Various studies have shown that the following activities increase happiness . I’ve added my own observations.
- Dancing to fast-paced music (unless you can’t manage that ‘dance like nobody’s watching’ thing, in which case it might decrease happiness)
- A 30-day course of probiotics.
- Selfless acts. One that’s often recommended is paying for the coffee of the person in line behind you at the coffee shop. I’d suggest doing it for the second person behind you, to give you time to get out and avoid creepy stalker suspicions.
- Petting a dog. I can’t have a dog where I live but I’ve recently found a service where they match would-be dog petters with dog owners who need someone to take their dogs for a walk from time to time.
- Eating your lunch outdoors (yes, this was determined by a university located in the UK and it would be interesting to know what the weather was like during the study). But even looking out the window at greenery can help.
- Getting a massage can reduce stress levels by about a quarter. Unless you have the experience of my friend who went in for a legitimate massage that ended with a squat middle-aged Korean lady insisting he should get and pay for a ‘happy ending.’ His stress levels went up.
- Sleeping on silk sheets. Am I wrong to wonder whether this Yale University study was funded by the silk sheet manufacturers of America?
- Reading. A study at the University of Maryland found that the happiest men have reading as their main hobby; the least happy listed watching TV as their main pastime.
(If you're looking for something to read check out my book, Creativity Now, published by Pearson and available from your favorite bookseller. Or, if you're interested in writing, have a look at Your Writing Coach and Your Creative Writing Masterclass, both published by Nicholas Brealey Publishing.)
