Healthy habits are important when life is busy and stressful. These five simple strategies are almost guaranteed to improve your life and make you a happier person.

Are you able to ‘shake it off’ when faced with the stress of looming deadlines, relationship conflicts, family pressures, long work hours and burgeoning household chores?

If not, you’re perfectly normal. For many of us, the strains of daily life can quickly take their toll, causing anxiety and distress.

Learning new ways of managing stress can be helpful for all of us, regardless of the life stage or the situation in which we find ourselves.

Whether you’ve got five minutes to spare or want to build lasting habits – today we’re opening the textbook on five scientifically-backed ways to boost your happiness levels!

1. Regular Exercise

Get your sweat on! Regular exercise can increase the serotonin in your brain, which helps to regulate mood, sleep, libido, and appetite, warding off depression. Exercise also stimulates endorphins, triggering a positive feeling in your body.

2. Random Acts of Kindness

Kindness to others can make you feel great as well as the other person. It improves wellbeing by generating positive thoughts and nurturing meaningful interactions with those you care about. Even just small acts of benevolence can contribute to our greater good.

3. Enjoy a Cup of Tea

In many cultures, tea drinking is a sacred ritual, a daily moment for personal reflection and social connection. Scheduling positive rituals in your day — even just a quiet cup of tea — can be instrumental in changing your perspective. Take the time to appreciate your special moments of joy and increase their effectiveness by lingering on them for longer, hardwiring positivity into your psyche.

4. Get Outside

You don’t have to be Tarzan or Jane to feel the benefits of this one. A daily dose of nature can increase your sense of wellbeing, vitality and energy while reducing feelings of stress, negativity, and sleep disturbances. It can also make you feel more productive on the job, whatever it may be!

5. Sleep On It

Did you just yawn? Lack of sleep can hamper your happiness. The side-effects of insomnia can rudely intrude on your waking hours, affecting mood, concentration, memory and brain performance. Try to get at least six hours of quality zzzzzzs a night, and help meet your sleep quota by any of the other steps above.

Five healthy habits. Try them today and banish stress from your life. You’re almost guaranteed to live longer and laugh louder.

Originally published at Mum Daily. Image by Warren Wong at Unsplash.