10 Simple Things You Can Do Today That Will Make You HappierWord格式.docx
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Weareallinsearchofhappinessitseems.FormeIprefertolookatitasthesearchforpeaceandjoyinlifeasIfindhappinesscanbetooconditionalandanytimewehavetolookfororchasesomethingwearelookingoutsideofus.Surelysomeofthisisjustsemanticsbutforlackofabetterword,happinessinmyviewisastateofbeingthatcomesfromwithinandisn’tfickle.
Icameacrossthisgreatarticleaboutthescienceofhappinessandhowresearchershavebeenabletodiscoverthatvarioussimplethingsthatwecanadjustinourdailylivescanbringmorehappinesstoourstateofbeing.AgainIbelievehappinessisalongtermthing,notshortspurtsofemotionthatwechase,butsomethingthatisbornwithinandsustainednaturallyinourbeing.
1.Exercisemore–7minutesmightbeenough
Youmighthaveseen
sometalkrecentlyaboutthescientific7minuteworkout
mentionedinTheNewYorkTimes.Soifyouthoughtexercisewassomethingyoudidn’thavetimefor,maybeyoucanfititinafterall.
Exercisehassuchaprofoundeffectonourhappinessandwell-beingthatit’sactuallybeenproventobeaneffectivestrategyforovercomingdepression.InastudycitedinShawnAchor’sbook,
TheHappinessAdvantage,threegroupsofpatientstreatedtheirdepressionwitheithermedication,exercise,oracombinationofthetwo.Theresultsofthisstudyreallysurprisedme.Althoughallthreegroupsexperiencedsimilarimprovementsintheirhappinesslevelstobeginwith,thefollow-upassessmentsprovedtoberadicallydifferent:
Thegroupswerethentestedsixmonthslatertoassesstheirrelapserate.Ofthosewhohadtakenthemedicationalone,38percenthadslippedbackintodepression.Thoseinthecombinationgroupweredoingonlyslightlybetter,witha31percentrelapserate.
Thebiggestshock,though,camefromtheexercisegroup:
Theirrelapseratewasonly9percent!
Youdon’thavetobedepressedtogainbenefitfromexercise,though.Itcanhelpyoutorelax,increaseyourbrainpowerandevenimproveyourbodyimage,evenifyoudon’tloseanyweight.
A
studyinthe
JournalofHealthPsychology
foundthatpeoplewhoexercisedfeltbetterabouttheirbodies,evenwhentheysawnophysicalchanges:
Bodyweight,shapeandbodyimagewereassessedin16malesand18femalesbeforeandafterboth6×
40minsexerciseand6×
40minsreading.Overbothconditions,bodyweightandshapedidnotchange.Variousaspectsofbodyimage,however,improvedafterexercisecomparedtobefore.
We’veexplored
exerciseindepthbefore,andlookedatwhatitdoestoourbrains,suchasreleasingproteinsandendorphinsthatmakeusfeelhappier,asyoucanseeintheimagebelow.
2.Sleepmore–you’llbelesssensitivetonegativeemotions
Weknowthat
sleephelpsourbodiestorecoverfromthedayandrepairthemselves,andthatithelpsusfocusandbemoreproductive.Itturnsout,it’salsoimportantforourhappiness.
In
NutureShock,PoBronsonandAshleyMerrymanexplainhowsleepaffectsourpositivity:
Negativestimuligetprocessedbytheamygdala;
positiveorneutralmemoriesgetsprocessedbythehippocampus.Sleepdeprivationhitsthehippocampusharderthantheamygdala.Theresultisthatsleep-deprivedpeoplefailtorecallpleasantmemories,yetrecallgloomymemoriesjustfine.
InoneexperimentbyWalker,sleep-deprivedcollegestudentstriedtomemorizealistofwords.Theycouldremember81%ofthewordswithanegativeconnotation,like“cancer.”Buttheycouldrememberonly31%ofthewordswithapositiveorneutralconnotation,like“sunshine”or“basket.”
TheBPSResearchDigestexplores
anotherstudy
thatprovessleepaffectsoursensitivitytonegativeemotions.Usingafacialrecognitiontaskoverthecourseofaday,theresearchersstudiedhowsensitiveparticipantsweretopositiveandnegativeemotions.Thosewhoworkedthroughtheafternoonwithouttakinganapbecamemoresensitivelateinthedaytonegativeemotionslikefearandanger.
Usingafacerecognitiontask,herewedemonstrateanamplifiedreactivitytoangerandfearemotionsacrosstheday,withoutsleep.However,aninterveningnapblockedandevenreversedthisnegativeemotionalreactivitytoangerandfearwhileconverselyenhancingratingsofpositive(happy)expressions.
Ofcourse,howwell(andhowlong)yousleepwillprobablyaffecthowyoufeelwhenyouwakeup,whichcanmakeadifferencetoyourwholeday.Especiallythisgraphshowinghowyourbrainactivitydecreasesisagreatinsightabouthowimportantenoughsleepisforproductivityandhappiness:
Anotherstudy
testedhowemployees’moodswhentheystartedworkinthemorningaffectedtheirworkday.
