What Should I Do Today? 35 Science-Backed Ways to Live Life Happily

How to Live Life Happily? But here you will find a more important question: What Should I Do Today?

Happiness is so interesting because we all have different ideas about what happiness is and how to get happiness.

I would love to be happier, as I’m sure most people would, so I thought it would be interesting to find some ways to become a happier person that are actually backed up by science.

1. Exercise more – 7 minutes might be enough.
2. Sell your microwave. You’d be shocked how much healthier you eat when you have to clean a pan after every meal.
3. Sleep more – you’ll be less sensitive to negative emotions.
4. Apologize to your partner; you know what you did.
5. Read poetry.
6. Read books.
7. Spend time with friends and family – don’t regret it on your deathbed.
8. Drink chamomile tea. It’s good for nearly every part of your body. Stop hoping one more cup of coffee will halt the shaking and you’ll magically end up on the other side of sanity like Buddha during a fast. Drink some calming, honey-laden tea and think for a second.
9. Check your credit score. If you have a credit card or student loans or a Gamestop PowerUp card, you need to check your credit score. Yes, the credit system sucks and The Big Three are a monopolized scheme and Occupy told you its financial slavery, but it exists. I know it’s scary, but unlike your Netflix membership, it’s free and important.
10. Meet your neighbors. Bake something and give it to them. You don’t even have to talk to them; just give them cookies.
11. Go outside – happiness is maximized at 13.9°C.
12. Turn up the tunes. There are tons of songs out there that celebrate who you are. Dancing will release endorphins and you will feel great about yourself.
13. Learn how to talk to kids. Find a friend or family member with kids and offer to babysit. They aren’t little aliens or monsters; they are just you before Arrested Development. And no matter your gender or orientation, being good with kids is a massive plus in the dating world.
14. Help others – 100 hours a year is the magical number.
15. Read your local news. What’s going on in Syria or Mitt Romney’s hair is important, yes, but it doesn’t really affect your everyday life. Like it or not, you are subject to traffic reports and crime rates much more than you are to Paul Ryan.
16. Practice smiling – it can alleviate pain.
17. Stop pretending you’re sick of something when you seek it out on purpose online. You can willingly ignore Snooki’s baby. Either admit that it interests you or shut up.
18. Meditate – rewire your brain for happiness.
19. Find an appliance in your home and take it apart, then put it back together. I wouldn’t suggest your computer or Tivo, but maybe your toaster or alarm clock. Realize what goes into the things around you that make your life so easy.
20. Change your own damn oil. Ask your mechanic questions when something goes wrong instead of just handing him the keys and describing the smell. A car is not a Rubik’s cube. It’s fairly simple once you read this and take some notes. Also, save up for a while and buy an AAA membership. Being stranded blows.
21. Leave 15 minutes early for everything.
22. Practice gratitude – increase both happiness and life satisfaction.
23. Go to bed at a p.m. hour. Watch both a sunset and a sunrise.
24. Try new things sexually. Set some boundaries, but be open to most anything.
25. Have meaningful conversations.
26. Stop blaming your parents for telling you you’re special. You now know it’s a lie, but you can only blame yourself for continuing to pretend it’s true.
27. Listen to a whole album. The digital sales market has returned music to the singles-centric model that worked in the 50s and 60s, but even then the best work was the full vision of an artist. Be it Cher Lloyd or Bloc Party, listen to the entire thing and be sucked into their world.
28. Feel the flower power. Smell and enjoy.
29. Repeat after me: “How am I not myself?”
30. Write something every day. Doesn’t matter if it’s a bitch-fest against your roommate or the philosophical ponderings brought on by an episode of Breaking Bad. Write a review of everything you encounter: sandwiches, intersections, elevator music. Realize that no matter your stature, about 1% of what you write will ever be seen by anyone but you.
31. Declutter your workspace.
32. Practice yoga.
33. Share three meaningful items via social media.
34. Remember when lazy was an insult and not an emotion?
35. Schedule time to do one cultural thing this weekend.

I believe we are all much closer to unlocking our full potential than we may think.

In fact, there are some really good, really simple, and well-practiced techniques out there for making ourselves happier. They don’t involve changing yourself, but they might involve changing some of your habits.