The antidote? Create better work-life balance, say the study's authors.

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Positive psychologists agree. They recommend happiness-boosting interventions that build your resilience and improve your performance.

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What more evidence do you need to take a break?

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"Every man who possibly can should force himself to a holiday of a full month in a year, whether

he feels like taking it or not." ~ William James

 

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Positive emotions serve as "tiny engines of flourishing."

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Positive emotions—e.g., pleasure, amusement, gratitude, inspiration, awe, joy, love, contentment, pride, etc.—provide more than passing pleasant feelings.

 

For your own health and success, give yourself permission to enjoy a little skiing, take in a movie, adorn a tree, light candles, ice a gingerbread house, play silly games, or just hang out with friends.

 

These positive experiences become your "little engines of flourishing," explains emotions expert Dr. Barbara Fredrickson, distinguished professor at the University of North Carolina.

 

When your positive emotional experiences outweigh your negative ones, you broaden your perspective while building your cognitive, social, and physical resources.

 

To benefit from your merrymaking, experiment with these four proven strategies to balance your fun and work.

 

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1. Honor both work and fun—but not at the same time.

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Has your Inner Dissertation Nag ("Why aren't you revising Chapter 2?!") ever tagged along uninvited on recreational outings? You can mute this inner critic by creating a written dissertation schedule—and then sticking to it.

 

When your Inner Child pesters you ("I wanna go play!") while writing, remind it that you have also blocked out some play time and resume your work.

 

The key is to be mindful when having fun. . . and mindful when dissertating. Don't let preoccupation about work poison your fun or vice versa.

 

When the occasional conflicting thought pops up, simply acknowledge it ("Ah, there's that thought again!"), and then contemplate three ways that work and play complement and support—rather than undermine—each other. Think yin/yang rather than tug-o'-war.

 

As you practice shifting gears, observe and pat yourself on the back for your growing mastery in switching between priorities with equanimity and grace.

 

"More men are killed by overwork than the importance of the world justifies." ~ Rudyard Kipling

 

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2. Create a realistic plan—then stick to it.

 

Create a plan from today through the beginning of the New Year—and don't kid yourself.

 

You'll just beat yourself up afterward if you schedule work when you know you will really want to celebrate. Get the "musts" on your calendar first, e.g., teaching duties, advisor conferences, can't-miss social events, and so on.

 

Be sure to specify your work start time (e.g., "9 a.m.") rather than leaving it vague ("by the end of the day"). When you commit yourself to a schedule, you are twice as likely to follow through, studies show by creating an open loop that your mind will strive to close.

 

Also, beware the "planning fallacy," i.e., the common tendency to assume best-case scenarios rather than likely scenarios. According to Nobel Prize winner Daniel Kahneman, humans tend to grossly underestimate time and costs—even for familiar activities. Leave some slack in your calendar for the unexpected crisis or opportunity.

 

Now review the empty spaces. Reserve the best ones (e.g., weekday mornings and/or afternoons) for dissertation work. The remaining calendar spaces can now be assigned to recreation and less critical tasks.

 

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3. Short circuit rumination by pivoting to positivity.

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Holidays and vacation time arrive loaded with high expectations that can set you up for disappointment. The magic of the season may elude you, or your productivity might fall short of your hopes.

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Fretting and ruminating are especially harmful, Fredrickson asserts, leading you into downward spirals of negativity. Dwelling on the downside not only drags you down but also strengthens your brain's natural negative default thinking mode.

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As research and experience attest, unless you reinforce the downer drama, negative emotions tend to be short-lived. According to Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor, Harvard-trained neuroanatomist, when you are emotionally triggered, the chemical surge gets flushed out in less than 90 seconds, and the negative emotion dissipates—unless you do something to re-trigger it.

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You can choose instead to transition to something positive, a strategy which over time becomes your new default mode. "As you create new habits of thought, you literally rewire your brain," Fredrickson observes. She recommends creating your own positivity portfolio—a list of "go-to" activities you know will short-circuit your bad moods.

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What options does the holiday season offer for pivoting to positivity? You could make snow angels, sing seasonal songs, meditate by candlelight, or even watch Miracle on 34th Street again. . . whatever lights you up.

 

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4. Practice savoring the good times before, during and after they occur.

 

Once you find yourself in a positive moment, triple your benefits by savoring the experience. The opposite of rumination, savoring intensifies and prolongs good experiences through anticipation, mindfulness, and memory, generating neural connections that can make positivity your new default mode.

 

In his blog, Dr. Rick Hanson, neuropsychologist, outlines the steps for leveraging positive experiences to rewire your brain:

 

For survival purposes, the brain is good at learning from the bad, but bad at learning from the good. So help it by enriching an experience through making it last a 10-20 seconds or longer, fill your body and mind, and become more intense. Also absorb it by intending and sensing that it is sinking into you as you sink into it. Do this half a dozen times a day, maybe half a minute at a time. It's less than five minutes a day. But you'll be gradually weaving a profound sense of being already fundamentally peaceful, happy, loved, and loving into the fabric of your brain and your life.
 

This simple practice develops inner calm and resilience, enabling you to stay centered during the ups and downs of the holiday season and into the new year.