Would you like to decrease stress and increase happiness and joy in your life? Many teachers feel that stress often overtakes and affects their wellbeing.

According to Laurie Santos, Yale Psychology professor who studies joy and podcasts at The Happiness Lab, “We’re entitled to and capable of much more joy than we have settled for.”

Ouch. That stings! Yet it is probably true of most of us. Have we really settled for less happiness than we could have?

That begs the question, what can we do to decrease our stress and increase our happiness?

Here are 4 ways, backed by scientific studies, that you can decrease stress and increase your happiness.

Plan to reduce stress before it starts.

Psychologist and self-help author Robert Epstein found that 25% of our happiness hinges on how well we’re able to manage stress. Epstein’s study determined that best way to manage stress is planning. Planning allows “fighting stress before it even starts, planning things rather than letting them happen,” says Epstein. “That means planning your day, your year and your life so that stress is minimized.”

Where could you save yourself stress by planning? Could you plan your meals, or what you’re going to wear a week at a time? Could you write lesson plans in terms of units rather than day to day plans?  Could you plan what to say at parent -teacher conferences or plan what you will say to a challenging student?

Planning may eliminate some of the stress in your life. Consider where you are experiencing stress and see if you can reduce stress by planning.

Get more sleep.

Lack of sleep can contribute to mental health problems such as anxiety, depression, mental fog—and stress. Studies show that if you improve your sleep, these problems ease up, too.

What could you give up each day in order to get one more hour of sleep?

How could you change your evening or morning routines to allow more sleep?

Spend more time outdoors.

A growing body of research suggests that spending more time in nature reduces stress, increases cognitive function and leads to better moods and less anxiety. Research shows that being outside 120 minutes a week is most beneficial. If 120 minutes seems daunting, the study also showed that the amount could be spread out across the week. For example, you could spend an hour outside on a weekend, and just ten minutes a day the other days.

You may not have time for lengthy hikes on a work day, but how could you add ten minutes a day outside in the fresh air to your day?  Recess duty counts! Could you plan family outings at a playground or going for walks each day?

Give it a try, and see if it increases your sense of well-being, and as a result, your happiness.

Build and maintain quality relationships.

If may be no surprise that spending time with friends makes you happier. A long term Harvard study  showed that relationships are the number one key to long-term happiness.  According to the director of the study, Robert Waldinger, “The surprising finding is that our relationships and how happy we are in our relationships has a powerful influence on our health. Taking care of your body is important, but tending to your relationships is a form of self-care too. That, I think, is the revelation.”

If you’ve ever needed permission to spend more time with friends, family, colleagues or those in your community, here it is.

Teachers are busy, and spending a few minutes talking with a colleague may seem like wasting time. In reality, it may be providing you with just the pick-me-up that you need.

How could you plan to spend a few minutes each day talking with someone you care about?

Make sure that you are planning time to talk with or physically be present with someone you care about on a regularly basis.

Hopefully, one of these four ways to decrease stress and increase happiness resonates with you.

Wishing you less stress and more happiness,