{"id":44091,"date":"2016-11-01T20:25:04","date_gmt":"2016-11-02T04:25:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/?p=44091"},"modified":"2017-05-27T08:47:39","modified_gmt":"2017-05-27T16:47:39","slug":"5-steps-to-make-you-happier-and-more-productive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/5-steps-to-make-you-happier-and-more-productive\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Steps to Make You Happier and More Productive"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

<\/p>\n

You look at your watch. The minute hand hasn\u2019t moved much since you last checked 30 seconds ago – it\u2019s still 4:45. Somehow, time seems to be working against you today. Like an impatient schoolboy, you wait. And some more.<\/span><\/p>\n

Begrudgingly, you get back to work.<\/p>\n

If you don\u2019t <\/span>really <\/span><\/i>love what you do, this probably is a regular occurrence. Lunch breaks feel like holidays, and off-days feel like a vacation.<\/span><\/p>\n

If you could, you\u2019d just pack everything up and walk away. But you obviously can\u2019t.<\/p>\n

You grind out another day at the office, unhappy, exhausted and disillusioned. And this affects your work negatively <\/span>every single day. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

A <\/span>recent study<\/span><\/a> conducted at the University of Warwick found unhappy employees to be 10{54c12dad2cc2b53ae830e39915b1a3e70288dbcbbeb8bbf8395437c5dc3c512c} less productive, while their happier counterparts showed a 12{54c12dad2cc2b53ae830e39915b1a3e70288dbcbbeb8bbf8395437c5dc3c512c} increase in productivity. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Not all organizations invest heavily in the happiness of their employees. If that’s the case, you’re solely in charge of your own happiness. <\/span><\/p>\n

So, what steps do you take?<\/span><\/p>\n

1.\u00a0<\/b>Improve Your Morning Mood<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Believe it or not, even a few bad minutes in the morning can ruin your entire<\/i> work day.<\/p>\n

Your toast gets burnt. You miss the bus. Or maybe you just get stuck in traffic.<\/p>\n

Research<\/a> shows that your morning mood directly affects productivity in the workplace.<\/p>\n

Make time before you get to work to do something you truly enjoy. It can be anything – working out in the morning, getting a tasty bagel or a nice cup of coffee from the place just across the street or even looking at cute cat videos online.<\/p>\n

Whatever makes you feel good, do it. And then walk into the office with a smile on your face, ready to take on the world.<\/p>\n

\u00a02. Take More\u00a0Breaks<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Plugging away at a task or project for extended periods of time might <\/span>just <\/span>bore you senseless. Boredom makes you unfocused, and your productivity suffers. <\/span><\/p>\n

The solution?\u00a0<\/span>Take more breaks.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Bursts of productivity interspersed with small breaks help you escape the monotony of your job.<\/p>\n

Eat a snack, take a walk outside or just sit back and stretch your legs – small breaks are extremely relaxing, and you feel happier and more focused when you get back to work.<\/p>\n

Remember:<\/b> Strategically squeeze your breaks into your work schedule, and keep them organized, because taking breaks at random may just be another distraction you don\u2019t need.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a03. Engage your Co-Workers Positively<\/strong><\/h2>\n

According to Shawn Achor, author of <\/span>The Happiness Advantage, <\/span><\/i>your social support network is the \u201cgreatest predictor\u201d of happiness in times of stress.<\/span><\/p>\n

Your workplace may not be the best in terms of the social support you get, but Shawn says that the key to \u201csustained happiness\u201d lies in the social support you<\/span> provide<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Organize small activities around the office. Invite work colleagues to lunch and eat at place you\u2019ve never been before.<\/p>\n

Do you see a colleague stressing out over an overwhelming amount of work? Pick up their slack and help them out.<\/p>\n

Good relations and positive engagement with your co-workers leads to a higher degree of job satisfaction and increased productivity.<\/p>\n

In turn, you make friends you can trust and rely on in times of need. A win-win situation, wouldn\u2019t you say?<\/span><\/p>\n

4. Have Something to Look Forward to After Work<\/b><\/h2>\n

Part of being unhappy is going back to the same old boring routine after a hard day\u2019s work.<\/p>\n

Go home. Eat dinner. Sleep. Repeat.<\/p>\n

Mix it up. Have something to look forward to after work – every day if possible. It can be a new hobby you\u2019ve recently taken up, a movie with your significant other or even a couple of beers with your work colleagues.<\/p>\n

Activities like these are great stress-busters too, and you\u2019ll power through work knowing that you have a fun evening ahead of you.<\/p>\n

5. Set Aside Time to Reflect<\/strong><\/h2>\n

If I asked you, \u201cWhat was the best thing that happened to you at work today?\u201d you\u2019d probably be hard-pressed to find an answer. <\/span><\/p>\n

Sure, it\u2019s hard to find positives in a dull, monotonous job. You\u2019d be <\/span>better off<\/span><\/a> if you did though.<\/span><\/p>\n

Try\u00a0this: reserve 15 minutes at the end of the work day to reflect and jot down every single positive, big or small (even the tiniest of them.)<\/p>\n

Maintain a paper journal for this, or just fill up the calendar on your phone.<\/p>\n

Reflecting on your day reveals that you\u2019re achieving something (however small) every day, and that builds confidence. As a result, you start putting in more effort into your work, further boosting productivity.<\/p>\n

Doing what you love is great, but if you can’t love what you do, follow these steps and work will never be a drag ever again.<\/p>\n

\n

Viraj Deshpande is a writer and musician from Mumbai. When he’s not daydreaming about becoming a rockstar, Viraj writes engaging content for clients and businesses. You can find him on\u00a0Twitter<\/a>\u00a0and InstaFreelancer<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

