4 Life Hacks that Will Change Your Life

Life hacks are creative tricks to improve your life and/or increase your productivity, and “lifehacking” is all the rage these days. These four life-changing life hacks might not make you more efficient, but they’ll improve your happiness and your health. You can try to jump in with all four; if that’s too much, start with the first one and keep moving down the list as you incorporate each one into your life.

1. Volunteer for one new organization this month.

Volunteers have lower health care costs, lower rates of heart disease, and report higher levels of well-being.

Also: new studies find that altruism is as addictive as sugar or cocaine. So, try it once and you’ll be hooked.

2. Make one new happy friend this month.

Each new happy friend you add to your network increases your happiness by 15 percent. Having a good friend at work is also a big indicator in whether you will enjoy your job or not.

3. Get down to one TV screen in your home.

Americans watch about five hours per day, but studies show the happiest people are only watching about an hour. Reduce TV watching to only one room of the house to make your hour of watching worthwhile.

4. Put a scale in your bathroom.

Research shows that people who weigh themselves each day weigh about 17 pounds less over the course of two years than people who never weigh themselves.

Use the Blue Zones checklists to learn how to optimize your home for maximum health and happiness.