10 Minutes of Joy, Everyday
Sometimes we need reminders to do the things that bring us joy.
This concept started to come to light a couple months ago when I had a call with one of my fellow Lightward employees. We were talking about things that bring us joy, how they change depending on where we are in life, how some never leave us for good and how it’s honestly hard to remember to do them in our daily lives. Then a couple weeks later, Isaac reached out to me about setting daily reminders for him to get up from his desk to do 5-10 minutes of movement a few times a day. He usually starts four days out of his week with 60-75 minutes of movement because it’s not only good for him physically and mentally, but brings him joy. However, he was in the final stages of a big project and needed to focus a lot of time and energy on that.
Shortly after those two instances, I made the conscious choice to take Boseman (my two year-old yellow lab) on a walk and really think about why those instances might be showing up in my life. I mention walking Boseman because I do my best thinking when walking him. The following phrase, mantra, or whatever you want to call it, kept coming to me: Sometimes we need reminders to do the things that bring us joy.
It seems like a simple concept, but I truly think that if taken to heart and consciously tried, it could drastically change a person’s life.
Why do we need reminders to do things that we like? Simple things like taking a ten-minute walk, laying in the sun, reading, or having a “technological device-free” conversation with your loved one, are all simple tasks that bring joy, positive health, and wellness benefits—and should be pretty easy to remember to do, right? In a world where productivity has quickly become king and queen, the notion and act of working for 6-8 hours straight has been viewed as the “logical” way to go—but is the fucking furthest thing from the truth! How many times has it been two in the afternoon and you hit a slump in your work? Your brain neurons don't seem to be firing as well, you can’t keep your eyes open, and the last thing you want to do is continue your task. Back when I was the GM at my old job, it would happen more times than not, so I decided to set a reminder for everyday at 2pm labeled “STOP working and bring yourself JOY!” Depending on the day, it was anything from taking a walk, closing my eyes, walking my dog, playing my switch, or 10-15 minutes of riding a stationary bike. Those 10-15 minutes were always some of the best of my day because I reminded myself to stop whatever I was doing and give myself joy!
Even though I was stopping my work, I was more productive at my job and just overall happier! Joy is contagious and spreads to all parts of your life if you remember to bring joy into it. I bet if I asked you all the things you need to get done for your job on a daily basis, you could name them off without reading a list and complete 90% of them without a reminder. However, a lot of us forget to do things that bring us joy and make us happy.
Joy is powerful. But even with how powerful it can be, we need to sometimes remind ourselves to bring it into our lives. Daily reminders on our phones for a couple weeks soon turn into natural habits, and hopefully you’ll realize how doses of joy sprinkled into your daily life is something you’ll be shocked you were able to live without.
I hope that this makes you think about what brings you joy and puts into action a daily dose of it. I’d love to hear what brings you joy. If comfortable, please reach out to me at ian@lightward.com and let's share a joy-filled conversation!