{"id":680,"date":"2008-09-02T06:00:48","date_gmt":"2008-09-02T10:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/boost-your-mood\/"},"modified":"2013-08-19T09:14:41","modified_gmt":"2013-08-19T17:14:41","slug":"boost-your-mood","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/boost-your-mood\/","title":{"rendered":"9 Ways to Boost Your Mood"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;\" class=\"sharethis-inline-share-buttons\" ><\/div><p style=\"text-align: center;\"><\/p>\n<p>All of us have times when we just seem to be in a bad mood with the world in general. Here\u2019s a few quotes from the last hour or two on Twitter:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em>\u201cPeople suck. I&#8217;m in a bad mood. Ugh.\u201d<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>\u201cWish I knew why I was in such a fowl mood. Nothing bad happened today, in fact it went rather well. I just feel like&#8230; bleh!\u201d<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>\u201cEver just *know* you&#8217;re going to be in a bad mood, like a weather forecast? Hoping tomorrow&#8217;s not a bad day.\u201d<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>I\u2019m sure you can think of some moments during the past week when you\u2019ve felt exactly the same. I know I can. And I hate being grumpy: I snap at people unfairly, I feel a complete lack of motivation towards my goals, and I often end up spiralling further and further into a Really Bad Mood.<\/p>\n<p>Gradually, though, I\u2019ve found some things which really do help when I\u2019m feeling like this. The hardest thing is actually <em>doing <\/em>them. When I\u2019m grouchy, a big part of me wants to stay grouchy and fed-up, and I struggle to see the point of trying to feel better. So print out this list, or write your favourite ways on a big bit of paper, and stick it to the wall \u2013 and promise yourself that next time you want to kick the cat, yell at your neighbour and phone up your mom to whinge, you\u2019ll try something from the list first.<br \/>\n<!--more--><br \/>\n<strong>1.<\/strong> <strong>Buy some candy that you loved as a kid<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m putting this one first because it never fails to put a smile on my face. Head to the nearest corner shop and grab some candy, just make sure it\u2019s one of your childhood favourites. (Mine is a <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Kinder_Surprise\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Kinder Surprise<\/span><\/a> \u2013 there\u2019s no way I can be in a bad mood after one of them!)<\/p>\n<p><strong>2. Take a shower or bath<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Sometimes, just a simple act of caring for yourself \u2013 like grooming \u2013 is enough to snap you out of a bad mood. It also has the advantage of taking you away from any innocent bystanders (family members\/housemates) who might otherwise get the brunt of your bad mood.<\/p>\n<p><strong>3. Read a piece of fiction<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I was the sort of teen who\u2019d stomp up the stairs and slam my bedroom door (though not before yelling \u201cI hate you all!\u201d) One of my favourite past-times back then, though, was reading \u2013 and a few pages of something escapist, usually science-fiction, tended to make me forget whatever had put me in a bad mood in the first place.<\/p>\n<p><strong>4. Make a mug of tea\/coffee\/hot chocolate<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019re getting into a strop with your work, a good way to get perspective is to step away from the computer and make yourself a soothing hot drink. Tea, coffee, hot chocolate, or various herbal varieties are all great \u2013 go with whatever you enjoy. I find that peppermint tea helps me to relax.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img alt=\"walking\" src=\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/walking.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>5. Take a walk<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Exercise gets happy hormones flowing and inevitably improves your mood. If you\u2019ve ever started off your gym session in a horrible temper but ended it feeling blissfully relaxed, you\u2019ll know just how effective this can be. Walking briskly to work off some energy is an excellent way to bring yourself out of your bad mood \u2013 and, like getting a bath or shower, it means you\u2019re taking yourself out of range of your nearest and dearest.<\/p>\n<p><strong>6. Write down five things you love about your life<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I guarantee you won\u2019t want to do this when you\u2019re in a grump or a sulk. But force yourself. Grab a sheet of paper, write \u201cFIVE THINGS I LOVE ABOUT MY LIFE:\u201d and list them. Doesn\u2019t matter if they\u2019re big or small. If you\u2019re still not feeling better after that, make it ten things\u2026<\/p>\n<p><strong>7. Watch an episode of your favourite TV show<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"ad_right\"><!--adsense--><\/p>\n<p>Like reading a good book, watching your favourite show draws you into a fictional world and makes you forget whatever\u2019s bugging you in the real one. Switch on a show that you really love, and enjoy it. Ideally, go with something light-hearted, funny or feel-good.<\/p>\n<p><strong>8. Get on with a chore that you\u2019ve been putting off<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Again, this isn\u2019t something you\u2019ll want to do, at all. But you\u2019re in a foul mood anyway, so you might as well. Grab your cleaning stuff and get stuck in on one of those chores you\u2019ve been putting off \u2013 cleaning the oven, scrubbing the bath, doing the washing-up, tidying. Whatever it is, you\u2019ll be happier once it\u2019s done and finally off your mental \u201cshould-get-round-to\u201d list.<\/p>\n<p><strong>9. Laugh<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Finally, the simplest and best way to snap out of a bad mood is just to laugh. At yourself, at your kids\u2019 antics, at the world, at the television \u2013 it doesn\u2019t matter. Just laugh. It\u2019s almost impossible to stay in a bad mood while you\u2019re laughing. (Two sites that never fail to get me chuckling are <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bash.org\/\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">http:\/\/www.bash.org<\/span><\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.rinkworks.com\/\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">http:\/\/www.rinkworks.com<\/span><\/a>.)<\/p>\n<p>So how about you? Do you resort to one of the above methods every time you\u2019re in a grump? Do you have your own way of snapping out of it? Or do you secretly enjoy being down and miserable?<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em>Written by Ali, a writer and website creator (<\/em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aliventures.com\/\"><em>www.aliventures.com<\/em><\/a><em>).<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Photo by <a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/technowannabe\/562918256\/\" target=\"_blank\">Todd Baker<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I\u2019m sure you can think of some moments during the past week when you\u2019ve felt exactly the same. I know I can. And I hate being grumpy: I snap at people unfairly, I feel a complete lack of motivation towards my goals, and I often end up spiralling further and further into a Really Bad Mood. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/boost-your-mood\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12163,"featured_media":681,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[6],"tags":[1378,1905,4642,2636,91,4641,354,4631,66,4651,290,4629],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v19.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Boost Your Mood<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I\u2019m sure you can think of some moments during the past week when you\u2019ve felt exactly the same. I know I can. And I hate being grumpy: I snap at people unfairly, I feel a complete lack of motivation towards my goals, and I often end up spiralling further and further into a Really Bad Mood.\" \/>\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\/boost-your-mood\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Boost Your Mood\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I\u2019m sure you can think of some moments during the past week when you\u2019ve felt exactly the same. I know I can. And I hate being grumpy: I snap at people unfairly, I feel a complete lack of motivation towards my goals, and I often end up spiralling further and further into a Really Bad Mood.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/boost-your-mood\/\" \/>\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=\"2008-09-02T10:00:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-08-19T17:14:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/boost-mood.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"445\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"311\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@pickthebrain\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@pickthebrain\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Erin Falconer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 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\/boost-your-mood\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/boost-mood.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/boost-mood.jpg\",\"width\":445,\"height\":311},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/boost-your-mood\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/boost-your-mood\/\",\"name\":\"Boost Your Mood\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/boost-your-mood\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2008-09-02T10:00:48+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-08-19T17:14:41+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2da8ae162c097bdb749ab098472b4cc5\"},\"description\":\"I\u2019m sure you can think of some moments during the past week when you\u2019ve felt exactly the same. 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