Distracting yourself when you're stuck
can help you find creative solutions to problems, but when you're in a bad mood you may want to focus on certain tasks.
In a study from the University of New South Wales in Australia, shoppers on both bright sunny days (when they were feeling happy) and gloomy days (when they were cranky) took a memory test on 10 random objects at the checkout counter. Unhappy participants had better recall and accuracy compared to those with sunshine-y attitudes. Turns out being upset helps focus your mind. Rather than throw up your hands out of frustration at work, use this time to focus on projects that require a lot of your attention.
