5 Small Ways To Add More Joy To Your Life
I spend a lot of time planning. I love nothing more than working on itineraries for future trips, thinking about all the little details my forever home will need, or dreaming about what my life will look like when I've achieved all of the big career goals on my list. I spend so much time thinking about my future life - dreaming and scheming and plotting ideas about what it will look like. But something that's been playing on my mind a lot recently is how the majority of our lives are made up of the everyday. We have more weekdays than weekends, we have more work days than holidays, and we will certainly put in more hours at the office during our lives than we will living the retirement dream.
With all that in mind, I've been thinking about how I can shake up the routine a little bit, and add more happiness and enjoyment into my everyday life. I've found a couple of tips and tricks that have made a big difference for me, so I thought I'd share them all with you today.
Here are 5 small ways to add more joy to your life...
1) A daily gratitude list
You've all heard me banging on about the importance of gratitude plenty of times before, but here I am doing it again as it's genuinely the thing that makes the biggest difference to my mood. Spending 10 minutes every evening before bed jotting down all the things I'm grateful for makes my heart feel a little lighter, and I always end up sleeping better as a result. It also helps me put things in perspective too - small annoyances and stresses feel much less irritating when they're put in the context of a very happy life.
2) One happy thing a day
We're all super busy these days, and I sometimes find that amongst the rush of work and social commitments and side hustles, chunks of time can go by without me doing something just for me. A few weeks ago I committed to doing one thing a day that makes me happy and it has made the world of difference. It doesn't have to be anything huge - just a short walk in the sunshine, half an hour curled up with my book, or even treating myself to my favourite lunch, but recognising those things as a little treat to myself and prioritising them makes me feel so happy.
3) Make the most of the midweek
I think most of us with a 9-5 job are a bit guilty of living for the weekend, and I had definitely fallen into a rut of spending every weekday counting down until 5pm on Friday. However, Sam and I made a little pact while we were on holiday to start squeezing more fun into the midweek, and it has genuinely made those long working weeks much more enjoyable. So far we've had a couple of Wednesday evening dates in town, and we've been making the most of the sunshine with BBQs in our garden.
4) Doing nice things for other people
Something else that has been adding some joy to my life recently is carving out more time to do nice things for other people. Whether it's sending proper handwritten thank you cards, offering to help out family or organising little surprises for friends, it's always nice to make someone else's day. I also really want to find a way to get more involved with our local community, either through volunteering or just generally helping our neighbours out more when they need it. Watch this space...
5) Being more spontaneous
As mentioned earlier, I'm such a planner and I'm forever adding more trips or social commitments to my diary. However, nothing makes me happier than a weekend at home with zero plans - I really love having the time to be more spontaneous and see where the day takes us. This summer I've tried to keep the majority of my weekends plan-free and we'll be spending a lot more time at home here in Leeds. Just the thought of it is making me smile!
What are your go to ways for adding a bit of joy to your life?