Gretchen Rubin's Blog, page 10
March 27, 2023
16 April Fools’ Day Prank Ideas to Trick the Senses
One of my favorite happiness-project resolutions is to “Celebrate minor holidays,” and one of my favorite minor holidays is April Fools’ Day.
I always try to prank members of my family—in an easy, fun, gentle way. Nothing too upsetting—and nothing very taxing for me to set up.
I’ve turned a carton of milk bright green with food dye, frozen a bowl of cereal, and posted a giant photo of swimming fish inside my daughter’s toilet bowl.
As I write about in my new book Life in Five Senses, last year I used “Gelling Joke” to turn my daughter Eleanor’s beverage into (non-toxic) sludge. Even I was startled by how effective this stuff is!
This year, I was out of ideas, so I asked listeners of the Happier with Gretchen Rubin podcast for their suggestions.
I asked for pranks that made use of the five senses, but as I read people’s answers, I realized that many April Fools’ pranks play on the five senses, by confounding our expectations in some way.
Something doesn’t taste the way we expect, or it doesn’t look the way we expect, or it’s a surprising color, or it pops out unexpectedly…that’s the fun of the prank!
A different kind of prank is by surprising someone with (false) information.
Once, on a family spring-break trip, I told my young daughters that they couldn’t use the pool, because it had to be drained for some reason. They were so disappointed, but tried to be so reasonable about it! I broke down and told them the truth right away. Now I prefer sensory pranks.
Here are some of my favorites ideas from listeners, which are all of the sensory kind:
Turn every piece of clothing in the drawers and closet inside out. Bonus hack: A year later, you can identify and donate any unworn, still inside-out clothes.Eat dessert before dinner.Cut out many of the letter “E” from brown paper, put them in a pan covered in foil, and offer your family or coworkers some delicious “brown-Es.”A classic: short-sheeting.Hide card stock between the frosting and cookie of an Oreo.Save packages from the mail and place a huge stack of empty boxes outside the front door, to make your family think you’ve gone on a giant spree.On the toilet-paper roll, draw a spider with a Sharpie or glue a plastic spider, so that it will pop out whenever someone pulls the paper.Switch bags of cereal into different boxes, so that when a family member pours out their favorite cereal, the wrong kind lands in their bowl.Put googly eyes on things all around the house. [This is my very favorite idea!]Put a drop of food coloring in the bottom of a glass, so that when a beverage is poured in, it magically turns into another color. [Food dye is a great tool for the April Fools’ trickster.]Swap vanilla frosting for toothpaste.Shape Starbursts into “baby carrots.”Fill a cardboard box with dirt and decorate it like a cake.Substitute sugar for salt or vice versa, swap mayonnaise for pudding, or use shaving cream in place of whipped cream.Swap items in a homemade school lunch with wrapped wood blocks or fake food (but don’t forget to include lunch money).Breakfast for dinner, or dinner for breakfast.
For more ideas, take a look:
I love these kind of fun, easy traditions. They build happiness because they mark the passage of time in a special way, they’re memorable, they’re light-hearted, and they contribute to a sense of group identity. The things that go wrong often make the best memories—even if those things are intentionally “wrong.”
And anything that makes us laugh is good!
What are some of your favorite April Fools’ Day pranks—either ones that you’ve played on others, or that others have played on you?
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March 23, 2023
How to Heighten Your Senses
These days, it’s all too easy to feel stuck in your head or trapped behind a screen. You might feel disconnected from your body or the world around you, or as though time is slipping away.
One cure? Tap in to your five senses.
There are many easy, quick steps you can take to enhance your senses—and by strengthening your awareness and appreciation of your senses, you’ll make your life happier and richer.
Boosting your senses will help you to…
stay focused and productiveconnect more deeply with other peopleevoke and create strong, vivid memoriesspark creativityhave funfeel calmer, less stressed, and more energeticbe present in the moment and appreciate the ordinaryHow to strengthen your senses
To boost your senses, you can experiment with a variety of approaches:
Immersion—immerse yourself in one or more of your sensesDeprivation—deprive yourself of a sense to heighten your awareness of itKnowledge—take a class, read up; the more you know, the more you noticeSplurge—make a modest purchase of something gives you pleasure or comfort through one of your sensesConfound—do something to startle or surprise your sensesNotice—take the time to pay attention to the ordinary experiences that are easy to ignoreHow to heighten your sense of sightTurn your smartphone to “grayscale” so that the screen appears in black, white, and gray. Depriving yourself of color will make you aware of its power.Splurge on a set of colored pens, so you can enjoy colors beyond black and blue when you’re writing.Look closely at something that’s usually in the background and notice shapes, colors, patterns—a pet’s fur, a painted wall, wood grain in the floorboards or table, a house plant, the packaging of an everyday item.
