If you've painted the furniture, let it dry for at least 24 hours before you begin. If you're not painting it, wipe the furniture clean with warm, soapy water. Then let it dry completely. Once you've finished decoupaging the furniture, leave it to dry in a well-ventilated space. The furniture should be dry to the touch before you apply a varnish. Follow the manufacturer's instructions about drying time since they'll vary by product.

Summary: Clean and dry the furniture. Let the furniture dry for at least a 2 to 4 hours.

It may take you a few weeks of experimenting to find the ideal combination of techniques that work for you. If your back pain does not appear to get better, trying other strategies to relieve your back pain throughout the day may help. Don't try to lift objects that are too heavy. Lift from the knees, pull the stomach muscles in, and keep the head down and in line with a straight back. When lifting, keep objects close to the body. Do not twist when lifting. Use a foam roller to help relieve muscle pain. These look like thick pool noodles. You lie on a flat surface and roll the foam roller beneath your back. Care must be taken when using a foam roller directly on the low back. Make sure you angle your body slightly to the side, which prevents a hyperextension of the low back. Over time, this can jam the joints and cause pain. Leaning slightly to the side can help reduce this discomfort and risk. Set up an ergonomically correct workstation. Make sure you have proper lumbar support while sitting. A chair with good lumbar support can help you avoid low back pain from prolonged sitting. Get up and stretch every hour or so. Acute back pain should improve on its own with proper self-care techniques. If your back pain does not improve after four weeks, you should see a doctor. You may have a more serious condition that requires additional treatment. Common causes of lower back pain include arthritis, degenerative disc disease, and other nerve and muscular problems. Appendicitis, kidney diseases, pelvic infections, and ovarian disorders may also cause pain in your lower back. Lower back pain is common, affecting around 84% of adults at some point in their lives. However, certain symptoms are signs of a more severe condition. If you experience any of the following symptoms, seek medical treatment right away: Pain extending from your back down the leg Pain that gets worse when you bend over or bend your legs Pain that gets worse at night Fever with back pain Back pain with bladder or bowel trouble Back pain with numbness or weakness in the legs

Summary: Try different combinations of these techniques. Try other pain relief strategies. See a doctor. Recognize severe symptoms.

Try to remain calm. The calmer you are, the better you will be able to think on your feet. Deep breaths should come from your diaphragm. Place a hand on your stomach and feel it expand when you breathe in and contract when you breathe out. If taking a deep breath doesn't help, count to five. You might also clench muscle groups for several seconds and then relax. Begin with your shoulders and then work down to your feet. You might be angry, but don't start threatening the caller or yelling at them. That's counter-productive and you won't get helpful information. Instead say, "You're calling in a bomb threat? I'm listening." You need to take down as much information as possible from the caller. Reach for nearby notepad or sheet of paper. Grab a pencil or pen. If your phone has a display, then write down the number that shows up. The police might be able to trace this number. For example, "Monday, March 27, 2017 at 11:44 am." Do this as soon as possible so that you don't forget. Stay on the line. Hand your colleague a short note asking them to call the police. Write "Bomb threat. Call police now." Keep it short. Avoid talking all over the caller. Let them speak, because they have important information to share. If you have trouble hearing, hand the phone to a coworker so that they can listen to the caller. Sometimes, when we're nervous, the blood starts pumping in our ears. It's okay. Just hand the phone to someone who can calmly listen to the caller.

Summary: Take a deep breath. Avoid making threats. Grab a notepad. Copy down the number. Write down the day and time. Give a coworker a handwritten note. Listen to the caller.

. Now that you know what content you want to include in your autobiography, think about how you want to structure your book. Like any great book, your autobiography needs a great plot. Work with the material you have to craft an interesting story that builds toward a climax and ultimately resolves. Create a narrative arc by organizing and filling out your written memories and anecdotes so that they flow together logically. What's your central conflict? What's the biggest obstacle life presented that took years to overcome or come to terms with? Maybe it's an illness you were diagnosed with at an early age, a relationship wrought with turmoil, a series of career setbacks, a goal you worked for decades to achieve, or any other number of things. Look to your favorite books and movies for more examples of conflicts. Build tension and suspense. Structure the narrative so that you have a series of stories leading up to the climax of the conflict. If your central conflict is trying to reach the goal of competing in the Olympics for skiing, lead up to it with stories of small successes and plenty of failures. You want your readers to ask, will she make it? Can he do it? What's going to happen next? Have a climax. You'll get to the point in your story when it's time for the conflict to come to a head. The day of the big competition has arrived, a showdown happens with your worst enemy, your gambling habit gets the better of you and you lose all your money - you get the picture. End with a resolution. Most autobiographies have happy endings because the person writing the story lived to tell the tale - and hopefully get it published. Even if your ending isn't cheerful, it should be deeply satisfying. You somehow accomplished your goal or won the day. Even if you lost, you came to terms with it and gained wisdom. You could do a straightforward chronology of your life, beginning with your birth and ending in the present, but mixing up the chronology can make the story more interesting. You could frame the entire autobiography with reflections from the present, telling your story through a series of flashbacks. You could begin the story with a poignant moment from your childhood, go backward to tell the story of your heritage, move forward to your college years, and launch into the story of your career, with anecdotes from your childhood sprinkled in for comic relief. Use the major themes of your life as a way to tie stories together, connecting your past and your present. Aside from the central conflict, what themes have followed you throughout your life? A fondness for certain holidays, your fascination with a certain place that you visited over and over, a certain type of guy you've always fallen for, a rich spiritual life you fall back on again and again. Bring up the themes every so often to help form a cohesive picture of your life. You're chronicling your life lessons, but what have you learned from them? Relay your intentions, desires, feelings of loss, feelings of joy, the wisdom you've gained, and other inner thoughts from time to time throughout the book. Taking a step back from the action of the story to reflect on what it all means is a good way to add depth to your autobiography. Chapters are useful because they allow you to move on from discussing certain life periods or events. There's a reason we have the expression that we've "closed a chapter" or "opened a new chapter" in life, and it's even more applicable when discussing an autobiography. Chapter breaks allow you to skip forward 10 years, go back in time, or start describing a new theme without jarring the reader too much. Consider ending chapters on a poignant or suspenseful note, so people can't wait to start the next one. The beginnings of chapters are a good place to take a bird's eye view of your past, describe the setting of a place, and set the tone for what's to come.
Summary: Create an overarching plot Decide where the story is going to start. Weave in themes. Take a step back to reflect. Use chapter divisions to give the book structure.