the nation’s language and how diversity in language should be embraced.“Research has overturned many of the previous common beliefs about the Australian English accent,” he said. “For instance, some made jokes about our accent, saying that we don’t open our mouths when we speak, supposedly to keep out the flies.” Streuth.RELATED: 10 Signs You May Be A BoganApparently, acoustic analysis has revealed that Australians have a lower tongue position for certain vowels such as those in ‘had’ and ‘mate’ than other dialects of English, including the variety spoken by the Queen of England.“[Originally] the language was a reaction coming from Britain in 1850, when we received pronunciation known as BBC English, Cambridge or Queen’s English was used,” he said. “I think now we’ve discovered our identity as there’s been a long period of cultural cringe.”Dr Carey also said that Australians had come to love broad speakers, usually from rural areas. “I don’t think we need to see the nasal accent or broad, rural slower accent as something undesirable,” he said. “That style of language had been typified by longer vowels and are different to general speakers…but we like them now.”In case you’re still confused about the Aussie accent, have a red hot go at the video below.[via ABC]

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The rain couldn’t keep the men of Pitti away Day 2 of the Florence trade show. Why, what better excuse for popping a stately brolly than grizzly grey skies: a grainy neck, copper ferrule and black canopy, which dapperly doubles as a walking cane, off-duty.

To the incredible suits, and a tailoring trend is starting to emerge following Pitti Day 1: ruby, vermillion and royal reds. And, still monarchial, blue – navy, cobalt and electric hues – are stand out shades too, worn with stark white chinos or beige trousers; a slight variation on the nautical nuance.

Click through the slideshow for the best Pitti Uomo looks for Day Two. 

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“We’ve had engineering teams around the world working to get this ready and getting partners on board to make sure it works,” said Kim.

“We’re launching with Citibank and American Express and that’s easy because they’re already our global partners and it was a faster way to market. We don’t want to compete with banks, we definitely want all partners, and all cards, in. Hopefully it’s a matter of time.”

Kim adds that since Australia isn’t the first market to get this service, it should be free from bugs and other impediments that often come with new software during the initial stages.

The difference between Samsung Pay and Apply Pay is that the former uses NFC (Near Field Communication) and MST (Magnetic Secure Transmission) which is compatible with both contactless terminals and magnetic stripe machines on registers.

One handy feature of Samsung Pay is its capability to operate offline without an internet connection. The technology to accomplish this task was developed by LoopPay, an American startup which Samsung acquired last year.

Future-proofing the technology is also on the cards with the company looking to integrate their service with public transport ticketing systems and mobile drivers’ licences in association with state governments.

Samsung Pay currently operates in the United States, South Korea, China, Spain and Singapore.

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The Italians are known for their impeccable style and once again for their distinctive and mouth-watering food with one of the country’s favourite restaurants topping the list of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants of 2016.

Massimo Bottura’s Osteria Francescana has beaten its French and Spanish competition in the race to be one of the World’s Best Restaurants. Bottura has made a name for himself for his twists on traditional Italian culinary ingredients and deliciously executed classics like tagliatelle with hand-chopped ragu and risotto cooked with veal jus.

Also featured high on the list were global dining hotspots like Spain’s El Celler de Can Roca, New York’s Eleven Madison Park and Denmark’s Noma. As far as Australia goes, Melbourne’s multi-award winning restaurant Attica came in at a humble 33rd place.

The list of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants, which was announced earlier this week at the annual celebration of global gastronomy hosted by Cirpriani Wall Street in New York, is created by an influential group of almost 1,000 international leaders in the restaurant community. The panels, across 27 regions, are made up of food writers and critics, chefs, restauranteurs and highly regarded ‘gastronomes’ who each cast votes based on their best restaurant experiences in the last 18 months.

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