How to heighten your sense of hearingTurn off your devices’ notification sounds so you can focus on what you want to hear without being distracted by pings or buzzes.Deprive yourself of the sounds of conversation by scheduling a day of silence, when you don’t talk to anyone, listen to music or podcasts, or watch TV or movies.Notice how music can change your mood, then create an “Audio Apothecary” playlist of energetic, upbeat songs to play when you’re feeling low
How to heighten your sense of smellA tip I learned from perfumers: Run up and down the stairs a few times. The exercise will increase blood flow to your nose and strengthen your sense of smell.Take a deep sniff of a strong smell (a bottle of capers, a clove of garlic) first with one nostril, then with the other, to appreciate how each nostril perceives a slightly different smell.Notice the smell of a place you often visit: hardware store, liquor store, department store, ice-cream parlor, coffee shop, library, pet store.
How to heighten your sense of tastePinch your nose closed, then take a bite of something with a strong flavor, such as a chocolate bar. Notice the taste—then unplug your nose, and notice how much more complex that flavor becomes. Without the sense of smell, we taste only sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and umami. We need smell for complex flavors.Confound your tongue by trying the “miracle berry,” a tablet that you pop into your mouth to make sour things taste sweet.Put a dollop of Heinz Ketchup on your tongue and try to distinguish sweet, salty, bitter, umami, and sour. (Then try to think of anything else that manages to combine all five tastes.)
How to heighten your sense of touchGive a loving touch to another person—appropriately, of course—with a hug, handshake, fist bump, or pat on the back. Notice how physical touch changes your emotional response.Make a modest splurge by buying a fun touch toy, such as a pop toy, fidget spinner, therapy dough, kinetic sand, or Silly Putty.Make a non-Newtonian fluid out of cornstarch to be confounded by its strange qualities.
There are also a few general behaviors that will strengthen your senses, as well as make you generally healthier:
When you make the effort to strengthen your senses, you’ll feel more connected to the world, to other people, and to yourself.
Many of us have foreground senses and background senses; we appreciate some senses, but neglect others. Take the free, quick quiz to identify your neglected sense, and get concrete ideas for tapping into this sense to have more fun, love, energy, and calm.
By going through your body, you can reach your spirit, and through your spirit, you can reach your body.
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March 16, 2023
What’s Your Neglected Sense?
Introducing my new quiz: The Five-Senses Quiz: What’s Your Neglected Sense?
We’re all familiar with the five senses—what could be called the Aristotelian Senses or the Kindergarten Senses: seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, and touching.
In recent times, researchers have identified many additional senses, such as proprioception, equilibrioception, and interoception. While every sense contributes to our experience, and is fascinating in its own right, these more subtle senses run in the background. Typically we notice them only when they break down.
We pay a lot of attention, however, to the Big Five.
However, even with the Big Five, I’ve noticed, many of us have foreground senses and background senses; we appreciate some senses, but neglect others.
With an appreciated sense, we pay attention; we seek new experiences; we enjoy talking and learning about that sense.
With a neglected sense, we’re much less interested; we rarely turn to it for pleasure or comfort, we don’t spend time exploring or cultivating it. We may be more concerned with avoiding the negative than appreciating the positive.
One of my aims in writing my new book, Life in Five Senses, was to identify, and learn to appreciate, my own neglected sense.
It was very useful to get this insight into myself, because I was able to use this self-knowledge as a shortcut to a richer life.
Why identify your neglected sense?By tapping into a neglected sense, I discovered a new source of comfort, calm, and creativity; I ventured on fresh experiences that delighted me, and perhaps most important, I found opportunities to engage with other people.
I learned that identifying your neglected sense. . .
Helps explain why you’re attracted to certain purchases, practices, and habits—and why you’re not attractedGives you clues about the types of activities that you might find or more or less appealingSuggests new experiences you might enjoy Provides new ways to connect with othersExplains why you might experience conflict with other people—and suggest how you might resolve those conflictsGives you a new tool to add to your self-care toolbox
However, it’s not always easy to identify a neglected sense. To help you identify yours, I’ve created a free, quick quiz.
The quiz will identify your most neglected sense and provide a list of concrete ideas for tapping into this sense to have more fun, love, energy, and calm.
Take the Five-Senses Quiz: What’s Your Most Neglected Sense?Now more than ever, it’s easy to get stuck in our heads or behind a screen, and forget to engage with the world around us. It’s also easy to fall into ruts of experience. Tapping into a neglected sense can awaken our mindfulness and revive our sense of excitement, connection, and wonder.
Of course, even apart from our different mix of appreciated and neglected senses, we all inhabit different sensory worlds.
We each live in our own body, the one assigned to us by fate and shaped by our history; each of us engages with the world through our own particular complement of senses, whatever those might be.
For some people, a sensation may feel overwhelming, while another barely registers. As writer Zora Neale Hurston observed, “Every man’s spice-box seasons his own food.”
Acknowledging that people experience sensations in different ways can help us all be more understanding—not to dismiss people’s objections to sights, sounds, smells, tastes, or touches, but instead to respect them so that we can create sensory environments in which everyone can feel comfortable.
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March 14, 2023
Why and How You Might Create an “Audio Apothecary”
When I started writing my book Life in Five Senses, I knew that, for me, one of my neglected senses was my sense of hearing. I wanted to learn more to tune in to my hearing—and to do that, music seemed like the obvious place to begin.
All human societies have music, and music plays an important role in activities as varied as dancing, physical work, military exercises, and religious observances. Music can help us stay calm, manage pain, stay focused, and feel energized. It can make exertion seem less strenuous—which is why so many people listen to music when they exercise.
Despite these reasons, and despite the fact that music is so universally popular, I almost never listened to music. However, because I knew that listening to an upbeat song was an easy way to get a quick hit of energy and cheer, I decided to create an “Audio Apothecary,” a special playlist of songs that gave me a boost.
For inspiration, I went to YouTube to listen to Dolly Parton singing “Mule Skinner Blues.” It made me so happy to hear this cheerful, yodeling song—hey, hey! That song was my first addition to my Audio Apothecary. Over time, I added more songs, such as:
“You’re Dead,” Norma Tanega“You Really Got Me,” The Kinks“Pon de Replay,” Rihanna“Not Fade Away,” Buddy Holly & the CricketsIt’s fun to create a playlist to create whatever mood you want evoke, such as…
Happy and energeticMeditativeConfident and powerfulNostalgic—check out the Nostalgia Machine for ideas
Listening to a favorite song gives us a hit of dopamine—just like winning a bet or biting into a chocolate bar. Even better, we can indulge in music as much as we want. Unlike many treats, music is healthy even in large doses (as long as the volume isn’t turned up too loud).
If you want to listen to my “Audio Apothecary,” it’s available on Spotify. You can listen for free.
Open SpotifyClick on “Search” to search for “gretchenrubin” (no space)Click the “Profiles” button on the top barClick on “gretchenrubin” and then “Gretchen Rubin’s Audio Apothecary”
To create your own Audio Apothecary, first identify the mood you want to evoke. If you listen to music often, pay attention to how each song makes you feel, and add songs to your playlist over time.
If you don’t listen to music regularly, start with one song—it might be a favorite from high school, a track from a movie, or something you heard on the radio—and look for similar or “suggested” songs on whichever audio player you use. Download a song identification app to help you make note of songs you hear out in the wild.
If you’d like to learn more about tuning in to your five senses for energy, calm, creativity, luck, and love, take a look at my book Life in Five Senses.
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March 9, 2023
35 Ways to Look at Art
Visiting a museum to look at art can be an intimidating or overwhelming experience.
Most of us aren’t experts, and we might think that we’re not looking at the art in the “right” way. But there’s no one right way to look at art!
When I was writing my new book Life in Five Senses, I decided to challenge myself to visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art every day for a year. (I’m extremely fortunate to live within walking distance of the Met.)
That year is over, and now I’m on my third year of going to the Met every day. I love these visits! One nice thing: because I go every day, and I’ve joined as a member, my visits can be as long or as short as I want.
As I made my visits, I found many ways to help me look at the art with fresh eyes. Whether you’re visiting a small local gallery or a huge museum, and whether you’re a frequent art appreciator or looking for somewhere to start, try these suggestions to help you slow down, notice details, and experience art in a new way.
Search for a specific color. For instance, you might choose a particular Pantone color, such as the Color of the Year, and look for it.
Look for things that surprise you—in the Met, I was surprised to see how often the Buddha is depicted with a mustache (but why not?)Imagine what you would create to sell in the gift shop.Walk across the room to look at an object from a distance.Stand near to an object to examine it closely.Look at a single object for thirty minutes.Look in the object’s corners and edges.Buy a postcard of an object, then compare the postcard to the actual object.Read the label.To look more carefully at a color, make a small circle with your fingers and isolate it from its context (a color often isn’t what we assume it is).Identify distinctions among similar items—Greek vases, Egyptian amulets.Look at an artwork in a hand mirror, to see it reduced and reversed.Squint at an artwork, so details vanish to reveal a simpler composition of shape and color.Hold up a hand to block one part of the work, to see how its absence affects everything else.Search for a tiny detail that’s easy to overlook.Listen to music as you look at the art, to create a soundtrack to the experience.Read a book, watch a movie, or see a play that mentions an artwork, then go look at it for yourself—such as the novels
The Goldfinch
, Girl with a Pearl Earring, or
The Second Mrs. Gioconda
.Use the audio guide.Look for what space has been left empty.Search for a particular element throughout the collection—at the Met, I look for swans, items with supernatural powers, mistakes, skulls, frogs.Examine the frame. Look for any anything that breaks the frame.Look for shifts in scale.Look at the “negative space,” the space around an artwork or an image depicted by the work.Pay attention to how the soundscape of an area—noisy, quiet, echoing, muffled—influences the way you see.Look for triangles, squares, rectangles, circles.In portraits, look for the “catchlight” in a sitter’s eyes—the tiny white specks that show light reflecting off the shiny eyes of the subject.Ask other people to tell you their favorite artworks, then go look at them (we’re always interested to know what others find interesting).Look for particularly spectacular color combinations.Consider the relationship of the title to the artwork—I’ve always loved the painting and title of Charles Demuth’s I Saw the Figure 5 in Gold.Puzzle out the meaning of symbols and iconography.Look for elements of nature in the museum’s galleries: water, plants, sunlight.Find five pieces featured on items in the gift shop, then go look at the actual pieces.In each room, choose your favorite artwork.Create something based on a piece of art that resonates with you—a sketch, a story, a reimagining—or simply take notes on your thoughts and observations.
During my visits, I really enjoyed giving myself these kinds of visual assignments. I noticed more, and I had more fun, as I walked from Egyptian Art to Arms and Armor to the Damascus Room.
If you’d like more ideas about how to look at art, check out “Don’t ‘get’ art? You might be looking at it wrong.”
I like any exercise that gives me more appreciation for the world around me.
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February 27, 2023
30 Ways to Boost Creativity Using the Five Senses
We hear a lot of talk about creativity—but what is creativity, and why do we want it? Though some people may dismiss creativity as something that concerns only artists, many aspects of everyday life allow us to use our creativity.
What is creativity?Creativity is the ability to generate new, original ideas. It allows us to spot fresh solutions to problems, think outside the box, imagine new possibilities, and dream up new stories and new experiences to share.
Being creative means living in an atmosphere of growth, which is one of the key elements of a happy life. We’re happier when we’re growing.
People who exercise their creativity tend to be more productive, more energetic, more innovative—and creativity makes us happier.
Of course, creative work may also lead to feelings of frustration, insecurity, and discouragement! Being creative often means struggling to master new tools, trying and failing to achieve an idea, and receiving criticism.
But the fact is, happiness doesn’t always make us feel happy, and even if it’s not always easy, expressing our creativity is tremendously satisfying.
Why should we try to boost our creativity?We might want to boost our creativity better to be able to create something of interest, such as…
Writing a family holiday newsletterDesigning our physical self-presentation: outfits, tattoos, hair, make-upChoosing a fantasy-football teamThrowing a partyDreaming up a new marketing strategyFinding a new way to engage a student, client, or customer who is losing interestOr we might want to boost our creativity better to be able to solve a problem in an innovative way, such as…
Figuring out how to organize all the stuff that’s stored in the garageRe-thinking how to schedule team meetings when some people are working remotely while others are physically presentPlanning the perfect family tripSettling a disagreement between two co-workers in a way that satisfies both of themSpotting an efficiency that saves money and timeBecause creativity is so valuable, we want to feed our creativity—but how?
If we’re looking for ways to boost our creativity, here’s one secret: Tap in to our five senses.
When I started work on my book Life in Five Senses, I hoped that by tuning in to my five senses, I’d find a new source of energy, love, luck, mindfulness—and creativity.
But I was unprepared for just how sparked my creativity would get! I found that when I paid greater attention to seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, and touching, I ignited my imagination and my desire to create.
As Yoshida Kenkō wrote, “If we pick up a brush, we feel like writing; if we hold a musical instrument in our hands, we wish to play.”
By making direct contact with the world, instead of staying stuck in our heads or behind a screen, we boost our creativity. We reach the mind through the body.
Why do vivid sensory experiences boost creativity?
They provide the brain with fodder for new ideas and connections that spark the imaginationThey help us feeling grounded in the present moment, and they also stir up old memories from the pastThey ignite unexpected associations that contribute to fresh thinkingThey boost our energy and help us to feel refreshed, which then helps us to focus and work How do we boost creativity through our five senses?By using engaging toolsBy doing something novel, such as going on an adventure to a new placeBy enjoying a particularly intense sensory experienceBy deliberately evoking memoriesHow might we tie these strategies to the five senses?
Fortunately, it’s easy to boost our creativity through our five senses without spending a lot of time, energy, or money.
We’ve all heard the usual suggestions: pay close attention to your breath; relish a single sip of coffee; notice the colors of the sky. Those are helpful—but a bit familiar. Consider these:
SeeingCreate the sight surroundings that fire your imagination—I need order, space and room to work, but other people prefer a profusion of piles, toys, and toolsUse a color printer instead of black and whitePut a plant on your deskGo outside, and as you walk around the neighborhood, look around with the eyes of a tourist. The sunlight itself will help you feel more alert and focused, and adopting the perspective of a tourist will help you see ordinary sights in a new way. Look at the bumper stickers on that car! Why is that dog wearing all those clothes?Go to a movie in the middle of the dayWander around a museum, book store, department store, or big drug store—pay close attention to things you usually overlookSit somewhere with a lot of foot traffic, and pay close attention to the people as they walk by—how do they act, how do they dress, how do they interact?Close your eyes, choose a room from your childhood home, and try to visualize it with as much detail as possibleHearingCreate the sound surroundings that fire your imagination. Do you work best with sounds of music, silence, or the busy hum of a coffee shop?Listen to a genre of music you’ve never listened to beforeVisit the Nostalgia Machine and listen to a song from the year you graduated from high school—what memories does it evoke?Turn off your smartphone notifications so your concentration isn’t broken by pingsSmellingIdentify a smell that you associate with creativity and bring it into your environment. For me, the smells of an old paperback book, school paste, or a fresh pack of printer paper make me feel like writing.If you feel stuck, take a moment and tune in to a strong smell such as coffee, peanut butter, or Sharpies, or even a bad smell, like garbage or a neglected fridge—a strong sensation will help you feel grounded in your bodyVisit a place with a strong smell environment—a bakery, a restaurant, a bath-products shop—and try to identify the different elements of the smells around youTake a deep sniff of something that holds strong memories. The smell of fresh asphalt reminds me of high school (from a summer job), the smell of Tea Rose perfume reminds me of college, the smell of baby powder reminds me of my husband. Strong memories fire up associations that spark creativity.TastingAppreciate the taste of a single almond, one olive, or one mouthful of apple. Really notice the taste, the texture, the mouthfeelTry a dish that you’ve never eaten before; new experiences spark new associationsInvent a new kind of sandwich, pizza topping, or ice-cream flavorEat with your non-dominant hand—the extra effort will help you pay attention to the physical experience and also shake up your thoughtsBuy yourself a treat that you always wanted as a child but were rarely able to have—I was rarely allowed to have soft drinksTaste something that holds strong memories. For me, Diet Peach Snapple brings back floods of memories from law school. Those associations bring fresh ideas.TouchingPutting interesting tools in our hands often sparks our creativity—splurge on a tool that will prompt you to play and experiment. I recently got a gimbal for my smartphone and have been teaching myself to use it. So many possibilities!Put up a whiteboard so you can sketch your ideas instead of typing them. My sister Elizabeth Craft is a Hollywood show-runner, and she keeps an eight-foot whiteboard in her home officeUse a different style of notepadUse felt-tip pens in beautiful colors instead of the usual, boring black and blueKeep a fidget spinner, pop toy, therapy dough, or other touch tool nearby. When you’re stuck, activity with your hands can help focus and stimulate your mind.Visit an art-supply or office-supply store, craft store, hardware store, gardening center, cooking store, farmers market—anyplace where you’ll see lots of materials and equipment. Don’t worry about using anything; just wanderTake a showerIn a glass jar, collect all the little toys, gimcracks, and goofy trinkets you can round up. When you need inspiration, dump out the objects and put them back in the jar, one by oneAlso, remember that each of us is different. Pay close attention to what kind of sensory experiences spark your creativity.
For my book Life in Five Senses, I decided to visit the Metropolitan Museum every day for a year—and I still haven’t stopped. This daily habit is perfect for me. It’s both structured and unstructured; it’s predictable yet always novel; it gets me up on my feet and walking (walking is also great for creativity); it puts me in an environment that’s vivid, intense, and sparks unexpected associations.
The Met overwhelms my sense of sight, of course, but it also stimulates my senses of hearing, smelling, and touching, and when I stop for a cup of coffee, my sense of tasting as well.
For me, visiting the Met boosts creativity. For someone else, however, music might be a richer source of creativity. Learning to play a new instrument, fooling around with a harmonica, listening to new music or feeling nostalgic from music from the past…these exercises don’t appeal to me, but others find them enormously suggestive.
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February 14, 2023
Books to Inspire You to Go Outside
For the past few years, on the Happier with Gretchen Rubin podcast, my co-host and sister Elizabeth and I have set an annual challenge for ourselves and readers.
This year, it’s “Go Outside 23 in 23“—that is, go outside for 23 minutes each day in 2023. Great things happen when we go outside!
Many people—and this is certainly true for me—like to read a book to evoke a certain frame of mind.
Also, some people are doing their reading outside as part of their daily outdoor time. So we asked listeners for books they’d suggest for getting in an outdoor mood.
They suggested many terrific books:
The Urban Bestiary , Lyanda Lynn Haupt The Hidden Life of Trees , Peter Wohlleben The Shepherd’s Life , James Rebanks Land Healer , Jacob Fiennes The Peace of Wild Things: And Other Poems , Wendell Berry A Walk in the Woods , Bill BrysonBraiding Sweetgrass, Robin Wall Kimmerer Pilgrim at Tinker Creek , Annie Dillard Upstream , Mary Oliver Caught Inside and Lighting Out , Daniel Duane Arctic Dreams , Barry Lopez Born To Run , Christopher McDougallLL Bean catalogs! Sea of Tranquility , Emily St. John MandelLittle House books, Laura Ingalls Wilder My Side of the Mountain , Jean Craighead George Anne of Green Gables , L. M. Montgomery
Join us for #Outside23in23! Don’t worry if you didn’t start on January 1—you’re never behind. Start where you are.
We’ve heard from so many people about how much they (and also their dogs) are enjoying this time outdoors.
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February 13, 2023
Announcing the “Life in Five Senses” Book Tour
I’m thrilled to announce the tour for my new book, Life in Five Senses: How Exploring the Senses Got Me Out of My Head and Into the World.
What a joy it was to write this book! Now that it’s written, and I’ve stopped my endless editing, I’m really looking forward to going on the road. The book tour will be a fun sensory adventure in itself, plus I love the opportunity to visit bookstores and libraries and to talk to bookish people.
Visit the book tour page to find events in your area, buy tickets, and check for updates.
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February 2, 2023
How to Increase Focus and Productivity Using the Five Senses
Are you searching for ways to boost your focus and productivity at work?
I find that while tips for time management and task prioritization are helpful—”Batch your work!” “Make a to-do list!”—often they ignore the external factors that make it harder to get work done.
While researching my book about the five senses, I discovered that to a great degree, it’s often our surroundings, our screens, and other people that hijack our attention.
Surroundings: whether we’re working in an office or from home, elements of our environment often grab our attention
Screens: whether in the form of a smartphone, a computer monitor, or a TV, screens tempt us with entertainment and information
Other people: Human survival has always depended on our ability to cooperate, and we have an insatiable curiosity about other people.
Information about other people is so compelling that it can be tough to concentrate in the presence of others—something bemoaned by many office workers who sit in an open-plan design, or by people who work from home with family members nearby.
These and other external factors make it hard for us to:
Focus—to concentrate; complete the tasks we start; stay alert to errors or oversights; think deeply and creatively; and persist through frustration.
Be productive—to maintain our energy from morning to evening; avoid time-wasting activities or distractions; and identify ways to work more efficiently; learn to use new tools.
Here’s one simple, manageable solution: Tap in to the power of our five senses.
By being mindful of our senses, we can identify factors that support or disrupt our focus, and boost or diminish our productivity. With that knowledge, we can improve the experience of the workplace, whether we work in an office, at home, or hybrid.
Fortunately, this tip is quick, easy, and inexpensive to implement! We don’t need to buy something, take a class, or make an appointment. Our senses are available to us right now.
Note: As we shape our environments, it’s crucial to remember that we all experience our own unique sensory world. If you share surroundings with other people, what feels comfortable to you might not feel comfortable to them. The aim is to create an environment where everyone can thrive.
30 Ways to Use Your Five Senses to Boost Focus and ProductivitySeeing:1. Ask yourself: Are you a simplicity-lover or an abundance-lover? For some people, creativity and productivity are sparked by orderly arrangements, bare counters, empty shelves. Other get a boost from profusion, buzz, piles, and collections.
Neither way is the “right” or “wrong” way, but if you share a space with someone who prefers a different style, you might need to compromise. If you’re the boss, don’t make the mistake of insisting that everyone do things your way—what works for you might not work for your employees.
2. Get enough, but not too much, light. (If your eyes feel relief when you make a salute, you have too much light.)
3. For many people, outer order contributes to inner calm, focus, and energy. If you have trouble concentrating because your surroundings are messy and cluttered, take time to establish order. You might…
4. Follow the one-minute rule; anything you can do in less than one minute, do without delay.
5. Do a daily 10-minute closer and take ten minutes at the end of the day to organize your work space.
6. But beware procrasti-clearing! I sometimes fall into this trap—when I have a very strong urge to clear clutter as an excuse to delay working on a tough task.
We often lose time and focus when we’re fussing with our smartphones. Our phones provide valuable tools that save us time and energy, but they also offer many temptations. By changing the appearance of your phone, you can make it work better for you.
7. Delete time-sucking apps, such as games or social media.
8. Turn your phone to “grayscale” so its images appear only in white, black, or gray—much harder, and less fun, to use!
9. Delete apps you don’t use and organize your apps by function, alphabetically, or even—whimsically—by color.
10. Use your home screen to remind you of an important goal—a friend put the word “WRITE” on her home screen so that each glance at her phone reminded her to stay productive.
Hearing:11. Just as you clear clutter, clear clatter. Identify and eliminate bothersome noises that distract you while you work. Note: Our brains are wired to be particularly attentive to human voices, so you may be especially distracted by other people’s conversations.
12. Wear noise-cancelling headphones.
13. Turn off your smartphone’s notifications sounds so those pings and buzzes won’t interrupt your train of thought.
14. Play white noise, brown noise, or pink noise to create a more consistent sound environment. Especially if you’re distracted by overhearing other people talking or moving around, white noise can muffle sounds that might otherwise catch your attention. (My favorite is pink noise.)
15. Figure out whether listening to music boosts or diminishes your productivity. To work, I need silence or a busy hum (such as a coffee shop), but some people benefit from music. Different sound environments help people to improve their focus and productivity, so shape your surroundings to suit yourself.
16. Here’s a useful hack: if you need to quiet a group—say, you need to start a meeting with a roomful of people who won’t stop talking—blow into a harmonica. It’s a pleasant sound that instantly communicates, “Quiet, it’s time to start.”
Smelling:We often disregard our sense of smell, but it’s a very powerful influence and can make a big difference in how we experience an environment.
17. Use a pleasant smell as a way as a cue, “Time to buckle down.” I have a gardenia-scented candle that I only burn when I really need extra focus, so I associate the scent with times of intense productivity.
Note: only use this hack when working at home; when working with other people, it’s best to avoid creating smells. People often have very different ideas of what they want to smell!
18. Because bad smells can drain our energy, tackle a stench at the source. The garbage pail, the fridge, and the microwave are common culprits. (It’s best to avoid using highly scented cleaning products, see point above.)
TastingWhen we work, we sometimes grab a tasty bite as a way to give ourselves boost—and often, we makes choices that aren’t healthy.
19. If you’re a coffee drinker, drink some coffee! Even if it’s de-caffeinated, many people associate the smell, sight, and taste of coffee with energy and refreshment.
20. Keep healthy foods near at hand. If it’s easy to pull a bag of chips from the cupboard or vending machine, and it’s hard to assemble a healthy snack, you’ll find it hard to resist temptation. Also, if you’re being productive, you won’t want to break your focus by using your time and attention to prepare foods.
21. If you’re not hungry, but feeling distracted by your desire to find a sweet or salty snack, brush your teeth.
22. I find that keeping a sugar-free mint in my mouth helps me concentrate. I don’t know why, but it works. Some people prefer to chew gum.
Touching23. More and more, people turn to pop fidget toys, therapy dough, weighted blankets, and other touch tools to stay calm, focused, and productive. It helps! I have a fidget spinner that I love—I find it especially helpful when I’m sitting in a long video call. No one on the screen can see or hear what I’m doing, and the activity of my hands helps me concentrate my mind.
24. Eliminate scratchy shirts or tight pants, and replace an uncomfortable chair or a desk that’s too high or too low. Discomfort can distract and drain us. Along the same lines…
25. Adjust the temperature of your work space.
26. If you’re distracted by the TV, store the remote control in a very inconvenient space–ditto, with the phone. If a device is in your hands, you’ll probably use it; if you have to go to a lot of trouble to get it, you won’t thoughtlessly pick it up.
Use Your Five Senses to Take Energizing, Relaxing BreaksOur five senses also help us to stay focused and productive by giving us a break from focus and productivity! Sometimes, if we want to keep going, we have to allow ourselves to stop.
Taking a break to indulge in a sensory experience is a quick, easy way to refresh our minds and bodies.
27. Because research shows that being in the presence of nature both calms and energizes us, if you can, stimulate your senses with nature—walk outdoors during your lunch hour, sit near a window that offers natural light and fresh air, add a plant to your work area.
28. Listening to a favorite upbeat song is one of the quickest, easiest ways to give yourself a boost. (Get a bigger boost by dancing along to the music, or doing some jumping jacks.)
29. Allow yourself to goof around. Research shows that periods of play help us to stay focused and creative. Pick up an instrument you haven’t practiced in a while, doodle with colored pencils, smell five jars of spices in the kitchen, walk barefoot and pay attention to the texture of the floor, make a paper airplane, invent a new kind of sandwich.
30. Strengthen teams by encouraging people to share playful, relaxing sensory experiences. Such team-building activities include:
doing a huge puzzle togetherbuilding a LEGO structuretaking a cheese- or chocolate-tasting classplaying with games such as Follow Your Nose, Lite Brite, or Operationplaying with Model Magic or kinetic sandspending a few hours picking up trash or planting flowers in a parkRemember That People Experience Very Different Sensory Worlds
Whether we’re working in the office or at home, we often face conflict with others that arise from different sensory experiences and preferences.
One person like scented candles; someone else finds the smell unbearably strong. One person doesn’t mind the sound of other people’s conversations; someone else is very distracted by the sounds of voices. One person doesn’t mind piles of papers and shelves of trinkets; someone else wants to hide everything in drawers and behind doors. One person turns on all the lights someone else finds the room unbearably bright. One person likes to open windows to feel a breeze and hear outdoor sounds; another person dislikes the draft and the noise.
Recognizing that people experience sensations in different ways can help us all to be more understanding—not to dismiss people’s objections to sights, sounds, smells, tastes, or touches, but instead to respect them, so that we can create sensory environments in which everyone can feel comfortable.
With mindful planning and attention, tapping in to our five senses is an important tool for helping us to transform the workplace so that we can be more focused, more productive, more creative, less stressed—and happier.
The post How to Increase Focus and Productivity Using the Five Senses appeared first on Gretchen Rubin.
January 26, 2023
Tips for Going Outside in Cold or Wet Weather
On the Happier with Gretchen Rubin podcast, Elizabeth and I challenged ourselves and listeners to “Go Outside 23 in ‘23”—go outside for 23 minutes a day in 2023.
That time outside can include any activity, from hiking up a mountain, to walking across a parking lot, to sitting on your front stoop.
Great things happen when we go outside!
Going outside boosts our physical and psychological health, gives us more time in nature, and helps us mindfully appreciate the moment and our senses.
But weather conditions can make it tough to go outside when it’s too cold, rainy, windy, or hot, or if air conditions are bad.
We asked listeners and readers, “What hacks and strategies do you use, to get outside for 23 minutes when the weather is bad?” We got many great suggestions.
Tips from podcast listeners:“My mom said this to me when I was young: ‘There is no bad weather, just bad clothes.’”“I live in Chicago and walk my children the three-quarters of a mile to school every day that it’s 10°F or warmer. It can get pretty cold and windy here, but having a clear policy eliminates any question about whether we should walk or drive on a given morning.”
“I decided on ‘23 in 23, above 23 (degrees).’ On days below that, if I can’t get outside, I’ll do (look) outside 23 in 23, and spend time next to a sunny window, enjoying the beautiful views.”
“Once I am dressed appropriately and out the door, I have found that I often end up staying out longer than 23 minutes. I just need the initial push to leave the house.”
“I live in Alaska and suffer from Raynaud’s Syndrome. Wearing heated socks and gloves lets me join outdoor family activities like the Winter Solstice Tree Tour, which was held on a 0°F day this year.
Also: Even if you have snow pants, something about the shape, convenience or feeling of a ‘snowskirt’ removes a barrier to going outside”
“We live in a part of the country where the weather isn’t always great for going outside, and we have a garage we don’t park in, so I bought some astroturf mats and made an indoor/outdoor sports arena for my kid. When we open the garage, even when raining we get fresh air.”
“I find immense joy in having the ‘right tool’ for a problem, in this case—the right clothes and gear for a cold weather day. I had never heard of a snow skirt until this podcast episode, and I also just recently learned they make WOOL TIGHTS. What? I always think to myself, ‘Why don’t I know about these things!’” More tips from the social media community:“Proper clothing is key. Dress in layers. Warm boots, wool socks, non-cotton base layer, wool mid layer, waterproof outer layer, neck gaiter, hat, gloves. Properly dressed you can tolerate any temperature, and if you get moving, you’ll warm up & even enjoy it.”“My dogs and I do a short walk and long walk pretty much any day it is above about -5°F. But if it is colder than that or if the wind chill makes it feel colder, then we do many very short trips and stay in the back yard. Remember, many dogs need cold weather gear too to keep them warm and protect their feet.”“It definitely helps if you have a dog who counts on a 30-45 minute walk every morning!”
“I adjusted the challenge to 2:30 minutes daily.”
“It was already one of my ‘23 for 23’ to walk the boardwalk at Jones Beach every weekend morning around sunrise. It’s been too cold lately for the early morning hikes so I made the hike in the afternoon once it warmed up a bit.”
“Have a cup of hot tea and a warm change of clothes ready for you when you get back!”
“I put on my gigantic fake fur mink coat, once purchased for a Halloween costume. I curl up outside on my deck chaise under soft blankets, pop in ear buds, listen to music or meditation and soak in a bit of vitamin D. It’s my winter Me treat!”
“Keep your cold weather footwear a bit larger. It allows for multiple layers of socks and gives freedom to wiggle your toes for better circulation.”
“To be fair, I’ve counted time brushing off the car, scraping ice off the car and shoveling. So not all 23 are ‘fun’ 23.”
“My best friend lives 5 hours away, also in a cold climate. We call each other and walk outside so it forces both of us to get out into the cold since neither of us are fans.”
“I walk in the morning. I think it helps reset my sleep clock, even when it’s cloudy/raining. And then it’s off my to-do list. A good raincoat and warm layers. I let my wet sneakers dry on the heating vent so they’re ready the next morning. A nice hot shower as a reward.”
“Hand warmers! I bought one for each pocket that are rechargeable.”
“Go in the hot tub! Even if it’s -30, you can still go in with a toque on!”
Of course, not everyone is fortunate enough to be able to afford bad-weather gear, lives in a place where going outside in this way is possible, or is physically capable of managing it. Listeners and readers suggested:
“I can’t get easily go outside these days, but I spend time looking out my front window. I get exposure to sunlight, and I get to appreciate nature with the changes in my yard, which has some big trees that are beautiful in every season. When it’s not too cold, I open the window to enjoy the fresh air and smells of the outdoors.”“Get a houseplant. One that needs lots of sunlight and love, so that as you care for it each day you get a little exposure to the sun (even if it’s just through a window) and nature. If you can’t bring yourself into the outside world, bring the outside world to you.”
It’s been so fun to see how enthusiastically people are embracing the #Outside23in23 challenge. Many people, it turns out, want to spend more time outside but just need a nudge or some structure to build it into their habits.
Plus, there are a lot of happy dogs!
Remember, it’s never too late—now is always the right time to begin.
The post Tips for Going Outside in Cold or Wet Weather appeared first on Gretchen Rubin.
