An illustrated scene of a person setting up a garden party, carrying a wooden chair amidst tables, flowers, and trees under sunlight.

When in doubt, be useful. I have found that one of the most reliable ways to get myself out of a funk or a poor headspace is to do something useful for someone else. I believe this works for two reasons, one being that you are fully immersed in a task that is not about you which pulls your attention away from the undesirable headspace. Even when we are doing things for others we can only experience it through our personal lens. This is unavoidable but the focus of the lens can be shifted. You cannot let yourself focus on your experience of doing the task for the other person, that is once again bringing your attention back to how poor you are feeling, instead the focus needs to be external, either in the physical task or the idea of doing it for someone else. The second reason is that it feels good to be useful( I will hold back on adding the evolutionary reason here, just know I am thinking about it too). It doesn't matter how small the gesture, being an agent of change for the better, even if it's just doing the dishes, scratches a deep desire to both be needed and to be able to fulfill that need for others. I spent time helping to set up for a party recently, normally I dread this, it was boring, it was hot, and oftentimes it felt unnecessary. With that being said, after doing some mundane tasks like setting up chairs, getting food, and moving boxes, my mood was lifted. I didn't go into it with a mindfulness practice, or post gratitude session, I just genuinely enjoyed See more