Exercise & Meditation Location
With the onset of the pandemic, many were lured to exercise indoors and in their living rooms. Even without the pandemic, most fitness classes take place indoors where you’re surrounded by blocks of urban architecture. Yet, scientists at the University of Oregon discovered that being in nature triggers an automatic response of well-being and happiness.

This response is due to the fractals in nature, these are self-repeating patterns that are found naturally in seas, clouds, and greenery. “As soon as we look at nature, it triggers a cascade of automatic responses,” Physicist Richard Taylor explained in a paper published in Urban Science. Taylor’s research found that looking at these fractals can reduce stress by as much as 60%. So do your exercise outdoors as much as possible and try to incorporate nature elements in your home as much as you can.

Purchase Happiness
You go out and buy yourself something shiny and new only to feel better momentarily yet worse in the long run and that’s because you instantly start feeling buyer’s remorse, especially when you’re already strapped for money. Researchers at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business did 40 studies of people at different income levels and the results were the same: when you feel financially constrained you feel remorse about your purchase thinking that you could’ve or should’ve spent the money elsewhere.

So, what should you do? Plan ahead, say the researchers. Fuqua Marketing Professor Gavan Fitzsimons, who co-authored the findings in the Journal of Consumer Research, said, “That [planning] helps them get more happiness from their purchase than they otherwise would have. Are they as happy as they would be if they weren’t financially constrained? Not quite. But having people plan and think ahead about how to spend that money can help them derive more happiness from their purchases.”

Exercise Frequency
Are you exercising but not seeing the psychological benefits of exercise? It could be due to the irregularity and frequency of your exercise. Researchers at the University of Leeds found that the less frequently you exercise the less you produce a protein called Piezo1 which is a blood flow sensor that affects the density of capillaries carrying blood to the muscles. What this means is that the less this protein is in your body the harder it is for you to exercise.

Exercising regularly and frequently keeps Piezo1 levels up making it easier for you to not only stick to your exercise, but also to do it better. This in turn is guaranteed to make you fitter, healthier, and happier. Lead author of the paper published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation and funded by the British Heart Foundation, Fiona Bartoli, a Postdoctoral Researcher in the UoL’s School of Medicine, said, “The less people exercise, the less fit they become, often leading to a downward spiral.”

Off-Hours Work
We’ve become constantly plugged in in the name of pandemic-induced work flexibility that spills over into evenings and weekends. Yet, new research from Cornell University shows that this flexibility is harming us. Being flexible and working the same 40 hours but at off times, when it’s collectively time off, reduces your motivation and satisfaction with the work you’re doing and makes you more stressed overall.