You look at your watch. The minute hand hasn\u2019t moved much since you last checked 30 seconds ago – it\u2019s still 4:45. Somehow, time seems to be working against you today. Like an impatient schoolboy, you wait. And some more. … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11669,"featured_media":45242,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[32,17,6],"tags":[5375,5070,3755,66,4629],"yoast_head":"\n5 Steps to Make You Happier and More Productive<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"You look at your watch. The minute hand hasn\u2019t moved much since you last checked 30 seconds ago - it\u2019s still 4:45. Somehow, time seems to be working against you today\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/5-steps-to-make-you-happier-and-more-productive\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"5 Steps to Make You Happier and More Productive\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"You look at your watch. The minute hand hasn\u2019t moved much since you last checked 30 seconds ago - it\u2019s still 4:45. Somehow, time seems to be working against you today\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/5-steps-to-make-you-happier-and-more-productive\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pickthebrain\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-11-02T04:25:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-05-27T16:47:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/Screen-Shot-2016-11-01-at-4.43.27-PM.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1013\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"662\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@https:\/\/twitter.com\/Virajd27\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@pickthebrain\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Viraj Deshpande\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/5-steps-to-make-you-happier-and-more-productive\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/Screen-Shot-2016-11-01-at-4.43.27-PM.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/Screen-Shot-2016-11-01-at-4.43.27-PM.png\",\"width\":1013,\"height\":662,\"caption\":\"5 Steps To Make You Happier & More Productive\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/5-steps-to-make-you-happier-and-more-productive\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/5-steps-to-make-you-happier-and-more-productive\/\",\"name\":\"5 Steps to Make You Happier and More Productive\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/5-steps-to-make-you-happier-and-more-productive\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-11-02T04:25:04+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-05-27T16:47:39+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/e695096b0616e6678aabd1319cbf4a73\"},\"description\":\"You look at your watch. The minute hand hasn\u2019t moved much since you last checked 30 seconds ago - it\u2019s still 4:45. Somehow, time seems to be working against you today\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/5-steps-to-make-you-happier-and-more-productive\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/5-steps-to-make-you-happier-and-more-productive\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/5-steps-to-make-you-happier-and-more-productive\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"5 Steps to Make You Happier and More Productive\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/e695096b0616e6678aabd1319cbf4a73\",\"name\":\"Viraj Deshpande\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b8286c40ca342c21da5dfa888f0284d6?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b8286c40ca342c21da5dfa888f0284d6?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Viraj Deshpande\"},\"description\":\"Viraj Deshpande is a writer and musician from Mumbai. He likes writing about self-improvement and motivation, and when he's not daydreaming, Viraj writes engaging content for clients and businesses. You can find him on instafreelancer.com\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/instafreelancer.com\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/https:\/\/twitter.com\/Virajd27\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/author\/virajd27\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"5 Steps to Make You Happier and More Productive","description":"You look at your watch. The minute hand hasn\u2019t moved much since you last checked 30 seconds ago - it\u2019s still 4:45. Somehow, time seems to be working against you today","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/5-steps-to-make-you-happier-and-more-productive\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"5 Steps to Make You Happier and More Productive","og_description":"You look at your watch. The minute hand hasn\u2019t moved much since you last checked 30 seconds ago - it\u2019s still 4:45. Somehow, time seems to be working against you today","og_url":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/5-steps-to-make-you-happier-and-more-productive\/","og_site_name":"Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement","article_publisher":"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pickthebrain","article_published_time":"2016-11-02T04:25:04+00:00","article_modified_time":"2017-05-27T16:47:39+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1013,"height":662,"url":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/Screen-Shot-2016-11-01-at-4.43.27-PM.png","type":"image\/png"}],"twitter_card":"summary","twitter_creator":"@https:\/\/twitter.com\/Virajd27","twitter_site":"@pickthebrain","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Viraj Deshpande","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/","name":"Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/5-steps-to-make-you-happier-and-more-productive\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/Screen-Shot-2016-11-01-at-4.43.27-PM.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/Screen-Shot-2016-11-01-at-4.43.27-PM.png","width":1013,"height":662,"caption":"5 Steps To Make You Happier & More Productive"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/5-steps-to-make-you-happier-and-more-productive\/#webpage","url":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/5-steps-to-make-you-happier-and-more-productive\/","name":"5 Steps to Make You Happier and More Productive","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/5-steps-to-make-you-happier-and-more-productive\/#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2016-11-02T04:25:04+00:00","dateModified":"2017-05-27T16:47:39+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/e695096b0616e6678aabd1319cbf4a73"},"description":"You look at your watch. The minute hand hasn\u2019t moved much since you last checked 30 seconds ago - it\u2019s still 4:45. Somehow, time seems to be working against you today","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/5-steps-to-make-you-happier-and-more-productive\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/5-steps-to-make-you-happier-and-more-productive\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/5-steps-to-make-you-happier-and-more-productive\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"5 Steps to Make You Happier and More Productive"}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/e695096b0616e6678aabd1319cbf4a73","name":"Viraj Deshpande","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b8286c40ca342c21da5dfa888f0284d6?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b8286c40ca342c21da5dfa888f0284d6?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Viraj Deshpande"},"description":"Viraj Deshpande is a writer and musician from Mumbai. He likes writing about self-improvement and motivation, and when he's not daydreaming, Viraj writes engaging content for clients and businesses. You can find him on instafreelancer.com","sameAs":["http:\/\/instafreelancer.com","https:\/\/twitter.com\/https:\/\/twitter.com\/Virajd27"],"url":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/author\/virajd27\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44091"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11669"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44091"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44091\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45242"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44091"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44091"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44091"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}