Battery Life & lag questions

I've had the MTS for about 2 months now, and I'm getting used to it. I think it's a great phone and a good OS. But I do have a few questions:

How can I improve my battery life? I leave it on charge overnight, and it's always almost dead by the time i get home. I get a decent number of calls and texts, but not much more than i did with my Galaxy. I have all the extras turned off unless i use them (wifi, bluetooth, gps, etc.) I always lock the screen when I'm not using it.

Any ideas?

Also, I've noticed that the phone lags at random times. I only notice it when I'm playing Angry Birds, and when I look to see what else is running, (via the notification tas) I don't see anything. Any idea what is causing the slowdown?

Sorry for the newbie questions. . . .but I see the potential here!

Thanks,

B.

 

I've tried most of those, but I'll run through them again.

How long should the battery last? Mostly pholne calls, less than 5 mins on the internet daily, and about 25-30 text messages.

I just think it should last longer than 7 hours without requiring charging.

Thanks,
B.