48 Little Things You Can Do To Make Yourself Happier Now

1. Read a whole chapter of that book you have been meaning to finish forever – no interruptions.

2. Spend five minutes soaking up the sunshine on your back.

3. Listen to an old favorite song that hasn’t been in your music rotation for months, maybe years.

3. Grab a coffee to go and sit on the grass in the nearest park.

4. Indulge in a daydream about achieving one of your wildest dreams.

5. Pick a vegetable you don’t recognize at the grocery store and make a meal with it for dinner.

6. Paint one of your old photo frames a new color.

7. Freeze your favorite fruit to eat as an icy snack (grapes and bananas are the best).

8. Wash all of your favorite items of clothing so you are free to wear any of them.

9. Pick some local flowers and make a flower crown.

10. Offer to make dinner for a friend – ask them what their favorite dish is.

11. Get lost in a secondhand bookstore and keep an eye out for old notes hidden in the pages.

12. Wake up early enough to watch the sunrise.

13. Draw 3 random shapes or scribbles on a blank page – then try and make it into a coherent picture of something.

14. Have an afternoon nap guilt-free.

15. Eat a random platter of your favorite snacks for dinner – olives, brie and caramel popcorn, anyone?

16. Have a real conversation with the next person who serves you in a store.

17. Watch a TED talk on YouTube.

18. Change your phone screensaver to something that makes you smile.

19. Buy a small potted plant and give it a name.

20. Spend a morning taking photographs of your city – see what you’ve never noticed before.

21. Create a new cocktail with whatever you have at home.

22. Google how to say ‘thank you’ in five languages.

23. Tidy your desk.

24. Have a glass of ice water with lemon and mint leaves.

25. Write three things you are grateful for.

26. Watch a film that you have always pretended to have seen.

27. Text an old friend and invite them for a drink.

28. Write a positive review online – for a book, restaurant or bar.

29. Spend an extra five minutes in bed in the morning feeling the sheets on your skin and soaking up the comforty-goodness.

30. Sign up to a free online course – there are thousands available.

31. Handmake the next birthday card you need to give.

32. Melt down a chocolate block and add milk to create the best hot chocolate.

33. Try and do a cartwheel, no matter how bad you are at it.

34. Spend an hour playing with a free online DJ program, mixing up your favorite songs.

35. Write a to-do list and draw cartoons to illustrate each item.

36. Indulge in your favorite take-away food, like a big slice of pizza.

37. Check out the very first posts by your favorite blogger – and see how much they’ve transformed.

38. Try a new yoga pose, either in a class or by watching a video.

39. Share one of your life dreams with a friend.

40. Rearrange your apartment using the principles of Feng Shui.

41. Record a short, silly video message and send that instead of a text.

42. Spend ages picking the ripest avocado to eat with a little olive oil and sea salt.

43. Sleep naked in fresh sheets.

44. Set one of your favorite dance songs as your alarm.

45. Use a piece of cardboard to create a fake business card with your dream job title.

46. Stretch as tall as you possibly can.

47. Research a holiday or plan a road trip.

48. Smile at the next person walking past you on the street.