Keep Yourself Busy To Stay Happy Even When Unemployed

People who constantly have something to do, even something pointless, are happier than people who sit idle. Christopher K Hsee and Adelle X Yang, of the University of Chicago and and Liangyan Wang, of Shanghai Jiaotong University conducted the study. The obvious reasons are to make a living, earn money or even to help others. "I think there`s something deeper: We have excessive energy and we want to avoid idleness," said Hsee. For the study, volunteers completed a survey, then had to wait 15 minutes before the next survey would be ready. They could drop off the completed survey at a nearby location and wait out the remaining time or drop it off at a location farther away, where walking back and forth would keep them busy for the 15 minutes. Either way, they received a candy when they handed in their survey.

Volunteers who chose to stay busy by going to the faraway location were found to be happier than those who chose to be idle. And if candies offered at the two locations were different, they were more likely to choose the far location because they could make up a justification for the trip, Hsee and his colleagues said. "If we can devise a mechanism for idle people to engage in activity that is at least not harmful, I think its better than destructive busyness,". The research was published in Psychological Science.

Keep Yourself Busy When Unemployed

Similarly a new study says keeping busy by volunteering can help you maintain your happiness. If you're out of a job, you might find yourself with more time on your hands than you know what to do with, leading to feelings of depression, worthlessness, loss of self-respect and social isolation. A new Pew Research Center survey shows that 38 percent of those who have been out of work for at least six months have lost some self respect since they lost their job, nearly 25% have sought help for depression, and 43% had lost contact with close friends. Boredom may contribute to the negative emotional effects of unemployment, according to a new study.  Boredom, it turns out, is the enemy of happiness. Experts say that filling your time with something is better than staying idle for maintaining feelings of self-satisfaction.

The study concluded that people are happier when they're busy doing something than when they're sitting idle, no matter what they're doing.  Even making a mess simply to clean it up again (organizing the garage, for example) made people happier than sitting on the couch and watching TV. Obviously, finding a new job is a full-time job in itself. However, to keep depression and other negative feelings at bay, the unemployed should fill any time left over with meaningful activities, such as volunteering, starting a side business or attending classes.

Courtesy by Google