Coding matters: A cure for the scroll of doom

Four yellow frowning face emojis next to one yellow smiley face. They look like ornaments: the frowning faces are in a row hanging straight down. The smiley face is swinging up to the side.

In The Scroll of Doom, I shared some of the science around stress. I hope you remember how stress is linked to doomscrolling and having a bad day.

A glut of bad news

Sometimes it feels like we can’t escape the bad news. And I’m not even talking about all the wars.

This week my inbox included two articles about the level of stress in South Africa. One article reported that mental health conditions in South Africa have deteriorated, especially among the working class and youth. It claimed that employees feel “completely stressed out” at work.

The second article reported that the Quality of Life Index for Gauteng residents has dropped to its lowest level in 15 years of data.

I have not provided the link to either article – less doomscrolling, remember!

The anecdote to bad news

Shawn Achor is a psychologist who studies happiness. I’ve read his book, “The Happiness Advantage”, and I plan to read it for the third time. His research shows that happiness comes before success, not the other way around.

I’ve started reading his book, “Before Happiness”. This is about what comes before happiness: the way we look at the world.

I don’t expect you to buy the books. But many people are struggling more in 2024 than during lockdown. So I decided to share Achor’s Ted talk with you (again).

The content is important, but Achor is also very funny. Watching the video is good for a laugh, which is good for your mental health. And it is only 12 minutes long.

You are what you read (or watch)

A weird thing happened to me the past two weeks. I watched some YouTube videos on plant-based diets and cooking. This is weird because I don’t like cooking, cooking shows or books about food. And my vegetarian diet is often more sugar than veggies. But watching these videos encouraged me to buy and cook some different vegetables. Amazing!

You are what you eat – but also what you read or watch.

We all need to be happier. I hope this encourages you to do something that improves your happiness level. I’d love to hear your comments on the Ted talk.

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