Whenever I tell my friends about the Happynesshub, it’s instantly met with bags of enthusiasm. “Becoming happier – that sounds great!” So I tell them about the 21 Days to Happiness toolkit and the meditations. Simple things that take just a few minutes every day to make us happier. “Oh, I don’t have time for all that!” is their typical reply.
They’ve got an answer for every suggestion I make. How about in the morning? “I have to go to work.” What about getting up earlier? “I already don’t get enough sleep.” What about lunch time? “I’ve got to get back to work.” What about after work? “I have to spend time with my wife / husband / girlfriend / children / grandparents / pet lizard.” How about before you go to bed? “I’ve got to go to sleep. I already don’t get enough sleep.”
It’s weird that we’ve reached the stage where we can’t even find time for 10 or 15 minutes a day. But of course they’re right – I feel it too. My time seems so precious that I believe I haven’t even got 15 minutes, and I’m not even allowed to have 15 minutes. And besides, on a lot of days I sort of feel that everything’s okay. I’m not feeling unhappy – so why should I be bothering about boosting happiness. That can wait until later. Other things seem much more important right now… like work, or cleaning the house, or shopping.
I meant to do one of Marta’s meditations this morning. But I had other things to do, so guess what? That was the thing that I didn’t end up doing – as usual. So actually, I’m going to do it now. The rest of this blog can wait, just for a little bit.
15 minutes later… I’m feeling less stressed and my mind is more focussed. I didn’t think I needed to do it, but actually I’m so glad that I did. I think I’m going to be much more productive today. Why didn’t I do it earlier? In fact, I’m not the only one. Professor Andrew Oswald, an economist from the Warwick University, conducted experiments in the workplace that concluded happier employees are often more productive.
So I’ve decided to stop putting it off. It’s worth spending time to be happy right now, even if I don’t think I need it. Because actually it does help and it definitely isn’t a waste of time. Instead of losing time, I’m feeling like I’m more focussed and I’ve got more time.
There are so many little things we can do that lift our mood and don’t even take long – writing down 3 things to be grateful for, doing a small act of kindness for a friend. I’m going to start with the quick and easy ones, and see if it can become part of my everyday life. Does anyone else want to join me and give it a go?
