19 Mood-Lifting Things That Will Make Your Day At The Office 100% More Tolerable

1. Drink water. There are tons of different theories on how much water you’re supposed to be drinking in a given day. Personally, I go by half my body weight in fluid ounces. So if you weigh 150 pounds, you’d drink 75 ounces of water a day.

2. Take a power nap outside. Or in your car. Honestly, if you haven’t worked an office job and taken a car nap at some point in your life, you’re not a professional yet. And that extra 15-25 minutes of sleep really will boost your mood.

3. Have a little caffeine. Instead of pounding the coffee, just give yourself a little boost. Have a half cup of coffee and put some hot cocoa mix in there, or try green tea for best and trendiest results.

4. Watch an extremely-important video of these tiny pit bulls learning to swim:

5. And while you’re going down the mood-boosting YouTube spiral, watch this baby and puppy compilation, too:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p336IIjZCl8

6. Make a long-term travel to do list. You don’t have to be able to afford a round-trip ticket tomorrow, but it’s heartening to have a travel goal to work toward.

7. Get a thread going with your coworkers where you each send each other new recipes to try out. Whether it’s by-the-book Martha Stewart recipes, or those viral food porn videos, just send your favorites and start getting excited about dinner later.

8. Actually try some of the recipes, and then have one designated day a week where you each bring a different “treat” for lunch that you each get to sample.

9. Label all the shit that you’ve been meaning to label around your office for the last three years. THEN make a bunch of labels for all the stuff you’ve always wanted to label at home, and bring them home with you. What good is an office job if you’re not exploiting the supply cabinet?

10. Spend your lunch break doing your nails outside.

11. Listen to a podcast or an audiobook while you’re doing a particularly dismal task. Obviously, it’s not ideal to write important emails and listen to a podcast at the same time, but if you’re copying and pasting information into a spreadsheet, instead of mindlessly listening to music and/or rain sounds on your Spotify, listen to something engaging.

12. Flirt with someone on a dating app who you have no actual intention of pursuing. Noble? Hard no. Entertaining? Yes.

13. Listen to The Talking Heads. No one has ever been upset or in a bad mood while listening to Wild Wild Life.

14. Get a white board, write out the major projects you have to accomplish this week, and color code everything. It might not seem like the most productive way to get started, but sometimes making things look a little more exciting can make you at least marginally more excited about getting through your pile of work.

15. Ask for a project at work that will utilize skills you rarely get to use. No one likes taking on extra work, but sometimes owning a responsibility you actually feel strongly about can make you feel more valued and purposeful in your current role.

16. Start an after-work or an at-lunch running/yoga/some sort of exercise group. Giving yourself something to plan, own, and look forward to will elevate your day. And running after a long day can make you feel invigorated, instead of wiped out.

17. Bring something scented in to keep at your desk. Get a little spritz bottle of lavender or peppermint oil. (Think: professional-ish scents that anyone else in your open-office could also enjoy.)

18. Once an hour, stand up at your desk and do toe-heel raises. They’re super inconspicuous, and they’ll tone your calves if you keep your body tight and do them properly. Stand up subtly, keep your body steady, rise up on your toes, and then (keeping your body stiff), come down and rock back on your ankles. Feel the B(u/e)rn.

19. Invent a Bring Your Dog To Work Day. Or if you already work in an ultra-trendy, dog-friendly office, ask if you can take your coworker’s dog for a walk. As evidenced by the little pit bull treading water in the video, there is no better remedy to a mediocre office day than a puppy.