Saturday 20^th March was International Day of Happiness, a day devoted to inspiring people to find meaningful ways to care about ourselves and one another, as well as promoting world happiness as a primary personal objective.

Happiness should not be limited to a single day; instead, we should all aim to have a happy day every day. Many of us will be at work today, whether at a workplace or at home, but how will we celebrate and make it a happy day for all? This year’s theme is “Happier, Kinder, and Together.”

1. Be happier

This is a reminder for those who are engrossed in their jobs, preoccupied with children, or simply don’t have time for themselves. Make your favourite meal, pamper yourself, get outdoors and move about, learn something new, or just enjoy some time alone. Make a happy decision.

Write down everything you’ve achieved recently and dedicate an hour or two, thanking yourself for it. We don’t often have to wait long for someone to compliment us or tell us we’ve done a good job. Reward yourself more often when you’ve accomplished something remarkable or reached a target.

Share happiness with your children, look for comics, videos and songs such as Pharrell Williams’ “Happy” or Little Baby Bums “Happy as you know it”.

Start the week off on the right foot by putting last week’s tension behind you and focusing on accomplishing more this week. Also consider decluttering your workspace to declutter your mind. Too much clutter can lead to you feeling disorganised, distracted and disengaged. Clean up your surroundings to feel more inspired and focused on your work

2. Be kinder

Be kind, whether it’s complimenting others, laughing, making a kind gesture, or volunteering on a daily basis, a little act of kindness will go a long way. Small deeds can brighten someone else’s day as well as your own.

With many of us working from home rather than our normal workplace due to the pandemic, interaction and communicating with others has been particularly challenging. Interacting with others and making time for conversations will greatly boost people’s mood and mental health, especially given the reduced social contact many of us are experiencing right now. Why not have a conversation with someone you haven’t spoken to in a while?

Launch a trend on social media by sharing a good deed and tagging some co-workers, inviting them to share something they’ve done, something someone else has done for them, or just a declaration about what they’re thankful for. Acts of kindness will spread like wildfire and bring happiness to everyone at work

3. Be together

Even though we are unable to be physically together due to lockdown constraints, we can connect and share happiness through online channels such as Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and other social media platforms. Whether it be sharing an uplifting YouTube video with others or participating in a team activity over a video call, there are plenty of ways we can come together to promote happiness.

Perhaps you’d like to share what you’ve done to mark the International Day of Happiness with others and inspire more people to join in the celebration and explore ways to improve happiness and mental health. #Internationaldayofhappiness

For more support on how to improve happiness and wellbeing at work, take a look at our ‘Time to talk about mental health at work’ blog post and our toolkits, which provide helpful guides and models for promoting workplace wellness.

[article written by Sophie Jones]