10 Easy Ways to Put Yourself in a Good Mood Quickly

We are social to our core. You can leverage this fact of biology to improve your mood by taking a little time to make a small positive connection with another human being throughout your day.

So, the next time you’re in line at Starbucks waiting for your coffee, put down your phone and look up:

• Ask the guy in front of you what he thinks of the new furniture layout.
• Smile compassionately at the new mom trying to wrangle three young kids out the door and into the minivan.
• Ask your barista how her day is going with genuine interest.

Our work environment is full of cues for stress: a reminder about that uncomfortable email you have to send to your direct report, walking by your boss’s office, or even just hearing your phone ring for the twelfth time in an hour. All these little cues add up and can take a toll on your mood.

You can give yourself a major break from all these negative cues and allow your mood to rise by taking your lunch to go and going for a walk for 15 or 30 minutes. Not only does it get you moving, but you get exposed to all sorts of new, non-work-related environmental cues which can positively impact your mood.

Single-tasking is the ultimate form of relaxation.

If you want to feel genuinely relaxed and calm, give your mind a break and do just one thing, like listening to good music.

We tend to feel better when we get outside our own heads and do something for others. But being kind and generous to other people doesn’t have to be a monumental act of charity and self-sacrifice. It can be quite small and still meaningful.

Try this:

• Make a list of 5-10 people whom you love and care about.
• Set a recurring daily reminder on your phone for any time you like.
• When the reminder goes off each day, take 30 seconds and text the first person on your list. Could be anything from a heartfelt message of love or admiration to a silly gif.
• Work your way down the list, texting a new person on the list each day.

Worry is often your mind’s way of making sure you don’t forget important things. If you want to stop worrying, prove to your mind that you can be trusted to manage your own to-dos.

Tomorrow’s top 3 is a little habit for staying focused on and taking care of the most important things—and as a result, drastically cutting down on the amount of worry-as-memory-aid your mind needs to perform:

• At the end of your workday, set aside 5 minutes after you’ve finished up work but before you leave.
• Take out an index card or sticky note and put it front and center on your desk, workspace, or wherever you begin your workday.
• Write down the three most important things you’d like to get done the following day.

One of the best ways to avoid having work stress spill over into your evenings at home is to create more of a transition between work and home.

In order to transition into a more restful evening mode, it can be helpful to have a period of time in between when you give your mind a break.

Commutes to and from work are natural transitions, but more often than not we keep our minds revved up by listening to radio or podcasts or on phone calls. But, if you commit to silence on your way home from work, you can give your mind a much needed period of rest and respite from the constant barrage of mental stimuli it gets all day.

If you want to be overwhelmed with tragedy, anger, and despair over the state of the world, by all means, keep watching the news in the evening. Or you could read something uplifting instead.

An evening review means you take a few minutes to pause and reflect on your day. This can take whatever form you like—journaling, meditation, prayer, etc.

Reviewing your day gives your perspective on your day. And when we have perspective on our days, we have perspective on our lives.