Our ten tips to help you feel cheerful
Feeling down? You don’t need a lottery win to start facing the world with a smile. Follow our ten steps to happiness...
Take a piece of paper and pen and write down your priorities. Who and what is important to you? What is the best use of your time at home and at work? Ask yourself: what is essential? What is a luxury? And what is a hassle? If your life seems imbalanced in favour of hassles and things you don’t enjoy, think about what you can do to change this. Do this regularly, as your priorities will change as your life and commitments change.
Think about your job. It takes up 37 hours of your waking week, and it’s a large chunk of your life if it makes you unhappy. Look at your work/life balance. We all need to work but we also need a social circle. We need to have time to make relationships, have children and have fun to be happy. If you often work late and at weekends and feel stressed, talk to your manager about what can be done to reduce your workload, and look at if there are any ways that you can improve your time management in the office.
Watch a feelgood movie that inspires you or makes you laugh. Film has an extraordinary power to make us forget our everyday worries and although it’s a cliché, laughter can be the best medicine – helping you feel more relaxed and less stressed about your problems. In fact, movies are increasingly being used by contemporary psychotherapists in order to help patients come to terms with their emotions. Some of the most inspiring films are: It’s A Wonderful Life, Close Encounters Of The Third Kind, Field Of Dreams, but pick one of your favourites and take up a spot on the sofa.
Are you getting enough sleep? Sleep is essential for both biological and mental health. Lack of sleep can even be a factor in depression – one study showed that teenage girls who don’t get enough sleep have higher rates of depression and have a much worse self-image than those who do. Sleeping badly is also associated with higher rates of divorce and low productivity at work. Improve your night’s rest by winding down before bed with a bath or a hot drink such as camomile tea – and don’t take your laptop to bed.
Give something back and you’ll feel better. Terrible things happen in the world and we can feel powerless to do anything about them, but there are some situations where you can make a difference. Why not volunteer and spend a few hours a week helping others in your local community. This can make you forget your problems and re-evaluate what you do have, as well as giving you the warm glow of having done something good. You don’t have to commit hours to make a difference. Popping upstairs to say hello to your elderly neighbour, giving blood, or picking up some litter doesn’t take very long.
Look at your thought patterns – are they negative? When things go wrong, it’s easy to imagine that you’re somehow cursed, and that all your relationships, jobs, or diets are doomed to failure. But that kind of thinking creates a vicious circle which only makes you unhappier. Resolve to start controlling the way you think about events – don’t let events control you. When it’s raining, think about not having to water your garden rather than you getting wet. When your bus is late, think about whether it really matters.
Get outdoors. Reconnecting with nature can make you feel good. Research by the Countryside Recreation Network found that nine out of 10 volunteers who took part in outdoor activities ranging from mountain biking to walking experienced a significant overall improvement in their self-esteem. Many also said the experience left them feeling less stressed and much happier.
Comfort yourself. If you work in a hectic environment, take a photo of a holiday or landscape that calms you so you can escape for a few moments if things start to get on top of you.
Are you making the most of your talents? It can be easy to feel something is missing in your life if you’re not making time to do things you enjoy and are good at.
Don’t forget your diet. A healthy diet will help you feel good and give you energy to help you tackle the world.