Everyone likes to be around people who are positive. But did you know that if you focus your observations and conversations on the good things that happen at work, you will be happier, less stressed out, more productive and creative, will sleep better and be better company to those around you at work and at home.

A recent article titled The Powerful Effect of Noticing Good Things at Work by Joyce E. Bono and Thesesa M. Glomb recounts the findings of a study that seems to validate this. We are all victims to ruminating or reliving all the negative things that happen to us. At night we talk about them with our friends or family or we may complain about them at work.

What Bono and Glomb found is that by spending just 10 minutes at the end of every day writing about three events that had gone well during the day, large or small, personal or professional, and then explaining why they went well, can change your entire mindset. After three weeks of performing this exercise they found that it helped people detach from work at the end of the day, reduced their stress levels, helped them sleep better and since they were more rested they were also more creative at work.

It’s not easy to ignore the negative but a more concentrated effort to focus on what worked well makes it a lot easier to deal with the “bad stuff” in the morning. This could be a great way to start the New Year off right.

Read a related blog post on Celebrating Your Successes

Here’s wishing you a great year ahead filled with success!