5 Things That Will Make Us Happier and More Productive

“Am I a happy person?” No matter how happy we consider ourselves to be, we can always be happier. And, if someone is in that period of life when things seem pointless, now is the right time to do something about it.

The point is, that there’s always room for improvement. In fact, there are studies that suggest we can improve our happiness. And, if we are happy, we’ll be more productive as well.

Often we don’t need some miracle to enjoy the moment and be jolly. On the contrary, small things like getting a good night’s rest can keep our energy and mood high throughout the day.

So, here are a few things that will improve your mood and productivity. You might be surprised by some of them.

1. Meditation

The benefits of meditation are numerous, including stress relief, improved concentration, acceptance, reduced aging, and increased self-awareness and happiness.

One study showed that meditating at least 5 times a week for 15 to 20 minutes increased the mood and reduced the depression symptoms in employees in large business software and information technology services companies.

Researchers from the Massachusetts General Hospital investigated how meditation affects the structure of the brain. One of the authors of the paper, Britta Hölzel, Ph.D., says meditation can change the brain and improve your well-being and life quality.

Brain scans of the participants showed that meditation could improve one’s compassion, self-awareness, and introspection.

So, don’t waste time and try meditation today!

2. Shorten Your Commute

Try to shorten your commute by moving closer to your workplace or finding a new job. One project titled “Commuting and Wellbeing”, says long commuting is bad for your job satisfaction and well-being.

So, sacrifice the bigger salary for more free time to do what makes you happy.

3. Get Enough Sleep

You probably know that sleep affects your mood, but did you know that sleep deprivation targets the part of the brain responsible for processing neutral or positive memories?

Researchers Ashley Merryman and Po Bronson explain that sleep-deprived students could better remember the words with negative connotations than those with a neutral or positive connotation in the book Nurture Shock.

More precisely, they could remember 81 percent of the “negative” words such as cancer, and only 31 percent of the “neutral” or “positive” words like basket and sunshine.

Also, the Harvard Medical School suggests that taking a nap could also be good for your energy and mood.

So, make sure you get a good night’s rest every day, and you’ll soon notice positive changes in your mood. At least you’ll be less grumpy the next day.

4. Be Grateful

After 12-year long research, Brene Brown, Ph.D., concluded that you can’t really experience joy unless you remember how grateful you are every day, by saying:

“I have never interviewed a single person with the capacity to really experience joy who does not actively practice gratitude”.

So, if you take a moment to think about the people and things in your life you are grateful for, you will feel less depressed and happier, you’ll have better sleep, and you’ll have more chances to do some healthy activity, like exercise.

So, close your eyes and picture the faces of your loved ones.

5. Help Others

Have you noticed that most successful and happy people tend to be very generous? Well, the professor at the University of Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania Adam Grant says the “Five-Minute Favor” is a great way to start helping people and feel better every day.

Take several minutes of your day to help someone in a way that will be of large benefit to them, but of small commitment to you.

Make these small, but significant changes in your life and see you become happier and more productive.