You start an email to your boss, “Dear total moron.” If a minute later you decide not to send it, you have one particular part of your brain to thank: your prefrontal cortex. This part of your brain is prime brain real estate. (It’s roughly speaking just behind your forehead and the thin layer marked in read more…
We: How to Increase Performance and Profits through Full Engagement is titled so because the authors view employee engagement as a partnership between employees and their employers. I couldn’t agree more. The authors were, at the time, executives at Kenexa, which offers employee engagement surveys and consulting. Early on the authors argue strongly that paying read more…
I’m excited to share some of the amazing things I learned at the International Positive Psychology Association World Congress in Los Angeles. I presented a poster titled “Hacking Into Happiness: Habits for the Workplace.” Please click the preview image on the left to request a copy, and stay tuned for my upcoming book with a similar theme. read more…
As a former programmer, I’m very familiar with “hacks”: short-cuts or tricks to get something working better. You may be familiar with “life hacking“, using a similar approach to finding novel ways to improve life. I want to extend that concept to create “happiness hacks”. Happiness hacks are simply new ways of boosting happiness at read more…
I’m delighted to introduce a great guest blogger to you today. Jill Nelson is the founder and CEO of Ruby Receptionists. Ruby is the #1 best small company to work for in the U.S! I sat down with Jill and asked her how she’s built a wonderful place for people to work. Enjoy the video read more…
A recent study showed only one in five of us is taking a real lunch break. Several studies suggest the productivity benefits of actually taking a lunch break. According to the science of happiness, the best possible lunch break is to exercise outdoors with a friend. This gives us three happiness and brain-function boosts: 1. read more…
I am delighted to introduce a new guest blogger to you today. I recently had the pleasure of corresponding with Dr. Barrie Hopson, author of 40 books including Live Happier The Ultimate Life Skill. More about Barrie below, but I want to get you to his great post quickly. He contributed on one of my read more…
Pursuing happiness at work, you may be thinking of changing careers, as I did just over one year ago. My first advice is: try before you buy! Too many of us try to think our way into a new career. We decide on a plan that includes going to graduate school. Once we start graduate school, read more…
What if we could game our way to happiness at work? Recently I have become more and more fascinated with that question and started working on a happiness game. It seems like the natural thing to do when you have been living and breathing video game design for years. Stay tuned for more on the read more…
With millions of us working from home at least some of the time, it’s important to do it well. Telecommuting can be awesome or awful, depending on how we manage it. From a science of happiness perspective, I offer you these three brief productivity tips. For geeks like myself, I have included links to in-depth read more…