How to Be Happy: Five Simple Ways to Solve Most of Your Problems

Happiness depends on many factors. Some of them have been studied for a long time, but there is very little information about others. What our happiness can depend on, and how to make life more joyful using our senses, reports CNBC.

Photo: IStock

Gretchen Ruby Happiness researcher and bestselling author of The Happiness Project. Her latest book is Life in Five Senses: How Exploring the Senses Got Me Out of My Head and Into the World. She is also the host of the popular podcast Happier with Gretchen Rubin and the founder of the award winning app Happier. She shared her latest discoveries in the field of happiness.

“Ten years ago I decided to find the basis for a happier life. By experiencing the wisdom of the ages through scientific research, I learned how to strengthen my relationships, increase my energy, and more,” says Rubin. “But a few years ago, I started noticing that I felt stuck in my head—disconnected from other people and from myself.”

She suddenly realized that she was treating her body like a car, “which my brain drove around the city.” “But it was actually my body—through my five senses—that was my main connection to the world,” she says.

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While writing her book Life in the Five Senses, Rubin discovered some amazing ways our senses can help us focus more deeply, live longer, and find happiness.

1. Need a boost of energy and cheerfulness? Use your sense of smell.

When you need a quick boost of energy, you can use wonderful scents by inhaling clean towels at home or valuable wood at the hardware store.

You cannot bookmark, rewind, hoard, or save for later. It connects you to the present moment and at the same time can take you to the past.

“The smell of eucalyptus, for example, always reminds me of the 10 wonderful months I lived in San Francisco,” says Rubin.

Smells can also increase awareness.

“When I left the house one bright morning, I received several messages about the life of the neighborhood: it was trash day, the food cart on the corner was frying bacon, and a passerby was enjoying early marijuana,” says Rubin.

2. Stress? Use your sense of touch.

Items like pop toys, spinners, and therapy dough can help us feel calmer.

A friend told Rubin, “My aunt works in a palliative hospital, and they recently placed a large order for light, cuddly blankets. People really enjoy touching something soft and warm.”

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She has her own way of using her sense of touch. When Rubin is in a situation that causes her anxiety, such as backstage before an important performance, she holds a pen.

3. Feeling distracted and unproductive? Use your hearing.

Rubin has found that the more she can control her surroundings, the less she is disturbed by outside noises.

For example, when she took her laptop to the small library next door to write in a quiet workroom, she was distracted by someone coughing. But when Rubin worked in a busy coffee shop, the conversations around her helped her focus. The buzzing of the blender didn't bother her either.

Just like you periodically clean your house to get rid of the clutter, you can also get rid of the junk in your head.

Ask your partner to use headphones during video calls if you both work from home. Or, to reduce spam calls, register your phone number with the National Do Not Call Registry.

4. Need a creative spark? Use your vision.

When Rubin needs inspiration, she looks for small details. “On my daily walks, instead of getting lost in my thoughts, I give myself tasks to look for the color purple, or trees, or hats,” she says. — I studied materials from different apartment buildings. One was built of dark red-brown brick, another of white brick, the third of yellowish smooth stone slabs. I’ve walked these neighborhoods hundreds of times and never noticed the discrepancy before.”

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The more Rubin watched, the more this habit grew. Ruby found more beauty in the amazing orange tweed women's coat, in the flock of birds circling overhead. This is how she felt inspired.

5. Want to feel closer to other people? Use your sense of taste.

Enjoying unique foods and flavors with other people is one of the most ancient and universal human customs.

To communicate with friends, Rubin arranged a "Party of Taste". Together with friends, they appreciated the varieties of apples, chocolate and chips. They tasted ketchup to identify five basic tastes: sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and umami. They remembered the sweets they ate as children.

“It was incredibly fun. We didn't just communicate - we shared sensory experiences and everyone laughed. Our conversations were unusually warm and intimate,” says Rubin.

Her exploration of the five senses changed her life. “Every day I use their power to connect me to ordinary moments that I want to experience and remember, and I will never take ketchup for granted again,” says Rubin.

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