10 Simple Things You Can Do Now That Will Make You Happier

1. Exercise More Often Exercise is one of the best strategies for overcoming depression. Indeed, it can have a dramatic impact on your mental health. For example, a Duke University team studied three groups that tried exercise only, exercise plus drugs, and drugs only, to see what treatment best treated depression. They found that 10 months later, it was the exercise-only group that was most successful in maintaining wellness and avoiding a depression relapse! Yet, exercise may still make you happier even if youre not depressed. It can help you to feel better about your body,2 for s tarters, while also boosting levels of health-promoting brain chemicals like serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine, which may help buffer some of the effects of stress. Rather than viewing exercise as a medical tool to lose weight, prevent disease, and live longer all benefits that occur in the future try viewing exercise as a daily tool to immediately enhance your frame of mind, reduce stress and feel happier. 2. Get Proper Sleep A lack of sleep makes it more difficult to recall pleasant memories (but gloomy memories are recalled just fine).3 Lack of sleep may also make you more susceptible to negative emotions like fear and anger, while taking a nap in the afternoon may enhance positive emotions. Not to mention, sleep deprivation is linked to psychiatric disorders, such as anxiety and bipolar depression, while getting the right amount of sleep has been linked to positive personality characteristics such as optimism and greater self-esteem, as well as a greater ability to solve difficult problems.4 3. Shorten Your Commute If you can move closer to where you work, or work closer to where you live, do it. A long commute is stressful and draining, even if it allows you to buy a bigger house or have a better job. Such factors do not make up for the unhappiness created by a longer commute, according to research by two Swiss economists. Generally speaking, it would take a 40 percent increase in pay to make up for a job with a longer commute.5 4. Nourish Your Relationships Friends and family mean everything in life, and research shows spending social time with your friends and loved ones generally makes people much happier. One study even found that relationships are worth more than $100,000 in terms of life satisfaction, while actual changes in income buy very little happiness.6 5. Spend Time Outdoors Simply going outside to get some fresh air and sunshine boosts mood, broadens thinking and improves working memory. One study found that it takes just 20 minutes outdoors to make most people happier, while other research showed that happiness is maximized when its 57 de grees F outside7 so keep an eye on the thermometer! 6. Help Others Volunteering can lower your risk of depression and anxiety,8 and significantly boost your psychological well-being.9 Not only does it keep you active and on your feet, but theres a definite social aspect as well, both of which contribu te to happiness. Volunteering to help others also gives you a greater sense of purpose and can even lead to a so-called helpers high, which may occur because doing good things releases feel -good hormones like oxytocin in your body while lowering levels of stress hormones like cortisol. 7. Smile Putting on a fake smile can worsen your mood, but thinking positive thoughts and then smiling as a result can make you happier.When you smile at others, theyre also more likely to smile back in return, creating an ongoing feedback loop that may lead to more positivity in your life and the lives of others. 8. Plan a Vacation It might be that the simple act of planning a vacation can make you happier, even if you dont actually go on one. Research s howed that people were happiest during the planning stage of their vacation, when their sense of anticipation was peaked.11 After the vacation was over, levels of happiness quickly returned to baseline. 9. Meditate Meditation helps you keep your mind focused, calms your nerves and supports inner peace. Research shows it can even lead to physical changes in your brain that make you happier, including an increase in areas associated with compassion and self-awareness and a shrinking in areas associated with stress. 10. Practice Gratitude People who are thankful for what they have are better able to cope with stress, have more positive emotions, and are better able to reach their goals. The best way to harness the positive power of gratitude is to keep a gratitude journal or list, where you actively write down exactly what youre grateful for each day. Doing so has been linked to happier moods, greater optimism and even better physical health.