Happiness is sometimes an elusive goal. It’s easy to get so wrapped up in working to have a good life that you don’t have time to actually spend living. Don’t worry, though, because happiness isn’t necessarily something that comes naturally, so even if you don’t have it in your life right now, that doesn’t mean you’ll never have it. Here are a few tips that can help you achieve happiness both at home and at work:
Exercise.
Even before exercise begins to have any effect on your body size or weight, it already begins to affect your body image, which generally makes people happier. Also, though, exercise releases endorphins and proteins that cause happiness. If you’re too busy to spend a lot of time at the gym, there are great workouts of all lengths and difficulty levels available on YouTube.
Move close to work.
You might think that having a larger house or living in the country is great, even if it means a long commute to work. In fact, long commutes can have a hugely negative impact on your happiness. Commuting might not seem like something that would hugely affect your happiness – it’s a pain in the butt, but it’s just a fact of life, right? Actually, over time that pain in the butt can build up and have a serious impact on your happiness. So in general it’s better to forego a larger house in favor of living closer to work.
Make time to be with friends and family.
Not staying in touch with friends and family is one of the top five things that people regret on their deathbeds. As Harvard professor Daniel Gilbert, an expert in happiness, says, “We are happy when we have family, we are happy when we have friends and almost all the other things we think make us happy are actually just ways of getting more family and friends.” So make time to spend time with your friends and family.
Be outside.
Spending time outside has been shown to boost good moods as well as improve memory. That may seem like a difficult thing to do if you’re a busy person, but if you begin running or taking walks outside, then you can kill two birds with one stone by getting in exercise while you’re outside. (Actually, if you move closer to work, you can kill three birds with one stone by being outside while you walk to work!)