Researchersfoundthatemployees’moodswhentheyclockedintendedtoaffecthowtheyfelttherestoftheday.Earlymoodwaslinkedtotheirperceptionsofcustomersandtohowtheyreactedtocustomers’moods.
Andmostimportantlytomanagers,employeemoodhadaclearimpactonperformance,includingbothhowmuchworkemployeesdidandhowwelltheydidit.
Sleepisanothertopicwe’velookedintobefore,exploring
howmuchsleepwereallyneedtobeproductive.
3.Moveclosertowork–ashortcommuteisworthmorethanabighouse
Ourcommutetotheofficecanhaveasurprisinglypowerfulimpactonourhappiness.Thefactthatwetendtodothistwiceaday,fivedaysaweek,makesitunsurprisingthatitseffectwouldbuildupovertimeandmakeuslessandlesshappy.
Accordingto
TheArtofManliness,havingalongcommuteissomethingweoftenfailtorealizewillaffectussodramatically:
…whilemanyvoluntaryconditionsdon’taffectourhappinessinthelong-termbecauseweacclimatetothem,peoplenevergetaccustomedtotheirdailyslogtoworkbecausesometimesthetrafficisawfulandsometimesit’snot.OrasHarvardpsychologistDanielGilbertputit,“Drivingintrafficisadifferentkindofhelleveryday.”
Wetendtotrytocompensateforthisbyhavingabiggerhouseorabetterjob,butthesecompensationsjustdon’twork:
TwoSwisseconomistswhostudiedtheeffectofcommutingonhappinessfoundthatsuchfactorscouldnotmakeupforthemiserycreatedbyalongcommute.
4.Spendtimewithfriendsandfamily–don’tregretitonyourdeathbed
Stayingintouchwithfriendsandfamilyisoneofthe
topfiveregretsofthedying.Ifyouwantmoreevidencethatit’sbeneficialforyou,I’vefoundsomeresearchthatprovesitcanmakeyouhappierrightnow.
Socialtimeishighlyvaluablewhenitcomestoimprovingourhappiness,evenforintroverts.Severalstudieshavefoundthattimespentwithfriendsandfamilymakesabigdifferencetohowhappywefeel,generally.
Ilovetheway
HarvardhappinessexpertDanielGilbert
explainsit:
Wearehappywhenwehavefamily,wearehappywhenwehavefriendsandalmost
alltheotherthingswethinkmakeushappyareactuallyjustwaysofgettingmorefamilyandfriends.
GeorgeVaillantisthedirectorofa72-yearstudyofthelivesof268men.
InaninterviewintheMarch2008newslettertotheGrantStudysubjects,Vaillantwasasked,“WhathaveyoulearnedfromtheGrantStudymen?
”Vaillant’sresponse:
“Thattheonlythingthatreallymattersinlifeareyourrelationshipstootherpeople.”
HesharedinsightsofthestudywithJoshuaWolfShenkat
TheAtlantic
onhowthemen’ssocialconnectionsmadeadifferencetotheiroverallhappiness:
Themen’srelationshipsatage47,hefound,predictedlate-lifeadjustmentbetterthananyothervariable,exceptdefenses.Goodsiblingrelationshipsseemespeciallypowerful:
93percentofthemenwhowerethrivingatage65hadbeenclosetoabrotherorsisterwhenyounger.
Infact,astudypublishedinthe
JournalofSocio-Economics
statesthanyourrelationshipsareworthmorethan$100,000:
UsingtheBritishHouseholdPanelSurvey,Ifindthatanincreaseinthelevelofsocialinvolvementsisworthuptoanextra£
85,000ayearintermsoflifesatisfaction.Actualchangesinincome,ontheotherhand,buyverylittlehappiness.
Ithinkthatlastlineisespeciallyfascinating:
Actualchangesinincome,ontheotherhand,buyverylittlehappiness.Sowecouldincreaseourannualincomebyhundredsofthousandsofdollarsandstillnotbeashappyasifweincreasedthestrengthofoursocialrelationships.
TheTermanstudy,whichiscoveredin
TheLongevityProject,foundthatrelationshipsandhowwehelpotherswereimportantfactorsinlivinglong,happylives:
WefiguredthatifaTermanparticipantsincerelyfeltthatheorshehadfriendsandrelativestocountonwhenhavingahardtimethenthatpersonwouldbehealthier.Thosewhofeltverylovedandcaredfor,wepredicted,wouldlivethelongest.
Surprise:
ourpredictionwaswrong…Beyondsocialnetworksize,theclearestbenefitofsocialrelationshipscamefromhelpingothers.Thosewhohelpedtheirfriendsandneighbors,advisingandcaringforothers,tendedtolivetooldage.
5.Gooutside–happinessismaximizedat13.9°
C
TheHappinessAdvantage,ShawnAchorrecommendsspendingtimeinthefreshairtoimproveyourhappiness:
Makingtimetogooutsideonanicedayalsodeliversahugeadvantage;
onestudyfoundthatspending20minutesoutsideingoodweathernotonlyboostedpositivemood,butbroadenedthinkingandimprovedworkingmemory…
Thisisprettygoodnewsforthoseofuswhoareworriedaboutfittingnewhabitsintoouralready-busyschedules.Twentyminutesareashortenoughtimetospendoutsidethatyoucouldfititintoyourcommuteore