Tag: happiness

A quick happiness and productivity hack…

I read a great thing on The Pool last week and it’s prompted me to make a major digital change. The POWER PASSWORD – seriously, this will give you an instant happiness and productivity boost.

 

Struggling with a nightmare boss, a nightmare colleague and quite a serious step up in terms of responsibilities, this woman found going into work really difficult and the task seemed impossible.

And then she had a really smart idea. She changed her work computer login password to “I can do it”. So everyday, when she sat her desk, terrified, anxious and overwhelmed, she had to physically type the words reassuring her that she was capable.

Serena Williams also uses motivational phrases as her passwords too as she shared in a recent interview.

I started using affirmations as the passwords to my phone and my computer. (No, I’m not going to tell you what my current affirmation is!) You should try it. You’ll be surprised how many times a day you log in and have an opportunity to trigger the positivity. I love that I can use technology that way. – Wired

Think about it, a password is used to unlock something so by typing it out you’re giving yourself a daily reminder that you can do this and it will increase your happiness and productivity levels. Plus, it’s quick, so spend 10 minutes today changing all your passwords to something that will inspire and motivate you every day.

5 things to do on a Friday for a better Monday

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In my quest to be the ultimate productivity ninja, I regularly try out new ways of working. But one thing I’ve done for quite a while is make sure that I have a Friday ritual of planning for the week ahead.

Now, I know that you’re probably having a #FRIYAY moment so you don’t really want to be thinking about Monday morning, BUT I promise, the advice I’m about to give will help you enjoy the weekend more.

How you end the week seriously impacts on how you start the next week. So if you want to have a great weekend here is what you should do every Friday afternoon.

Give yourself credit for what you’ve done this week.
When you look at your to-do list and see a whole bunch of items that are yet to have the highlighter treatment then it can be disheartening. But look at what you HAVE achieved this week. By acknowledging what you HAVE achieved will give your happiness levels a boost and will spur you on to get back on track when Monday arrives.

Schedule your Monday to-do list on Friday.
Write your to-do list for Monday on Friday. By getting your to-do list done not only do you hit the ground running on Monday but you also give your brain a rest over the weekend as you’re not mulling over what needs to be done. Continue reading “5 things to do on a Friday for a better Monday”

Forget happy – be whole

It’s the UN’s International Day Of Happiness so there’s no better time for this quote…

This is my happy place taken in Sardinia
This is my happy place taken in Sardinia

I actually attack the concept of happiness. The idea that—I don’t mind people being happy—but the idea that everything we do is part of the pursuit of happiness seems to me a really dangerous idea and has led to a contemporary disease in Western society, which is fear of sadness. It’s a really odd thing that we’re now seeing people saying “write down three things that made you happy today before you go to sleep” and “cheer up” and “happiness is our birthright” and so on. We’re kind of teaching our kids that happiness is the default position. It’s rubbish. Wholeness is what we ought to be striving for and part of that is sadness, disappointment, frustration, failure; all of those things which make us who we are. Happiness and victory and fulfilment are nice little things that also happen to us, but they don’t teach us much. Everyone says we grow through pain and then as soon as they experience pain they say, “Quick! Move on! Cheer up!” I’d like just for a year to have a moratorium on the word “happiness” and to replace it with the word “wholeness.” Ask yourself, “Is this contributing to my wholeness?” and if you’re having a bad day, it is.

—Hugh MacKay, author of The Good Life

I like the idea of working towards feeling whole instead of happy. And it’s OK not to feel happy all the time.

p.s since it’s International Happiness Day – Please share with me what makes you happy…

 

The power of positivity…

One thing I try to do is surround myself with positive people. I don’t mean the type of people who are so happy that they border on fake and have no authenticity but people who are positive, exciting, inspirational and solutions people.

You know the type – the ones you can call to discuss a problem and by the end of the conversation you’ve come up a million ideas to set the world on fire. Figuratively speaking.

Source: flickr.com via Renee on Pinterest

 

I’m telling you this because I downloaded the wonderful e-book from In Spaces Between. The first page “surround yourself with passionate people” hooked me in immediately.  It reminded me of the Oprah quote above – to only surround yourself with people who are going to take you higher. Continue reading “The power of positivity…”