When Mercury goes retrograde, the usual advice is not to travel and sign contracts, not to marry and touch electronics. However, the entire Mercury retrograde cycle happens three to four times a year and lasts eight weeks each time. That's quite a long time to hold out doing and making things happen.

Mercury zips between two worlds or two hemispheres of our brains that's why during a retrograde period, it feels like Mercury went down to the Underworld. It becomes dark that other senses become heightened. During this time, people feel extra sensitive or even psychic. People say everything seems hyper-real that they notice things they have overlooked before. This will have you re-evaluating, renovating, re-inventing and reforming. It can sometimes have you redoing things because Mercury will hit the same degree thrice but it will not let you go into autopilot.

The next Mercury retrograde will happen on Feb. 6, 2014 so here are a few tips on what to do during this time.

1. Make sure not to take things too seriously and personally. People will say offensive things they don't mean often at this time because thinking is a haze and communication skills are practically zero. If your loved one became very insensitive, give benefit of the doubt.

2. Back up data. You never know if and when your device will conk out!

3. Hold out purchasing big items because these will often have issues and flaws you were not aware of. But if you absolutely need to, triple check the paperwork and make sure it has warranty.

4. Don't make agreements. It's a bad time for making decisions and negotiating contracts. Avoid signing any legal document or entering into agreements. However, if it is inevitable, triple check any information, in contract and travel documents. Ask a lot of questions. Starting a new job or trying to close a sale are also discouraged during this time because there can be a lot of misunderstandings.

5. Finish things that were started earlier. Mercury retrograde is the perfect time to tie up loose ends and file away things forever. This is not a time for initiating new projects.