While more than 50 percent of employed Americans are working from home it may becoming
obvious to you that your work life and personal life are becoming more connected. This has important implications for your happiness at work because it is important. No longer can you think of your “work life” and “personal life” as being two different things. Those boundaries are disappearing, and it is important for you to recognize that your happiness at home and at work both need to be acknowledged.
So, what can we learn from COVID-19 and happiness? Perhaps maybe it is time to learn and reflect on activities throughout our daily schedule that gives us the most and least happiness.
What makes you happy? Is it going to the beach? Talking with family and friends? Sleeping in on Saturday morning? Happiness is different things to different people. We still experience difficult times but there are ways to raise your spirits to find happiness each day. Some ways to increase your happiness includes:
Socializing
Yes, you can still socialize. Neighbors are sitting in lawn chairs six feet apart and having conversations, happy hours, and informal dinner parties. Zoom has become a household name offering us ways to connect with family, friends, virtual parties, workplace interviews and meetings. Research suggests that the act of hanging out with people in real time, with Zoom or FaceTime can be a powerful way to connect with people. Seeing other’s facial expressions and hearing their feelings allows you to really connect with them..
Just remember, social distancing does not mean emotional distancing. Connecting with others is always important. Just because we are six feet apart from each other does not mean we are unable to emotionally connect.
You can still go fishing with your buddies, but it may not be on a boat. You may have to share your time fishing off a seawall but the emotional connection and the ability to socialize with your friends will increase your happiness.
Volunteering or Helping Others
Many happy people tend to be focused on other people’s happiness rather than their own. Research suggests if you do nice things for people like sharing a meal, offering to work a shift, or even donating time and volunteering in community activities tends to boost a person’s wellbeing.
The idea of focusing on other’s happiness may feel a little counterintuitive because people in general have the notion of self-care and taking care of oneself but doing random acts of kindness in times when someone is really struggling can be powerful. It lends a positive effect on society by “paying it forward”.
Practicing Mindfulness
Happy people tend to live in the moment. They take in their surroundings and pay attention to what is happening around them. They are not busy making a video of a sunset or their dog doing a trick. They live in the moment to experience the joy or laughter of the event. Research has shown that while videoing an event will allow you to view that event again, the videoing microscopes the event and takes away the emotions or feelings related to that event. You can video a sunset but are you taking in the surroundings at the time? Are you breathing in the salt air? Do you see couples walking together on the beach? Are you mindful of how you are feeling?
Meditation can also help you find happiness during COVID-19 because it causes you to focus on what is happening to your mind and body now.
Turning to our individual lives it is a time to reflect on our own experiences and monitor our own answers to what gives us the most and least enjoyment. In doing this, we may draw surprising lessons about what matters most for our own happiness and that of those around us.
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If you’ve ever thought about taking your game to the next level - we can help. Contact us at info@nationalcph.com or 866.684.2007 to learn more.