With all the stress the modern world throws at you, feeling happy sometimes gets replaced with something far less enjoyable—feeling frazzled. How are you supposed to find balance and make space for free time when your mind is racing about work emails, tasks you didn’t finish, and a to-do list so long you trip over it? There’s nothing like being pulled in a million different directions to keep you from feeling present.
The good news is, the science behind happiness proves you don’t need a total life overhaul to feel happier and less frazzled. A few simple, science-backed tweaks to your routine can increase your happiness.
5 Research-Backed Ways to Get Happier Right Now
1. Keep a gratitude list
There’s a huge body of research that shows that practicing gratitude can significantly up your happiness. It doesn’t have to be writing full-fledged appreciation letters either—though that works too. Something as simple as jotting down a list of what you’re grateful for each day has been shown to increase happiness. And it takes hardly any of your time; we’re talking five minutes for a significant happiness spike.
Here’s what the science says: In a trio of studies, researchers looked at how daily or weekly gratitude journaling affect both physical and mental well-being. They found that both practices lead to better moods, increased life satisfaction, and more optimism for the week ahead. They also concluded that writing every day was “more powerful” than journaling only once a week. A no brainer, right?
2. Get excited
Just like feeling grateful before you start your day can boost your happiness, so can jotting down what you’re excited about. Turns out, anticipation is a powerful mood booster. In a 2007 study, researchers found that looking forward to something produces stronger emotions than reflecting on the event after the fact. In other words, taking a minute to think about what you’re excited for each morning will help you be happier about your day than if you brush the anticipation aside.
You can even use this idea to reframe something on your calendar that’s giving you anxiety, like a big meeting. A study from Harvard Business School found that reframing nervousness as excitement not only helps elevate your mood but also leads to better performance. All you have to do is use a simple strategy like writing down “I’m excited about my meeting today.”
3. Exercise
According to countless studies, exercise delivers just as many gains to your mental well-being as your physical health. But a new review of studies found that you don’t have to be fitness-obsessed to get the happiness boost. After reviewing 23 studies, researchers found that exercising for as little as 10 minutes a day can make you happier than doing nothing at all.
Admittedly, even squeezing in that much active time can feel easier said than done on your busiest weeks. In order to build this happiness habit, make exercise a part of your routine by reserving a recurring spot in your calendar. If nothing else, even a brisk walk around the block between answering emails can help make you happier.
4. Plan ahead
Planning out the week ahead is useful for more than your productivity—research shows having a set plan for your week can actually make you happier. Results from a survey conducted by psychologist Robert Epstein found that a quarter of our happiness is determined by one thing: our ability to manage stress. What was the most effective stress-management technique and therefore the most useful happiness booster in this scenario? You got it—planning ahead.
Imagine a high-stress situation—putting together a quarterly review by the end of the week—going one of two ways: In scenario A, you dive in head first, spending the week stressing about whether you’ll finish in time. In scenario B, you plan ahead, breaking the project into chunks that translate to trackable daily to-do lists. Fighting stress before it happens can make you much happier by the time your due date rolls around, according to Epstein’s research.
5. Write down your wins
Doing a little reflection at day’s end is also a proven happiness booster. Positive psychology researcher Martin Seligman found that something as simple as writing down three things that went well each day before you close up shop can help increase your happiness.
Here’s how it works: Seligman and his team had participants write down three things that went well and the cause behind each, every night for a week. For example, “I left the office at 5 today because I’ve been working on my time-management skills.” He found that doing this quick routine for just a week boosted happiness and decreased depressive symptoms for a full six months. Time to start patting yourself on the back.
Bonus: Here’s a tool that puts it all together for you
You can do all of this on your own, of course, but we all know how difficult it can be to build new habits and hold yourself accountable. That’s why a tool like Panda Planner is essential to get organized, focused and happier.
Panda Planner is a daily planner that’s designed to make happiness and productivity automatic. Based on the latest positive psychology and neuroscience research, Panda Planner not only helps you prioritize your tasks and finally focus again but also has simple exercises to rewire your brain for happiness and positivity. Panda Planner makes success super simple—all you have to do is follow along.
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