What is Mindfulness?

Mindfulness is simply paying complete attention to the present moment without judgment. That might sound easy if you’ve never done it. Those of us that have tried mindfulness, such as sitting down and meditating for a few minutes, which is essentially a mindfulness workout, if you will, those of us who’ve tried mindfulness know that your brain does not naturally focus on one thing and keep its attention there.

Is it okay to listen to music while working?

This audience question about music while working was asked and answered at the Enumclaw School District Science of Happiness Workshop. Watch the full video here. The data indicates more than ever that your mileage will vary when it comes to listening to music while working. Generally speaking though, the best thing to listen to while read more…

Trust me: 5 Ways to Build Trust and Therefore Boost Your Pay!

An increase in trust may lead to an increase in results–including your pay–at work. What does science say about trust, and how we can build it? Trust is social glue; sniff it to get happy! You can trust Dr. John Helliwell. He is one of the world’s leading researchers on trust and subjective well-being. Recent books read more…

What do you call meaningful, enjoyable, lasting well-being? Joy, happiness, or something else?

“Who wants to be happy? Joy is what it’s all about.” “Happiness fades. I want meaning in my life.” “I don’t care about happiness; it’s a transient feeling.” Since founding Happy Brain Science in 2012, I’ve heard many statements such as the above. People seem to think they are saying they don’t believe in our read more…

5 Tips From the Science of Learning

The world is always changing, so you need to be learning. The problem is that your human memory is imperfect, so you forget names, decisions, and facts that you need. Fortunately science can help you learn and remember better.

Five Books to Help You Work Smarter (and Happier)

Through our work with clients around the United States and internationally, we continue to come back to the same recommended readings–we’ve listed and described each book below; and we encourage you to check them out for applicable strategies to increase your happiness, productivity, creativity, engagement and success at work.

[Video] Fake It Until You Make It

Why would we encourage you to “fake it til you make it” at work? Well, because sometimes you need to be in a better mood than you actually are.