150: Christine Carter - Raising Happiness

**Episode 150** **Summary:** In Episode #150 Ari invites author Christine Carter of _[Raising Happiness](http://amzn.to/1P9Vviq) _onto the Less Doing Podcast to talk about her work on happiness, busyness and health. During their conversation, Christine shares her top tips for finding contentment and explains why she endorses the tenants of Less Doing. **Special Announcements:** # [Less Doing Does Europe!](https://www.gazelles.com/summits/EGS-2015/Barcelona/index.html) Watch Ari bring the lessons of Less Doing to some of Europe’s most famous cities including Barcelona, Munich, Amsterdam and Budapest for the 2015 European Growth Summit. Ari will be joined by fellow masters of entrepreneurship Steve Martin, Director of _Influence at Work_ in the UK, and Verne Harnish, founder and CEO of Gazelles. ## EO Vancouver On June 18th, join Ari at the Fairmont Waterfront Hotel in b-e-a-utiful Vancouver, B.C. as he takes the microphone for _EO Vancouver_. Enjoy this unique opportunity to watch Ari candidly discuss life as an Author, Speaker, Teacher and – most importantly – Achievement Architect. **Time Stamped Show Notes:** - 02:10 – Introduction of [Christine Carter](https://www.christinecarter.com/about/dr-christine-carter-bio/) - 02:35 – Achieving happiness and the most scientific ways to do that - 03:40 – Christine very much believes in the essence of Less Doing - 04:00 – Christine is a self-described perfectionist, but her obsession with perfection prevented her from finding happiness in spite of her successes - 05:09 – Less Doing was started to systematically attack stress - 06:10 – There are certain cultural believes that lead to behaviors that prevent happiness - 07:29—Question big cultural beliefs, particularly around busyness - 08:29 – “More is better” is a sickness - 09:05 – Ari’s least favorite phrase - 10:05 – Cognitive overload impairs our ability to live - 11:31 – Christine shares her thoughts on the concept of “Recess” - 12:12 – We see stillness as a sign of economic instability and that is simply not true - 13:28 – Our greatest powers and moments are a consequence of creative insight - 14:36 – [Aqua Notes](http://amzn.to/1F6u6Hu) - 15:06 – The importance of recess for the brain’s “awake cycles” - 16:16 – Go with the way your brain was designed to operate…take breaks! - 17:12 – 17 minutes of recess for 51 minutes of work - 18:20 – Doing nothing is NOT a waste of time - 20:45 – We need to make sure structure is established for healthy technology use - 22:00 – Arguing with a spouse in front of children - 25:13 – Christine’s most challenging area when it comes to being happy and being a parent - 26:50 – We cannot multitask—we just switch back and forth which is exceedingly taxing on the brain - 29:10 – Christine’s _Top 3 Tips to be More Effective_: - 29:19 – Find ways to decrease busyness - 29:28 – Pay attention to your social connections - 31:01 – Upgrade the software in your brain **7 Key Points:** 1. Understand the importance of taking recess. 2. Start systematically attacking the sources of stress and busyness in your life. 3. More is NOT better. 4. Doing nothing is NOT a waste of time. 5. Cognitive overload impairs our ability to live and live happily 6. Stop trying to fit a square peg in a round hole; the brain was not built to multitask. 7. Focus on your in-the-flesh social relationships…put down the iPhone and engage with another human. **Credits:** - Music and Audio Editing provided by [Felix Bird](http://2014.felixbird.com/) - Show Notes provided by [Mike Rossi](http://mikerossi.elance.com/) ------- [Get the FREE Optimize, Automate, Outsource Blueprint here.](https://go.lessdoing.com/blueprint?utm_campaign=blueprint-ari&utm_medium=link&utm_source=podcast)