Best small thing that made a big difference to my life. If I had the inclination I would think of more than one and label them ‘life hacks’ and try to go viral. But who needs the headache of arguing with people who won’t accept that learning how to fold a fitted sheet will change your life? So, you only get one piece of advice from me this year and it’s this: put a penguin in your sock drawer.

Not, and I can’t stress this enough, a real penguin. Don’t put a real penguin in your sock drawer. Don’t get involved with doing anything to real penguins. Ever. Leave real penguins alone, dude. They have enough problems without you adding to them.

A pretend penguin. Like this one…

Does it need to be a penguin? No. Not especially. What you are looking for is something that will raise your spirits in those first bleak minutes after the alarm clock wakes you up. Something that will offer a cheery ‘good morning’ look when you need it most. Look at that penguin. Has anyone or anything ever personified the phrase ‘go get ’em champ’ more than him? I doubt it.

It’ll do more for your get-up-and-go than a bowl of porridge. You can quote me on that.

As an aside, can i just point out that the joyless socks in the photos are not what I would wear on a normal day. They are just gym socks. Redundant gym socks now, as I cancelled my gym membership in October. But that was really more of a big thing that made a big difference to my life, so it’s a story for another day.