Here are some ideas from psychologist and author Scott Sonenshein:

Ask the right question: Stop asking "What don't I have?" and start asking, "What do I have and how can I make more with it?"

Act first, then plan: Be more spontaneous. Go through a day without a schedule.

Practice being resourceful. Open a package with a key. Use a new ingredient in the stew you're making for dinner. Adaptability and resourcefulness lead to happiness.

Embrace being an outsider: There's value in not being connected. Marginalized people often contribute the most helpful information and best solutions because they're not in the inner circles.

Scramble things up: Drive to work a different way. Hold a meeting on a different day or in a different room with a different seating chart. Put a few outsiders on your work team. Meet face to face instead of sending an e-mail. Come in earlier or leave later, so you run into new people in the hallway.

Allow some daydreaming. Pay less attention at times, and encourage the same of your team. One mind-wandering group showed a 40 percent improvement in developing new uses for objects they'd studied earlier.

Tackle an easy task: Occasionally, do work for which you are overqualified. You'll be somewhat engaged, but you'll still have a lot of mental energy left.

Gail Rosenblum