For the next few months, I am going to do a brief recap of some powerful parenting (with educational topics) books I’ve read.
Sometimes reading quotes from books helps shift my mindset on certain topics and gets me focused on what’s really important when raising children.
Book Title: Happiness Hacks
Author: Alex Palmer
Book Synopsis:
Could you be happier at work . . . in love . . . in life? You may not need a total overhaul – just a few goodHappiness Hacks!
Here are hundreds of shortcuts to brighten your day and boost your mood – and the science behind how they work.
Discover why:
- 57°F (13.9°C) is the happiest temperature
- Selfies give you a jolt of joy
- Renters have a surprising edge over homeowners
- 17-minute breaks are the most productive
- Intimacy is better than sex
- It’s more satisfying to work a full 40-hour week
- Date night is the key to a happy marriage
- Just 10 minutes of exercise can cheer you up
Whether you’re seeking better health, stronger friendships, or that elusive happy place, these stunningly simple tips are proven to help. You can hack your way to happiness!
My Review:
Some days work can be hard or maybe it’s your personal life or just the weather that has your down in the dumps. I read this book for some good old scientific research on the best happiness hacks and it was worth the time!
Top Ten Quotes:
- “Ask yourself why you are working on a particular project, or even in the work you’re pursuing. If you aren’t doing it because you are passionate about it or feel it aligns with who you truly are, sooner or later, the work will become a slog.”
- “Vacationers displayed higher levels of happiness than nonvacationers for weeks, and sometimes even months, before the holiday began.”
- “Most people in our research over the years give the major reason for not participating in leisure activities as ‘not enough time.’ However, we should distrust this explanation and more often than not treat it as an ‘excuse.’ In our time-use studies, we have found that when people say they don’t have enough time to engage in physically active leisure or other demanding and potentially satisfying activities, for example, they are watching three to four hours of television a day. Time constraints do not really seem to be the issue, rather it’s a question of priorities.” – Roger C. Mannell, Distinguished Professor Emeritus and former dean
- “Tons of psychological studies have found evidence of the paradoxical relationship between selflessness and happiness–that is, by giving to others and avoiding selfish behavior, you end up gaining in the process.”
- “Showing up is 80% (or thereabouts) of friendship. if you want to build a friendship, make the effort to spend more time with prospective friends.”
- “Spanish researchers following almost 20,00 people over a decade found that those who drank at least four cups per day had a 64 percent lower risk of dying–when researchers followed up about ten years after the initial assessment–than those who never or almost never consumed coffee.”
- “He examined data from 1.1 million men and women aged thirty to 102 and found that the best rate of survival was among those who slept about seven hours a night.”
- “Write Down Meaningful Moments
Researcher and happiness expert Shawn Achor found that when workers spent two minutes to take four quick actions, it improved their happiness over the long term. Those four actions are:- Write down a meaningful experience you had in the past twenty-four hours.
- Jot down three things you are grateful for.
- Write a positive message to someone on Facebook or another social media site.
- Meditate.”
- “For 17 Minutes Off, 52 Minutes On
Time-tracking productivity app DeskTime isolated the top 10 percent of the most productive employees, analyzing their computer use over a workday.Those who did the most productive work took an average break of 17 minutes, and worked straight through for 52 minutes.” - “Or for 5 Minutes Off, 25 Minutes On
An alternate strategy is the Pomodoro Technique, in which one breaks up the workday into 30-minute sections, working for 25 minutes (1 Pomodoro, so named because the technique’s inventor timed these sections on his tomato-shaped timer) at a time and breaking for 5.”
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