Getting back to our pre-covid life

Hello again!

It seems that this situation is slowly settling down. We are slowly getting back to our pre-COVID life. And this means new challenges and opportunities.

On a working level, the big change is the return to face-to-face work. We are going back to the office. It reminds me of when the holidays were over and we started school. For some it was great, but for others (myself included) it was the worst news of the summer. Once we were back, we gradually adapted. And we enjoyed our friends, certain subjects, as well as having a lot of fun.

I want to connect, in this newsletter, the happiness with the return to work in the office. Einh? How do you feel about that…? Let’s try!

Psychology, until the 70s of the last century, had dealt with the negative or sick part of the mind. Until Martin Seligman made a 180º turn to psychology. This great psychologist realised that we can learn a lot (or more) from people who are happy and positive. From then on, he began to study happy people to see what characteristics they have. We can apply this to the workplace.

There are six things that happy people exhibit, according to scientists. These characteristics of happy people are interrelated. The first one is mindfulness of the present moment. Those who work with mindfulness have several advantages. If you like what you are working on, you will enjoy it more, doing it with more quality, and if you don’t like it, you will have less stress, as well as having the feeling that it lasts less time.

The second one is kindness: why treating others in an unkind way? Every time we have kind gestures, we stimulate the same pleasure zones as with food and sex.

Thirdly, there is not complaining. This does not mean not resolving conflicts. It’s nice to work with positive, problem-solving people. We don’t do that when we spend all day worrying and complaining. The loss of energy and opportunities is guaranteed.

Happy people are also grateful. At work, it encourages a positive attitude and a rapprochement with colleagues.

As a fifth characteristic, happy people feel supported and loved by their social environment. How do they achieve this? Because they take care of their relationships, giving them time. It is not about quantity, it is quality. This is essential at work, where we spend so much time together. The key is to treat our co-workers with quality. The world’s longest scientific study. of over 75 years of duration, measured individuals who had studied at Harvard during this time, and considers feeling valued and loved by your close ones and the community, as the most important thing to be happy.

And finally, something for after work. But which has a big influence on how we will find ourselves at work…. The idea of taking care of yourself. Nice food, good sleep, stimulating activities and exercise promote good health and greatly reduce stress.

Don’t you wish you could work like this, and don’t you see the benefits at work or in the rest of your life?

With the return to face-to-face work, we can do a self-exam to see how we are doing on each of the elements we have talked about. Especially in the office environment, enhancing these characteristics will make us happier, both at work and in our daily lives!

It’ s your turn. You have your homework.

Breathe, this is mindfulness!