7 Ways To Boost Your Mood

I originally wrote this as a guest article for Peter's The Change Blog. I hope you enjoy it.

There are times when no matter how hard we try to avoid it, we sink into a funk or a less than productive mood. 

We drag our feet, feel unmotivated and lose perspective. When that happens we can either roll with it hoping it will wear off, or we can apply strategies to counteract it.

To help you get moving and back on track again, here are some helpful suggestions to boost your mood.

1. Get some exercise.
Exercise is one of the quickest ways to pick yourself up because it stimulates circulation and releases the happy hormones, otherwise known as endorphins. Before you know it you will be ready to take on the world, or at least you'll feel that way!
2. Have a catnap.
If you're worn out and too tired to exercise, perhaps a nap is in order. It's surprising how a little fifteen or twenty-minute rest can be refreshing. Not only that, when we nap new ideas, insights and solutions come to the surface from our sub-conscious. Thomas Edison, Winston Churchill and John F. Kennedy were all known to take catnaps to rejuvenate themselves.
3. Listen to uplifting music.
Music is the ultimate mood changer! It can take you from the depths of listlessness to the heights of exhilaration. 

As Plato observed 

"Music and rhythm find their way into the secret places of the soul".

 
4. Take a break and have a cup of tea or coffee.
There is a reason coffee breaks are mandatory at most work places. Of course you need not drink tea or coffee but stepping away from what you were doing gives you a fresh new outlook and when you get back to it, you're ready to roll.

 

5. Focus on the positive.
At times when we get involved in a project and things aren't going well or when we're having a bad day, we have a tendency to become negative and distort the situation. We forget what has gone well and what is working. When that happens, it's a good idea to re-focus, look at what is going right, what you have accomplished and how far you've come. It will give you the boost you need to keep going. 

 

6. Talk to someone.
Expressing your feelings to a friend or colleague can be both therapeutic and a way to get you out of your mood. When someone empathizes or commiserates with us, we feel that the burden is not all ours to bear and that someone understands what we're going through. Knowing that others care or have had similar feelings gives us a pickup and helps motivate us to move on.
7. Switch direction completely.
Sometimes getting in a rut or down mood can be the result of spending too much time on one particular task. In those cases you need a different type of break. The best thing to do is walk away from what you're doing and engage in something completely different. If you've been working at a computer all day, take a break and go shopping, visit a friend or clean out your closet (a popular choice I'm sure). When you get back to the task at hand, you will have a new, fresh mindset.

As you can see, we are not at the mercy of our moods. When we get stuck (and we all do at times), we have the ability to lift ourselves up, rise above what's momentarily dragging us down and forge ahead.