Friday Feature: Longer Weekends? Sign Me Up!

Do your weekends fly by before you've had a chance to kick back and relax? Don't you hate it when that happens?

If you're looking for ways to get the most out of your weekend, check out Happify's "10 Tips for Making the Weekend Seem Longer than it Is." I don't know about you, but on the heels of Daylight Savings Time, I'm thrilled to read anything that helps me to find time.

What will you do with your found time?

Friday Feature: Projecting Positivity

This semester, I'm teaching a course in positive psychology. As you can imagine, it's a lot of fun. What's not to like about going to work and focusing on ways to make ourselves happier and to make life better? It also helps to have a class made up of students who want to be there and who, every class, raise excellent questions and insights.

Curious about what those life-improving things might be? Check out this quick read from Happify on "13 Proven Ways to Project Positive Energy."

Happy Friday!

Friday Feature: Holiday Stressbusters

In the musical, She Loves Me, there's a song called "Twelve Days to Christmas" that counts down the shopping days until Christmas. As the song progresses, it becomes faster and more frenzied, concluding that "some of the family may not get a Christmas gift at all." Performing it in high school, I found it fun and funny. As an adult, I find it all too real.

Feeling a bit frenzied yourself ? If so, this article from Happify about holiday stress busters might be worth a read. Many of the ideas are common sense and familiar, but still, it's nice to get a reminder of the ways we should take care of ourselves.

Here's hoping you, like the first set of shoppers in the song, are one of the people "with time to spare, who shop at their convenience."

Friday Feature: Is There Such a Thing as Too Many Choices?

Are you a maximizer or a satisficer? When you're getting ready to buy something, do you need to investigate every possible option, or can you cut to the chase and get something that's good enough?

While the first one might sound thorough, the second one might make us happier. Sometimes, having more choices isn't better.

Want to know more about happier decision making? Check out Homaira Kabir's article, "3 Rules for Happier Decision Making" on -- where else? -- Happify.

Friday Feature: Success and Happiness

Source: Happify

Have you ever had a rough day, only to find yourself laughing in spite of yourself when someone catches you off guard? Alternatively, have you ever wanted to do bodily harm to someone who blithely told you to "cheer up" when you were upset about something?

Can we control our happiness?

As it turns out, yes, we can -- at least in part. Although genetics and personality factor into how happy we naturally are, nearly half of our happiness is within our control. The ways in which we think, feel and act form attitudes that contribute to our overall state of mind.

In addition to simply making us feel good, happiness can also contribute to our overall success. Placing too much emphasis on end results and not enough on enjoying where we are in the here and now is detrimental not only to our happiness, but to our success as well.

When you think about it, it's kind of nice that something that feels so good can also be good for us. And, the fact that we have an element of control over it is a nice bonus as well.

So, what are you waiting for? Don't worry. Be happy.