There’s a low intensity happiness intervention called Three Funny Things. It is one of a number of humour-based interventions that you can read more about here.
It is quite simple. For a week or so, take 10 minutes to write down three funny things that you heard, saw, did or experienced that day. Write down what it was, how it made you feel and why you thought it was funny. Try to keep the record in a place that you can revisit.
I’ve been doing a version of this for the last couple of weeks. I keep a record of things that I find funny in Microsoft Teams. This might sound strange but quite a lot of my work messaging happens in Microsoft Teams, so I have it on my computers and phone. It turns out you can message yourself in Teams, by simply selecting yourself from the chat pane. It is a great place to keep ‘notes to self’.
Most of the funny things I see happen on my morning walk or on the bus trips to and from work. Or more correctly, those are times that I am likely to be a) more open and mindful to noticing them and b) in a better position to take note of them.
I don’t specifically aim for 3 per day, rather I am focused on disciplining myself to write them down when I experience them. The two most recent ones that I recorded were:
- At the nearby marina, I noticed that the cormorant birds seemed to hang out near a collection of jetskis. They had pooped all over those jetskis. I found it amusing because it felt like they were expressing some kind of opinion about watercraft.
- I was walking behind a man and a woman and made moves to overtake them. The man looked to his left, saw me (I thought) and quickly ushered his companion away to the right. I thought I must have looked menacing or intimidating (which are not words that have ever been used to describe me) until I realised coming up behind me was a person on a bike which is what the couple were actually avoiding.
I find part of the positive impact of the exercise is the amusement experienced at the time and when remembering it later. Little bursts of funny that can lift you in the moment. But a sizeable chunk of the positive impact comes from sharing the more amusing ones with friends, family and colleagues. Having an amusing story to tell can lighten other people’s days and spark interesting conversations. I suspect also that the ongoing discipline of noticing funny things improves your capacity to see the funny in situations.
Keeping a record of them is important because of how quickly such moments can be forgotten.
As for what got me using this intervention, I have been delivering the Be Well Plan recently where I teach strategies like this one. Participants are encouraged to try out different strategies between sessions and sometimes I like to take on the same challenge as them. This is an example where I am very glad I did 🙂
Dr Gareth Furber 