In his book Changing to Thrive, James O. Prochaska states we need to spend 20 intentional minutes per day managing stress. It is important to find good, healthy ways to manage stress, anxiety, and boredom during these times.

It is also important to limit the number of negative interactions we have each day. For example, instead of watching several hours of news coverage on the TV, limit it to catching the headlines for 30 minutes, then move onto something else. Below is a way to discover new healthy habits and practice staying upbeat.

Make a chart of possible activities. Take a look at the table below. List as many activities as you can in the four domains of life that may help you to stay upbeat.

After you have your list together, just pick one item on your list, and commit to doing that one thing two times a day for 10 minutes. If you do not have 10 minutes, then go really tiny for one to two minutes, but then gradually increase each day or week in time!

The noted social scientist B.J. Fogg recommends creating a tiny step recipe to help you to remember to do whatever activity you commit to doing. A template is below. Make it as easy as A, B, C:

A. Anchor moment. Have an activity you are already doing in your daily routine and “anchor” the new behavior to the activity.

B. Behavior. What is the specific behavior you want to do?

C. Celebrate. After you do the behavior, then celebrate. Celebrations can be very small but are impactful.

• Smile after you do your activity
• Say “yeah!” out loud after your activity.
• Say “Good job” after your activity.

Each day, pick a different behavior or try something fun and new to do! If you have any questions, ask your Health Advisor!