This morning, like every other school day, I turned on my computer, opened Outlook and Chrome, and went to start my day. However, I was met with the message in Chrome, “Slides has been removed. Docs has been removed. Rebecca.Taylor has been removed.” Okay…weird.

Rebecca Taylor is an add-on in Chrome that gives a colorful background on tabs and the home screen. I added it on, probably my first year of teaching. So, thinking it was a fluke, I went to add something colorful on again. Nope. Blocked by admin.

Now, first of all, I am not complaining. Because, it’s the school’s property, and I still have access to email, music, and probably social media if I tried.

But. I didn’t realize how much that splash of color affected my mood. I look at my computer now, and it’s just…blah.

Which got me thinking. What little things do we do that affect our happiness in little ways?

For me, obviously, it’s color. I like color. My classroom has colorful posters, my desk is filled with colorful sticky notes. And, up until today, my computer had a hidden splash of color as well.

Another way I try to keep my sanity throughout the day is by listening to music. I don’t love silence, and while it would be rare in my classroom anyhow, I enjoy having music playing softly on my computer.

Inspirational quotes, color, favorite music, sweet smells, alphabetized books or movies. These are things I do to add a sprinkle of happiness into my day.

What do you do?