5 theories that will help you become happier

Watch out for "open window time"

When making an appointment for a manicure / doctor / tax office, you are offered a window. From one to two, from two to six. I didn't have time to quickly orient myself - and the window literally closes. We have to choose a new interval.

Life is a series of such windows, only the beginning of the recording is often not reported. You need to navigate on the go.

Whether you have time to jump into the last car of the train or not depends on whether you can see it on the platform - and also on the speed of decision-making.

Who are you: the one who loves to think and see all the options or the one who acts with lightning speed? Who prefers to "sleep" with an idea or decide here and now? Of course, a lot depends on the situation. For example, if you are looking for an apartment for rent and have come across an option that you like, then it is better to agree right away, rather than take a couple of days to think. Good options are quickly sorted out.

It is believed that the speed of decision making comes with age and experience. What is commonly called "intuition". The truly effective and happy people are those who do not plan every second of their lives rigidly, but instead know how to see opportunities and take advantage of them. Refuse unnecessary and say "yes" in time.

The wealth of choice seems to be an advantage only at first glance. When instead of the good we try to find the best, we waste time, energy and nerves. And we miss the chance. There are no ideal options anyway, any choice is subjective. Take the first thing you like and be happy!

Apply the "zero kilometer theory"

A term that comes from farming and means the sale and purchase of products near the place where they are grown. Initially, it has a lot of environmental meaning: at the very least, it is the optimization of logistics, savings on gasoline and a contribution to the preservation of the environment.

The theory of the zero kilometer can be applied more broadly by extending it to everyday life. Live where you work, work where you live.

This spring I moved closer to the office, for this I started renting out my apartment in Khimki, paying extra and renting an apartment next to work. I started saving 3-4 hours a day on the road, 10,000 rubles and an additional 60 hours a month.

Living in the center opens up more opportunities for you, you become more accessible for meetings, more often you can get out to parks and walk in beautiful places, you are more mobile. And it's also less stressful, because you don't need to take the subway or train every day. An introvert's paradise!

Also, I will not go to the other end of the city for a manicure, even if there is a thousand rubles cheaper, and I arrange all my routes in a "chronological" order - in much the same way as the work of a courier is planned. Well, okay, so be it - I will still go to Prospekt Mira for a haircut to my master, but this is an exception! The case when a person is more important than distance.

Use the "pie effect"

How much money do you need for happiness? I would like to immediately answer such a question with seven-figure sums. But the truth is, little things make us happy. I call this the “pie effect”.

For example, when I was getting home by train in the evening, tired and hungry, I bought a pie with potatoes at the station for 49 rubles. And the way home became easier and more joyful. I can have dinner in a cafe, even if there are cutlets in the fridge: it's better than enduring another hour and ending the day exhausted, angry and unhappy (and when I'm hungry, I'm very angry!).

Everyone has their own "pie" and their reasons for happiness.

Price and value are two different things. Sometimes spending 300 rubles on a taxi is priceless, if the alternative is to stand for half an hour in the thirty-degree frost, waiting for the bus, which is unknown when it will arrive.

"Pirozhok" is to go to work an hour early, buy coffee with coconut syrup and walk one metro station. This is sea buckthorn tea at Lastochka before Vladimir, this is music in headphones, this is a decision not to take a container with food to work, not to cook in the evening and have lunch like an ordinary person in a simple dining room. You don't have to be a millionaire to be happy. You need to fulfill your little desires in time.

Get Rid of the Clean Plate Society Syndrome

Leaving food on a plate is not good, bread cannot be thrown away, if you eat little, you will not grow up. We were brought up on these attitudes, and now it is difficult to start acting differently. We do not really help starving children in Africa if we force ourselves to finish eating, but we earn problems with appetite, digestion and being overweight.

Even many adults do not immediately understand the simple truth: if we leave food on the plate, nothing bad will happen. You don't have to keep eating a bad salad or stuffing a mind-blowing risotto into yourself just because it's a shame to leave.

“It's a pity to leave” is not a guide to action at all.

The ability to say “no” is one of the most valuable on the path to happiness. The Clean Plate Society Syndrome isn't just about food. This is generally about the ability to give up and quit. Sometimes it is important to say “no” to an unloved job, a man or a new task that you have already taken on, but then realized that you could not pull it. The world will not collapse, but you will save time and energy.

I dropped out of the theater course and left in the middle of class, because I believe that a teacher should not humiliate students. Not pedagogical. I closed the confectionery business that was once a dream, because at some point this dream stopped making me happy. One life, human resources are not endless, you have to choose what to spend them on.

Fight the "autopilot effect"

How often did you leave the clinic wearing blue shoe covers? Did you "open" the turnstile in the subway with the keys? Did you enter your bank card PIN on the intercom? These are all consequences of the autopilot effect and loss of awareness. Unfortunately, just a vacation will not solve the situation, this is a complex problem.

Autopilot, on the one hand, helps to cope with the daily routine, to do unpleasant things quickly and unnoticed. On the other hand, it turns life into a gray mess when one day is similar to another.

Groundhog Day, unfortunately, is not only the title of the film, it is a harsh reality.

The easiest ways to start wrestling with autopilot in your head are to change routes before work, sit in a new seat at a meeting, experiment with breakfast, and not order the same thing at restaurants. For the more advanced, consciously breathe and meditate.

To be aware is to be attentive to details, to notice the beauty of the world around us, to appreciate what is now. Do you know what separates lucky people from losers? Observation! So being aware is not just about being happy. There is a nice bonus - you're in luck!