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IN THE NEWS & ON THE POLICY FRONT
Sustainable Happiness Week kicked off on April 13, the Pursuit of Happiness Day, and it ended on April 20, the celebration of Earth Day. The goal was to raise global awareness of the need to measure success by more than Gross Domestic Product and economic growth, which fuels rampant consumerism. Rather, there is a growing perceived need to measure happiness and well-being in the context of a more sustainable economic system. Bhutan, for example, gained global attention for adopting the goal of Gross National Happiness over income in the 1970s. To learn more, get involved, or find ideas for your community, visit: http://www.happycounts.org/celebrate/.
Read a blog interview with sustainable happiness pioneer Catherine ’Brien: http://healthyplanetfoundation.wordpress.com/2013/04/03/sustainablehappiness/, and read an article in yes! magazine about how you can cultivate personal happiness: http://www.yesmagazine.org/happiness/sustainable-happiness-6-ways-to-get-there.
Last year, the United Nations declared March 20 the International Day of Happiness and encouraged everyone to find an appropriate way to observe this day, such as through education and campaigns designed to raise awareness and build public will to contribute to compassion and the common good. Read the UN
resolution and consider what policy objectives we might pursue. We’re currently putting together a strategic plan for Take Back Your Time, and your input
matters.
TIME-SAVING TIP(S) OF THE MONTH
Life is complicated and messy. Even the most capable, intelligent people can have trouble managing their time and stress. The real solutions start with prioritizing based on what matters most. Figuring that out requires deep introspection and brutal honesty. There are, however, tons of simple, great ideas that can shave a few minutes here and there to free up time for whatever it is you decide is most important.
My favorite tip came from a mom who has six kids and mountains of laundry. Everyone in the family has his/her own mesh laundry bag. When it’s full of dirty clothes, that person simply throws it in the washing machine. No more sorting. Some of her kids have also chosen to have bins of clean clothes rather than drawers, so they don’t even have to fold. My husband buys all the same socks so that he doesn’t have to look for matching pairs. Have a good time-saving tip to share? Send it to info@takebackyourtime.org.
BOOKS, ARTICLES & OTHER RESOURCES
Several cities, including Seattle, have started to track happiness, the most recent being Santa Monica. Read about it on the Huffington Post: “The 'Wellbeing Index': Santa Monica Joins U.S. Cities Tracking Happiness.”
What would you do if you had more time? The New Economics Foundation, or nef, is an independent think tank exploring the idea of a shorter work week and what that might mean for our society. Read about it in their report, “21 Hours.”
Check out a video on time pressure made by one of our new volunteers, Stephen Randall, who has been researching time and writing/teaching about time
management since the 1970s. He has found that peak performance and happiness derive, not from productivity and profit, but from the quality of our experiences, including how we experience or feel time.
Sustainable Happiness Week kicked off on April 13, the Pursuit of Happiness Day, and it ended on April 20, the celebration of Earth Day. The goal was to raise global awareness of the need to measure success by more than Gross Domestic Product and economic growth, which fuels rampant consumerism. Rather, there is a growing perceived need to measure happiness and well-being in the context of a more sustainable economic system. Bhutan, for example, gained global attention for adopting the goal of Gross National Happiness over income in the 1970s. To learn more, get involved, or find ideas for your community, visit: http://www.happycounts.org/celebrate/.
Read a blog interview with sustainable happiness pioneer Catherine ’Brien: http://healthyplanetfoundation.wordpress.com/2013/04/03/sustainablehappiness/, and read an article in yes! magazine about how you can cultivate personal happiness: http://www.yesmagazine.org/happiness/sustainable-happiness-6-ways-to-get-there.
Last year, the United Nations declared March 20 the International Day of Happiness and encouraged everyone to find an appropriate way to observe this day, such as through education and campaigns designed to raise awareness and build public will to contribute to compassion and the common good. Read the UN
resolution and consider what policy objectives we might pursue. We’re currently putting together a strategic plan for Take Back Your Time, and your input
matters.
TIME-SAVING TIP(S) OF THE MONTH
Life is complicated and messy. Even the most capable, intelligent people can have trouble managing their time and stress. The real solutions start with prioritizing based on what matters most. Figuring that out requires deep introspection and brutal honesty. There are, however, tons of simple, great ideas that can shave a few minutes here and there to free up time for whatever it is you decide is most important.
My favorite tip came from a mom who has six kids and mountains of laundry. Everyone in the family has his/her own mesh laundry bag. When it’s full of dirty clothes, that person simply throws it in the washing machine. No more sorting. Some of her kids have also chosen to have bins of clean clothes rather than drawers, so they don’t even have to fold. My husband buys all the same socks so that he doesn’t have to look for matching pairs. Have a good time-saving tip to share? Send it to info@takebackyourtime.org.
BOOKS, ARTICLES & OTHER RESOURCES
Several cities, including Seattle, have started to track happiness, the most recent being Santa Monica. Read about it on the Huffington Post: “The 'Wellbeing Index': Santa Monica Joins U.S. Cities Tracking Happiness.”
What would you do if you had more time? The New Economics Foundation, or nef, is an independent think tank exploring the idea of a shorter work week and what that might mean for our society. Read about it in their report, “21 Hours.”
Check out a video on time pressure made by one of our new volunteers, Stephen Randall, who has been researching time and writing/teaching about time
management since the 1970s. He has found that peak performance and happiness derive, not from productivity and profit, but from the quality of our experiences, including how we experience or feel time.
