The brain is a complex and confusing thing. Even scientists don’t understand the brain’s capacity completely. However, what we do know is that certain lifestyle changes can affect how it works and how effectively.
If you want to feel happier and more positive in your workplace, if you want to feel more upbeat whilst you’re sat at your office desk, perhaps feeling confident enough to speak out around the boardroom tables when you have a suggestion or idea, have you ever considered tapping into the power of your happy hormones?
It’s true, you have hormones which affect your mood and when you work to increase the amounts of happy hormones you have in your system, the results can be quite impressive.
These hormones are thought to be dopamine, serotonin and oxytocin. When these are released by the brain into the body, you feel more relaxed, more upbeat, more positive, and generally find it easier to look on the brighter side of life, as opposed to the gloomy side.
Feeling happy in your job is important. You spend many hours in the office, whether you work full time, part-time or you have another arrangement. Happy workers are more productive, but from a personal point of view, it makes your working hours more enjoyable overall. With that in mind, it makes sense to try and make these happy hormones work for you!
So, how can you increase the production of these hormones? It’s actually far easier than you might think!
- Get outside and enjoy the fresh air - When you’re outside, you’re naturally calmer and this, alongside exposure to fresh air and natural sunlight, can help you feel more uplifted and more positive. So, when you’re on your break, head outside and enjoy the fresh air. You’re bound to be more focused and able to concentrate when you return to your office chair.
- Make sure you’re getting enough sleep - Sleep is vital for mood and general health and wellbeing. It’s not possible to be happy and positive when you’re lacking in sleep. You need to aim for between 7 to 8 hours of sleep every night and you need to have a routine. That basically means no more lie-ins! This helps to regulate the release of relaxation hormones from the brain also.
- Spend time with those you love and connect with - Spending time with people we enjoy being around, helps to boost the feel-good factor and also affects the release of the oxytocin hormone. So, make sure you’re spending time with the right people and limit the amount of time you’re spending with those who do nothing but drag you down.
- Focus on the things which bring you joy - Do you love spending time with your pet dog? Do you adore reading? Do you find joy in painting or something else which is highly creative? Whatever you enjoy doing, do more of it. This helps to boost your happiness levels, increase your general positivity, even in the workplace, and make life much more enjoyable in general.
- Get plenty of exercise - when you exercise your body releases endorphins and other hormones which help you to deal with the exercise you’re doing but also increases your mood and feel-good factor. Having a walk or some other kind of exercise during your lunch break is the ideal way to benefit from this when you return to your designer office desk, but any type of exercise is useful. Check out this infographic which explains how exercise can make you happier.
Source - http://yourbrainhealth.com.au/neuroscience-exercise-makes-happy-infographic/
The work you do in the contemporary office is also affected by your body and how you feel generally. By focusing on the healthier aspects to life, you’ll find that your productivity levels rise almost automatically.