Hacking Your Happiness Chemicals

All of us need daily doses of each of these happiness chemicals, but how can we get them when we are working? Here are some tips:

Dopamine

• Finish a little task. Keeping track of the things from your to do list that have already been completed can be very powerful.

• Have coffee or tea with a colleague.

• Look for and celebrate small wins.

Oxytocin

• Notice what people are doing right and give sincere compliments lavishly.  

• Write compliments on sticky notes and leave them around the office.

• Write thank you notes when colleagues partner with you.

Serotonin

• Learn and practice 5-minute meditations. Here is a list of some of my favorites to help you get started: Quick Meditations. The magic code word is “meditation.”

• Take 3 deep breaths when you leave and enter every room.

• Spend time outside every day, even if it is only for a few minutes here and there.

Endorphin

• Practice a laughter exercise. When my cousin Pat, a certified coach, told me this exercise, I thought she was crazy, but it actually works!

• Exercise, stretch, or just take the long way to get wherever you are going.

• Take some essential oils into your office (as long as your colleagues find them pleasant — we all react differently to scents.)

Take time to do at least one of these every day!