I recently attended my college reunion - that font of all wisdom and perspective.

Not to disappoint, the lady next to me at lunch shared a concept I like:  the Negative Bucket List. 

I'm passing it on to you today.

In addition, positive psychology researchers continue to study what makes us do well. Especially interesting are two new studies that suggest ways we can improve our well-being with a very tiny time commitment.

One looks at the role of music in enhancing our creativity. And the other examines the way looking forward to good things might reduce our pessimism.

Finally, if you'd like to develop the humor perspective in your life and live in the Columbus area, there's still time to sign up for my humor-writing class. I'm looking forward to all the fun stories we'll share.

A new study from Israeli positive psychologists Hadassah Littman-Ovadia and Dina Nir suggests that when we intentionally expect good things to happen, we can reduce pessimism and emotional exhaustion. 

The time spent on the exercise can be minimal. Those in the study - normal adults - were simply instructed to list three good things - items, people or events - they expected to encounter the next day and focus on savoring one of them for five minutes. They repeated the exercise daily for a week, and negativity and exhaustion were reduced for a month.
 
Interestingly, a control group, asked to anticipate three things they'd experience - without further direction - tended to focus on hassles and boring tasks.  Their pessimism did not shrink.

 
Got five minutes to increase your positive mood and creativity?  A new study by UK researchers Maxine Campion and Liat Levita   suggests  that a good way to take five is to turn on some music and listen or dance. 

Participants listened to "Do Your Thing" by Basement Jaxx while they cycled, danced or merely sat, while a control group did not listen to the music. 

Those who danced experienced significantly more positive mood, less fatigue, and greater verbal creativity. Those who simply listened to music experienced more positive mood, and their nonverbal creativity improved.

So try your own personal study by clicking on the link below and dancing or simply listening.

Basement Jaxx - Do Your Thing

Copyright 2014 Pat Snyder