Our expectations as humans is to live happily ever; we want to always be happy and have things going good for us at all times. No one goes looking for troubled times and sad happenings unless they want to effect positive change in that area or bring some sunshine into those gloomy areas.

So, are you happy? I don’t know if that question always deserves a yes/no response, seeing as I don’t know what’s happening with people per time. The happiest of people face hard times and can use all the help in the world to snap out of sadness. That’s what we’re here to give you – the good news of simple things you can do that will help you be happy or improve your happy level.

The very first one is quite easy and simple: SLEEP!

 Sleep helps you become less sensitive to negative emotions and that is scientifically proven. Here’s the simplest explanation of the importance of sleep:

Your body is like a running engine; doing all sorts, getting work done and applying efforts to power through. After some time, the machine needs to be shut down so it can rest, and so the maintenance team can come check for wear and tear so they can repair any mishaps. This is exactly how sleep works; when you sleep, your body isn’t just resting but repairs are being done and energy is being restored.

The quality and the quantity of sleep you get affect your total productivity and happiness. Now, we have heard that an average person should sleep up to 8hours a day but for a lot of us, this reality is still a dream. You can read here to know the amount of sleep you need to be productive.

Move closer to work:

This is a smart move; it’s like checkmating the traffic, the transit issues and dealing with difficult people for a long period of time on your way to work. If you’re in Lagos, this is probably one thing you can do to raise those happy bars. If the distance between your office and your home is a major journey and if it gets you worked up, tensed and stressed; you might consider moving closer to work to just get to work less cranky, more productive and more enthusiastic. This is an excerpt from The Art of Manliness, “while many voluntary conditions don’t affect our happiness in the long term because we acclimate to them, people never get accustomed to their daily slog to work because sometimes the traffic is awful and sometimes it’s not. Or as Harvard psychologist Daniel Gilbert put it, “Driving in traffic is a different kind of hell every day.”

PRACTICE SMILING:

Smiling helps alleviate pain and the benefits are endless. Most of the benefits of smiling are internal – mental and emotional wellbeing and happiness is also an internal thing. You can read up on the benefits of smiling here.