Happiness: 13 science-based hacks

I've recently been doing a happiness course through Yale University and am excited to find so many proven methods for increasing our happiness.

Here's a brief summary of some of them. You can find out more and go deeper by doing the free online course.

My previous article was about our brain often making mistakes in picking the things it thinks will make us happy. So the first part here is quick happiness hacks to get around that. The second part is about wanting the right parts of the things our brains think will make us happy. Then there's the course experiments I did - to 'rewire' our habits for greater happiness.

1. Quick happiness hacks

Experiences make us happier that things

Stuff doesn't make us as happy as we think. "A new car sticks around to disappoint you. But a trip to Europe is over. It evaporates. It has the good sense to go away, and you are left with nothing but a wonderful memory."

Studies show that (compared to material purchases) experiential purchases contribute more to our happiness, give better value for money and make us happier when we think about them. And it's not just that rich people have all the physical things they need. This is true at all income levels.

Sharing the joy is also better. It's more fun to tell a story about an experience rather than brag about a purchase. Also you avoid the comparison trap as experiences are harder to rate than physical things. (See the 6 ways experiences are better than stuff.)

Avoid social comparison

Social comparison eats away at our happiness. People who live nextdoor to lottery winners are far more likely to buy a new car - because suddenly their previous car doesn't feel so good. (See why millionaires don't feel rich).

Two ways to avoid this is be reducing the amount of time on social media, (maybe even deleting the icon from your phone) and to spend less time watching TV. It turns out that people who watch more TV spend more money. The theory is that it's because they see more images of people with more/better stuff (both on the ads and on the shows) and feel inferior about their own stuff.

Interrupt your consumption

It turns out that when there's a break in something we like our enjoyment is even higher when we start it again. Like the first game of a sports season, or when the internet comes back after it's been down.

So the tip is to split up things we enjoy. Each time we come back to it we'll enjoy it more. The reverse is true for things we don't enjoy - do them all at once.

Pursue 'time affluence'

Some people would rather make less money for more free time. Others would sacrifice free time for a higher income. There are more people who would prefer the money, but the people who prefer time are happier.

2. Want the right parts of what we want

In the previous article I mentioned that good grades or high-paying jobs don't actually make us happy. So what should we look for in these things?

Jobs

Rather than wanting the highest-paid job, we should choose one that suits the ways we are wired. That will give us more joy than the cash.

Do the survey of character strengths. Jobs that require using your top four strengths (signature strengths) create more positive emotions, productivity and job satisfaction. When people use their signature strengths they are also more likely to describe their job as a calling.

Look for tasks that have a high challenge and where you have high skills. These result in the mental state of 'flow', where our body or mind is "stretched to its limits in an voluntary effort to accomplish something difficult and worthwhile".

This state, also called 'the zone', is why many people enjoy work more than leisure. So it's probably also something to consider in our personal lives too - finding meaningful tasks that challenge our skills.

Good grades

Of course we like to do well academically and often that means getting good grades. But the more important thing is a growth mindset - being keen to learn new things.

When faced with new material, students with a fixed mindset lose confidence, worry about their grades, think they're not smart, avoid putting in extra work and get poor grades. Students with a growth mindset, work hard and enjoy learning something new and get better grades. Ironically, a mindset that is less focussed on grades gets better grades - and self esteem.

3. Rewirements

During the course we did several week-long experiments to 'rewire' our habits for greater happiness. Here's a few of them - with tips on how to do it.

Using Signature Strengths

I mentioned this earlier (relating to jobs) but you can also use it in you personal life. Do the survey to find you top strengths and find ways to use a few each day. Putting our strengths in action allows us to experiences meaning. It increases happiness and decreases depressions symptoms.

Savouring

Taking the time to stay in the moment and enjoy what we are doing. It can include sharing the experience with someone, focussing on how lucky you are to have the experience, or taking a photo as a memory of it. At the end of the day make a note of what you savoured and spend a little while remembering it. Noticing things and enjoying them helps prevent us from taking good things for granted - and from comparing ourselves with others.

Gratitude

Identify things throughout the day that you are grateful for. Try for 5 per day. Again when you write them down at the end of the day think again about how grateful you are for them. Like savouring, this helps us continue to appreciate the things in our life. It's hard to be envious of others when you are being grateful.

I chose this rewirement for my 28-day experiment. Read more about that.

Kindness

Being kind to others increases our own happiness. The challenge here was to do seven acts of kindness (above what you would normally do). It could be to help a co-worker, donate to a charity, be kind to a stranger etc. Just do seven in seven days. Again write them down- it turns out that even remembering kind things you've done increases happiness.

Social Connection

I wondered if this one works for introverts. But it turns out that even if you'd prefer not to make a social connection, doing so still increases your happiness.

The challenge is to focus on making one new social connection per day. A chat on the train, with a coworker, or even a barista. At least one connection should be a deep one - like an hour with a friend or family member you don't talk with as much as you'd like to. People who have stronger relationships with their partner, close friends and family members are happier.

Exercise

Getting 30 minutes of exercise a day can boost your mood. We tried to do that for 7 days.

Sleep

Same as exercise but getting at least 7 hours per night. In our modern lives we're constantly sleep deprived and it erodes our happiness.

One last thing

I've briefly touched on these happiness tips. There are more tips, more info about these ones and clever strategies for making them effective in your own life. I highly recommend doing the course. It's free and potentially life-changing.