Random Acts of Kindness Week comes each February. For much of the world, February weather sucks. Just looking out of the window as I write this is a reminder. It’s been gray and raining endlessly in Nashville over the past few days. Perhaps this is why Random Acts of Kindness was created during this dreary month. Let’s brighten it up, shall we?
The following is a list of twenty-five ideas you can use at work to be nice to your colleagues and to yourself. I encourage you to print this list and pin it above your desk or stick it on the wall in your kitchen to share the ideas. Even though you are encouraged to deliver random acts of kindness during the official week, there is nothing stopping you from doing so during the fifty-one other weeks of the year.
Kindness releases feel-good hormones
As Maile Proctor writes, “kindness releases feel-good hormones. Have you ever noticed that when you do something nice for someone else, it makes you feel better too? This isn’t just something that happens randomly—it has to do with the pleasure centers in your brain.”
She continues, “Doing nice things for others boosts your serotonin, the neurotransmitter responsible for feelings of satisfaction and well-being. Like exercise, altruism also releases endorphins, a phenomenon known as a “helper’s high.”
25 Tips for Being Nice at Work
Buy a coffee, grab creamers and sugar, and deliver them to the first person you see at work. This could be a custodian, receptionist, security person, colleague, stranger.
Hold the door open for someone.
Give someone a compliment for the good work they do. Or the cool shoes they are wearing.
Smile.
Take a private bathroom break to practice a short meditation. I’m a fan of Sam Harris’s Waking Up app.
Send a positive text, Slack, or instant message to a colleague.
As companies grow it is common not to recognize everybody. Talk to a colleague you don’t know. Invite them with you for lunch.
Hold the elevator door open for someone. Say hello to your fellow passenger.
Tape two dollars to the vending machine.
Tidy the kitchen. Clean out the microwave. Empty the fridge.
Be a hero. Make a pot of coffee.
Surprise your team by bringing donuts or baking something special.
Write a LinkedIn recommendation. Connect your LinkedIn connections.
Choose to forgive and accept people for who they are.
Write a list of what you are thankful for.
Leave a huge tip for a barista or a server.
Pay the toll or bus fare for the person behind you.
Put your phone away when you are around other people.
Write a complimentary LinkedIn post about a colleague and tag them.
Work without headphones. Raise your head from your computer and smile at each person who walks by. Consider your resting face.
Compliment a colleague to your manager. Write them an email about how awesome the person is.
Interject a kind comment when people are gossiping.
Give a colleague a copy of a book that impacted you.
Write a list of all the things you enjoy about your work.
Listen intently as someone is speaking to you. Use the L.I.S.T.E.N. acronym (VIDEO).
Your Turn…
Download this as a PDF to print and share with your colleagues to brighten up the day.
Photo by Sandrachile on Unsplash.
