Do You Know How to Improve Your Mood

Bad moods are inevitable on the roller coaster of life. Most often, it’s wise to terminate a bad mood before it spirals into something heavy, hard to dispel, and settles in for a while. Test your ability to banish a bad mood the next time one hits.

1. Bad moods often occur

Out of the blue When people are bored When people are doing difficult things When life is at its best

2. Science finds that you can disrupt a bad mood in the following manner.

Scrubbing the floors in your house Watching television Thinking about something good that has happened to you Eating ice cream

3. Which of the following does not trigger a bad mood?

Undone tasks Reviewing past disappointments Rejection A strenuous hike

4. The fastest way to get a person out of a bad mood is to:

Take them out for a short walk Encourage them to take a nap Look at old photographs Give them a piece of chocolate

5. Letting others around you know you’re in a bad mood

Is strategically unwise Is a sign of weakness Invites others to work around you Can be a shortcut to relief

6. Which of the following is not helpful when you’re in a bad mood?

Writing down your feelings Breathing deeply Tackling the biggest problem on your mind Quietly meditating

7. Instant relief when feeling overwhelmed can be obtained by

Tackling the biggest outstanding task Asking others to pitch in Making a plan for tackling the tasks nagging at you Cutting out all recreation and enjoyable activity until everything’s done

8. You’re feeling down about yourself. You can reverse course by

Avoiding mirrors Repeating self-affirmations Reaching out to someone who likes you but who you haven’t talked to in a while Watching videos of puppies

9. To dispel feeling lonely and disconnected you can

Strike up a conversation with a stranger Create an AI "friend" Take a warm bath Go to the movies

10. A bad mood can sometimes be leveraged to do the following:

Create an AI companion Call an old friend Make a difficult decision you've been postponing Listen to music