56 Small Habits To Keep You Happier at Home

What we want in life—for ourselves and our loved ones—could be summed up in one simple word but often elusive state: happiness.

The first step to attaining happiness is knowing that it won’t come knocking at your door or falling from the fateful skies. The second step is recognizing that it’s not just life’s big, momentous occasions (you know, the ones we don’t have full control over) that can make us happy. Little moments count a lot too.

If you do small things to bring yourself to a less stressful or more grateful place, you’ll harness the power—little by little and instance by instance—to paint your life with a sunnier hue.

Here are some simple, happiness-boosting things you can do at home every day:

1. Have a dance party.
2. Strike a stress-relieving yoga pose.
3. Close your eyes and take three deep breaths.
4. Give yourself a hug.
5. Take a walk.
6. Step outside.
7. Put a smile on your face, even if it’s forced at first.
8. Choose nutritious food.
9. Exercise.

1. Put five items in your donate bin.
2. Clean something.
3. Do a brain dump.
4. Organize one small space.
5. Plan out your week.

1. Meditate.
2. Drink water before you reach for something caffeinated.
3. Stretch.
4. Jot down a gratitude list.

1. Put away screens an hour before bedtime.
2. Enjoy an evening ritual (tea, reading, etc.).
3. Turn off overhead lights and turn on lamps for cozy ambient lighting a few hours before bed.
4. Turn down the thermostat for bedtime.

1. Take a hot bath or shower.
2. Use a salt or sugar scrub in a fragrance you love.
3. Jade roll your face.
4. Rub lotion on your body.
5. Put on comfy clothes as soon as you’re home for the night.
6. Spend some time under a weighted blanket.

1. Light a candle.
2. Turn on a diffuser.
3. Switch on a salt lamp.
4. Look at the fresh flowers on your table.
5. Visit your plants.
6. Turn on some music.

1. Perform at least one small act of kindness.
2. Pet an animal.
3. Give your partner/child a ten-second hug.
4. Give someone a compliment.
5. Give your full, undivided attention to someone.
6. Thank someone for something specific.
7. Smile at a stranger.
8. Make eye contact with someone you love.
9. Text someone.
10. Assume others are doing the best they can.

1. Read fiction.
2. Color.
3. Bake or cook.
4. Spend a few minutes learning something.
5. Look through a photo album.
6. Garden.

1. Be aware of your senses while you’re doing something mundane, like washing the dishes.
2. Deliberately reminisce.
3. Try box breathing.
4. Journal.
5. Practice positive thinking.
6. Awaken your senses by doing one thing differently (new route to work, sitting in a different spot while you read, etc.)