Sluggish to Replenished in 86 Minutes Flat

I’m feeling sluggish today. I took the afternoon off. It’s hard to focus. I’m craving sugar. I’m longing for my blanket and bed. Instead of fighting it, I’m choosing to be still and acknowledge how I am feeling.

10 minutes later…

I have to admit that I was multi-tasking as I was sitting still. I started looking at my Google Reader list and saw Gretchen Rubin’s guest post on Zen Habits titled Beat the Holiday or Financial Blues: 9 Tips for Making Yourself Happier in the Next 30 Minutes.

Since I have the next 30 minutes to focus on making myself feel better, I am going to do a live blogging experiment by working her suggestions and blogging as I go. Let’s see if my mood is lifted and if I can find a happiness boost.

Here we go…..

2:07pm Boost your energy. She is suggesting I go outside (I think it is 3 degrees out right now) for a brisk ten-minute walk. She thinks movement and sunlight will help shift my mood. I’ll be back in ten minutes….

2:28pm I’m back! Fresh air, deep breaths, sunlight, and power walking felt great. This was the first time I officially exercised since Thanksgiving day! Yahoo – perhaps the spell has been broken.

2:29pm Count your blessings. She is encouraging me to take ten minutes to focus on my gratitude attitude. Here I go…

Things going right in my life > My growing and healthy children, my partnership with my husband to build the best possible marriage, planning for my winter vacation, planning for upcoming visitors, my blog.

Things other people do to help me > My husband helps me in countless ways, Tom Vokler helps me commit to my decisions, my parents help me see the bright side of things, my children help me fight adulitis (adultitis is my new favorite word).

Things I am thankful for > Quality time I’m spending with my husband, children, parents, family, and friends. This exercise.

2:43pm Reach out to friends. I talked to my mom while I went for my walk (yes, I know I’m still multi-tasking). I also left a voicemail message for one of my dearest friends. Hearing her voice brought a smile to my day.

2:45pm Perform an action that reflects your values. I value short posts, so I’ll keep this section short. I value the sense of serenity so I just lit some candles. I value physical well-being so I just drank a bottle of water.

2:49pm Rid yourself of a nagging task. This one was painful and was also one of Gretchen’s suggestions. I just scheduled a dentist’s appointment. After all these years, I still hate going to the dentist…but taking this off my to-do list did give me the rush of energy and relief that Gretchen promised. 

2:55pm Create a calmer environment. This one is easy because the amazing women who clean my house just left. Now I just need to maintain this mess-free space.

2:57pm Lay the groundwork for some future fun. Someone recently observed that my life looks like 95% responsibility and 5% fun. This shocking, raw, observation broke my heart. It must just be an outsider’s perspective and not a true reflection of my life. Back to the task at hand, I just looked into some upcoming day trips for my family. During our holiday break we are thinking about going to a local indoor waterpark. I’m excited about spending a day splashing around with my kids. I also checked out photos of where we are going for our sunny winter vacation. The excitement is building.

2:57pm Do a good deed. I’m not sure if it was a good deed, but I just emailed a friend to see if we can get together before the end of the year. I also stressed how important he is to me, even though life is busy and we haven’t seen each other in many months. I feel happy that this person is in my life. This part of my experiment took me 20 minutes b/c I got lost in an email haze.

3:27pm Act happy. I’m smiling! I’m smiling! Look at the picture on the top right corner of my blog. See me smiling? Don’t I look friendly and approachable? Don’t you find my smile contagious? Are you smiling now too?

At the end of Gretchen’s post, she encourages you to practice being selfish…”Some people worry that wanting to be happier is a selfish goal. To the contrary. Studies show that happier people are more sociable, likeable, healthy, and productive—and they’re more inclined to help other people. So in working to boost your own happiness, you’re benefiting others as well.”

It is now 3:33pm.
This 30 minute experiment took me 86 minutes to complete. I now feel energized, thankful, hopeful, replenished, and happy.  

This is your moment!
Leveraging the conversation going on at Zen Habits, what strategies have you tried to give yourself a happiness boost?