Tips from the leading edge of positive psychology

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…

Hacking Performance Reviews to be more Palatable and Positive

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…

How Ruby Receptionists Became Such a Happy Place to Work

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…

Want to be happier and more productive? Take a real lunch break.

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…

Thinking of changing careers? Try before you buy!

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…

The Get-To-Work-Happy Game

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…

3 productivity tips for working HAPPILY from home

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…

REACH to Rewire your Brain

Note: This article was originally published in Positive Psychology News Daily. Visit the PPND website or contact me for a list of references. Until recent years, the story of your brain was pretty discouraging. When I was getting my degree in Cognitive Science in the 1980s, I was told what you may have heard: you read more…

Three Myths About Managing Geeks

I am a geek. I love technology, programming, design, and other nerdy delights. I’ve worked with geeks for most of my career, and love working with them! I was recently asked for input on managing geeks, and specifically for help addressing myths about geeks. I would love to hear your thoughts about these: Myth #1: read more…