Actions That Made Me Happier
garyharan.com
garyharan.com
having one just for home, maybe I can attach it to my lapdesk and reduce the wear and tear.
Though syncing stuff might be a pain, depending on the nature of your work. Source code might be easy to share with git.
I have a laptop even though I don't commute to work with it. I like to take it along when traveling occasionally. Is this very funny?
Some examples: - owning extra power cords, batteries, memory cards, etc. for electronic devices - setting up a power strip and various charging or connecting cables where they're easy to reach (consider the recently-circulated pic of the cables clipped to the edge of the desk.) - own the right cooking utensils, pots, pans, maybe a slow cooker or rice steamer, and so on. There's no sense in frustrating yourself day after day because it's harder than it needs to be to make dinner. - have appropriately-sized and located garbage cans, recycling bins, clothes hampers, toy boxes, file cabinets, and other types of containers. - repair or replace broken stuff that regularly causes annoyance, like sticky file cabinet drawers.
One tip that's helped me: when something makes you feel good, add it to feelgood.txt. Over time, you'll start to see patterns (vs. the random, fallible memories/ideas we have about what makes us happy).
Every few days or so I'll have a random entry [7/23/09: felt good to chill with Andreas. played games, chatted, had bfast, etc. hospitality. nice to catch up. 7/15/09: Felt good to 1) post to BE and 2) exercise today].
Looking back, I can see what actually worked in making me happy.
I'm going to create a feelgood.txt on my work computer right now. I'm also thinking about creating a feelbad.txt - so I know what to avoid in my life.
If you use org-mode and remember-mode you can add this template to your org-remember-templates: ("Happy Thought" ?h "* %U %?" "~/happy.org" "Happy Thoughts")
Doing so made me happy, so I added it to the file, which in-turn produced happiness. Ahhh, recursive happiness.
I have contemplated geeking out and tagging these entries [blog] [exercise] and similar, so I could later analyze what areas give me the most satisfaction. But that's too much -- it's enjoyable just browsing through vs. letting grep do all the work.
It's funny how we need to write these down, but we do. Off the top of my head I can "forget" that I like to draw when I'm bored. In a similar way, sometimes we have to "remember" what makes us happy.
From the article:
"... economic and professional success exists on the surface of life, and that they emerge out of interpersonal relationships, which are much deeper and more important."
"Most governments release a ton of data on economic trends but not enough on trust and other social conditions. In short, modern societies have developed vast institutions oriented around the things that are easy to count, not around the things that matter most."
Seriously.
Alcohol is a great evolutionary adaptation, since it allows people to be extremely dour and responsible most of the time, while being able to loosen up with chemical assistance. Countries that are known for their seriousness and work ethic often have a strong drinking culture (e.g. Germany, Japan). There's a Steve Sailer article about this; I can't find it, and the domain is auto-killed upon submission anyway.
I very much like the point about 'removing small frustrations'. So often, the temptation is to pass the opportunity by, perhaps because it is small compared to everything else we are worrying about. But add it up, over a year or two, or take them all as a set, and the cumulative effect is quite significant. The satisfaction of addressing even one is a real, immediate boost and sense of accomplishment.
Finally, to return to the drinking. I find, especially as I get older, that I enjoy a cup or two of coffee in a cafe as much or more than a drink in a bar. The caffeine elevates dopamine and thereby seems to open up conversation, but the results tend to be more interesting and don't culminate in a hang-over.
On drinking with co-workers: point taken, but if you are actually having mood problems, watch the alcohol intake. It's a depressant.
Why, oh why are people so cruel, so uncaring, so unkind?
Look for it two thirds of the way down this page: