October is without a doubt one of the toughest months of the year. As the warm days slip away and the nights get darker, earlier on, the United Kingdom as a nation struggles to choose pleasure and fun, over misery.
GALAXY are tackling this with an inspirational new campaign, after discovering that women are choosing pleasure less than men on a weekly basis, and younger people (18-34) are twice as likely to cancel social occasions or fun events due to work commitments than baby boomers.
Hoping to change things for the better, GALAXY have teamed with behavioural psychologist Jo Hemmings, to create their top five ways to help yourself choose pleasure. Here's how you can 'winterproof' yourself from the blues this season:
5. Write a ‘Not-to-do’ list. Or a ‘do less’ list so you can indulge in the pleasures of life. Whether it’s surfing the net, checking emails at bedtime or getting rid of clutter that takes ages to tidy up/clean before it’s untidy again – minimise it.
It’s hard to add thrills to your life if it’s overflowing with mindless tasks and chores. Can you simplify, delegate, or eliminate any of these boring tasks to make room for more excitement? Sometimes we fill our lives with these things in order to avoid allowing ourselves happiness in the first place, but being busy often creates behaviours that we do on autopilot.
4. Take a break from the norm. Try and establish the things you do regularly and make a conscious effort to do something entirely different from your routine. Get away from your devices, take a walk somewhere new, plan a trip!
A study published in the journal Applied Research in Quality of Life showed that the highest spike in happiness came during the planning stage of a holiday, as people enjoy the sense of anticipation: so much so, it can boost pleasure for up to 8 weeks.
3. Find that ‘Feel Good Factor’. As simple as it sounds, volunteering or helping someone else can make a huge impact on our own happiness.
Sometimes after we’ve achieved our own personal goals, we still feel empty inside because we haven’t made a meaningful contribution to someone else’s life. When we volunteer or help others, it often feels good to just be of service to someone else. The impact we make feels fulfilling and is a big potential source for our own happiness.
2. Break-up with negativity. Become more aware of when you engage in this habit of negative thinking and make a conscious effort to replace it with positive thinking and positive people.
You already know that negative thinking will bring you down – but how do you stop it? One example is the fear of looking foolish in front of other people whether you know them or not. But the truth is, other people don’t think about you nearly as much as you think they do. Everyone has their own battle and chances are they’re preoccupied with their own thoughts! The same goes for people – spend less time with negative people, and more time with those who help you feel positive.
1. Act on impulse. If you’re a Type A person and love to plan for any eventuality, keep in mind that sometimes the most fun can be found in unplanned moments so take a risk and let things happen naturally.
Let yourself experience spur-of-the-moment adventures. Not only that – not everyday is filled with parties and parades; you can find pleasure in the small moments. If you think real pleasure only coincides with big gestures, you’re depriving yourself of potential ‘pockets’ of pleasure. Sometimes pleasure is best enjoyed at five or ten minute increments – try to stay in the ‘present moment’, and you’ll start to find a lot more joy.