Are there any military tricks that would be useful for ordinary people to know?

Yes, there are many.

One of my favorites is the German Army “Alarmstuhl” (alert chair). Its purpose is to help soldiers to get battle-ready quickly and in complete darkness.

In civilian life, it can be useful for people who like to sleep longer in the morning or for the ones that might be suddenly called to work, like doctors, ambulance drivers, firemen, lawyers, cops, etc.

You prepare your alert chair in the evening. Take a normal chair and put all the things you want to wear the next morning on it, in the reverse order.

A Bundeswehr “Alarmstuhl” (photo: German Army)

This means that what you pick up to dress as the last item (for example, your jumper) has to be put on the chair first.

When you get alarmed (for example, an emergency call from the hospital), you get up, go to your chair and start picking up the clothes from the chair and quickly put them on in the right order.

No more searching for your socks or mobile phone charger in the dark (you don't want to wake up your spouse, do you?!).

You should practise the alert chair thing a few times during the daytime and always put your stuff at the same place (for example the jacket over the backrest, wallet inside) and in the same order.

It will save you valuable time. I sometimes use the alarm chair when I have to get up extremely early, for example, when I have an early morning run with my friends or when I want to prepare myself for an early court appointment in my office.