To discuss whether happiness makes people more productive, we have to first define what it is. I suppose it would be when we feel joy in what we are doing. However, if we have never experienced being sad how would we know what happiness is ? Therefore, in order to measure happiness you have to have experienced unhappiness. As one cannot exist without an understanding of the other.

Lots of successful people are unhappy. They may have great jobs, homes, possessions, but feel there is something missing from their lives. So no matter what they acquire they are never satisfied. Have you ever been in a great mood and been in the company of a friend and they have been really low. After you left you feel blue too, as their negativity has affected your own mood.

Have you ever met a person who is so down, that you cannot draw them out of their mindset. You may have presented them with lots of solutions to their problem; despite this they come up with every excuse under the sun, to why all these things will not work out.

I would imagine that this type of person would not achieve much. The reason for this would be, that they spend huge amounts of time, thinking how unhappy they are. It takes energy to be unhappy all the time but it is a destructive type of energy that demotivates rather than motivates. On the other hand, happy people seem to zip through tasks with ease, hardly thinking about them. They have faith in themselves and others and make good leaders.

When you are happy, you are motivated to do well. If you are happy, others are drawn to you and will want to spend time with you. This reinforces your self esteem and because of this you raise your expectations. This results in more productivity and the cycle continues. If you are unhappy and someone smiles at you, it can sometimes lift your mood. You begin to feel more valued as a person and will take more risks; as you feel you are in a supportive environment. Happy people tend to think of their glass as half full rather than half empty. They have normally worked out what is important to them in their lives; and they have taken the steps to achieve this, or are in the process of doing so. Likewise, being unhappy may have brought them to the point of happiness. For example, they may have been working a 70-80 hour week and had a heart attack. Whilst recovering they may have discovered what is important to them. It may have nothing to do with their present lifestyle. It may be family, taking time out to write the novel they want to write, after coming to the conclusion that time is precious and limited.

In conclusion, I would suggest that on the whole happy people are more productive. If they work in a team or lead it they will inspire others. They will place trust in both themselves and others, and people generally want to live up to that trust. However, your life by design is not going to be a bed of roses; but if you can rise above the problems and put a smile on your face, you will soon be back to your happy self.