Welcome to the Weekly Medius PsychNews. Every week, we select five thought-provoking Psychology articles from hundreds published in journals and other media. Psychology Drives Everything.

High-Calorie Desserts Might Not Be All Bad:
If you’re going to choose dessert first, then the high-calorie option might lead to your eating a healthier meal, unless you have a lot on your mind, according to new research published by the American Psychological Association. Researchers placed either a healthy or less healthy dessert (fresh fruit vs. lemon cheesecake) at the beginning or end of a university cafeteria line. When diners picked the cheesecake first, they then chose lower-calorie main or side dishes and ultimately consumed fewer calories than diners who chose the fresh fruit first. Those effects weren’t found when either dessert was placed at the end of the food line. Full article.

Do You Look for the Negative Even When Good Things Happen?
“The minute I start to think something is going my way, something bad always happens,” said Jane,* a professional in her thirties who had just been told that she was being given a promotion and a raise at work. “I can’t believe I’m up to date on all of my work,” said Brian,* a doctoral student who had recently received a large grant for his research. “But it won’t last, of course. I’m already thinking about everything I have to start on as soon as I get back to the lab tomorrow.” “Everything is set for my wedding to be a perfect day,” said Melanie*. “But I’m just waiting for something to go wrong.” Full article.

Your Solution to Waking Up Too Early:
For those people who hit the snooze button three or four times before really waking up for the day, this might seem like a luxury problem. But the many people who wake long before it’s actually time to rise, and struggle to fall back to sleep, know otherwise. Waking too early is an incredibly frustrating sleep issue. It can deprive you of the sleep you need, throw your sleep cycle off kilter, and cause a lot of stress. Full article.

Unwanted Thoughts? Don’t Try to Suppress Them:
We try to wish our thoughts away. When our mind turns to a stressful work situation, a craving for a cigarette, or a fantasy we shouldn’t be having, we immediately try to remove the thought from the gray matter of our brains. We start a random conversation with the person next to us, we concentrate harder on a work assignment, or we put our index fingers in our ears, and sing, “La la la la, I can’t hear you!” Consider every long song you hear on the radio. How many begin or end with the lyrics, “I can’t get you out of mind”? The human brain is conditioned to obsess — its negative bias makes us worry and fret. Despite our valiant efforts to shift our thoughts, they follow us into the shower and to work meetings. Full article.

When Decluttering Feels Daunting:
You walk into your home, or maybe into a certain room. You look around, scanning the entire space, and suddenly feel so heavy. You feel tense and tired. You feel powerless and helpless. You feel disappointed in yourself. Your eyes immediately zero in on the piles of random paperwork, and the mountain of random stuff. On the boxes and bills. On the cards and magazines. On the jackets and hats and extra furniture. And you realize, as you’ve already realized so many times before, that this is evidence of the many things you’ve left undone and unfinished. This is clear-cut, plain-as-day evidence, you think to yourself, that you can’t keep much (if anything) together. And you start berating yourself, as you always do when you open the door to your home, or that spare bedroom that resembles a storage unit. Full article.