The Best of Greater Good
10+ most popular Greater Good articles, as voted by our community.
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What Makes You Procrastinate (Which Isn’t Always a Bad Thing)
Our brain's cognitive biases enable us to put off important tasks, even though it hurts us later. But are there benefits to procrastination?
«If procrastination is seriously interfering with your life, you may want to start chopping tasks into smaller pieces and set rewards after each step.»
Greater Good on Anxiety
What to Do With Dread and Anxiety About Climate Change
You're not alone if you're feeling dread and anxiety about climate change. A new book explains how to channel these feelings to fight for a better world.
Greater Good on Better Living
The Top 10 Insights from the “Science of a Meaningful Life” in 2022
Our team names the most provocative and influential findings published during this past year.
«Our findings suggest that simply appreciating one’s experiences can foster a rich sense of meaning and perhaps shore up confidence that life has been and will be worth living,»
How to Spend Your Time on What Matters Most
A new book by Cassie Holmes provides ideas for how to fill our days with happier, more meaningful moments.
«most people, doing an exercise like this makes them realize that the biggest source of happiness and meaning in life is their relationships»
Greater Good on Company Culture
Nine Tips for Giving Better Feedback at Work
Receiving feedback (positive and negative) helps us feel engaged, connected, and satisfied at work.
«Pay attention to your non-verbals and facial expressions when you deliver feedback. How you say things is just as important as what you’re saying.»
Greater Good on Failures
How to Learn from Your Failures
Research suggests that we need to overcome some emotional and cognitive barriers if we’re to learn from our defeats—but it can be done.
«Failure bruises the ego, that metaphorical seat of our self-esteem and self-importance. When we fail, we feel threatened—and that sense of threat can trigger a fight-or-flight response.»
Greater Good on Gratitude
How Cultural Differences Shape Your Gratitude
Americans say thanks a lot, but other cultures may have a deeper understanding of gratitude.
Greater Good on Happiness
Happiness Break: Restore Through Silence
When was the last time you spent a moment savoring silence? Tricia Hersey, aka The Nap Bishop, guides us through an appreciation of silence and its restorative powers.
Wanting to Help Others Could Make You Happier at Work
A research review finds that employees who are motivated to be kind and helpful tend to have higher well-being at work.
Greater Good on Personal Growth
How to Make Sure You Keep Growing and Learning
Small, everyday experiments can help us reach our goals and get better at the skills that are important to us.
«your focus is on getting better than you were in the past (rather than being preoccupied with whether you are better than others)»
Greater Good on Psychology
Why Is Self-Compassion So Hard for Some People?
There's a different way to practice self-compassion if the typical reflective exercises don't work so well for you.
«backdraft.” Backdraft happens when you try to be compassionate to yourself and end up feeling worse. “It’s a normal part of practicing self-compassion»
How Anxiety Hides in Your Habits
Before you try any tips to reduce anxiety, you have to understand your own anxiety routines, a new book argues.
«The only sustainable way to change a habit is to update its reward value,»
Greater Good on Relationships
A Healthy Social Life Goes Beyond Friends and Family
When we have a variety of social interactions—with not just intimates, but acquaintances and strangers—we may be happier and healthier for it.
«She suggests reaching out to old friends, joining a class, having an extra meeting with a colleague to touch base, or chatting with the grocery store cashier»
Do You Underestimate the Impact of Being Kind?
A recent study shows that small kindnesses have more of an effect on people than we expect.
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How to Get Comfortable With Uncertainty and Change
When life is uncertain, our usual responses and coping strategies might not always work. The practice of mental agility can help us be resilient.
«It comes down to the choice of stick or switch: Should I keep pursuing the same thoughts, feelings, and actions, or do I need to switch to something new?»
When You Feel Jealous, Think About Cultivating “Compersion”
New research on empathic joy points the way to closer intimate relationships.
«At its core, the principle of compersion relies on the dissolution of the perception of separation between self and other.»
Instead of Pulling Out Your Phone, Let Your Mind Wander
When we're waiting, we often have the urge to distract ourselves—but a new study finds we’d enjoy doing nothing but think.
«there were no significant differences between those who waited with or without a computer; both groups liked the experience equally.»
How to Manage Expectations to Maximize Happiness
Researcher Robb Rutledge says that expecting too much of your future experiences, including vacations, may be contributing to unhappiness.
Four Ways to Stop Imagining the Worst Will Happen
If you have a tendency to worry about worst-case scenarios, it's possible to get your brain on a different track.
«Catastrophizing is a tendency to assume the worst will happen when imagining a future situation»
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