Whether it’s taking fruit to work (and to the bedroom!), being polite to rude strangers or visiting a nude beach for the first time, here’s a century of ways to make life better, with little effort involved.

So for this year, we at BLAC are narrowing it down to 25 simple ways to be happier in the New Year – all of which we believe will help us worry less about those things that do not matter at all and subsequently spend all of our energies on the things that do matter: loved ones, experiencing authentic connections, and being happier, healthier and nicer in the new year.

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1. Exercise on a Monday night (nothing fun happens on a Monday night).

2. Do something that scares you quickly

3. On the fence about a purchase? Wait 72 hours before you buy it.

Tip: the quickest supermarket queue is always behind the fullest trolley (greeting, paying and packing take longer than you think).

4. Bring fruit to work. Bring fruit to bed!

5. Consider going down to four days a week. It’s likely a disproportionate amount of your fifth day’s work is taxed anyway, so you’ll lose way less than a fifth of your take-home pay.

6. Everyone has an emotional blind spot when they fight. Work out what yours is and remember it.

7. Plant spring bulbs, even if they’re just in a pot.

8. Send a voice note instead of a text; they sound like personal mini-podcasts.

9. Keep a bird feeder by a window, ideally the kitchen. It’ll pass the time when you’re washing up.

10. Always bring ice to house parties (there’s never enough).

11. Get the lighting right: turn off the overhead one, turn on lots of lamps (but turn off when you leave the room).

12. Sharpen your knives.

13. Feeling sluggish at work? Try 25 minutes on, five-minute break, and repeat.

14. Keep your children’s drawings and paintings. Put the best ones in frames.

15. Set aside 10 minutes a day to do something you really enjoy – be it reading a book or playing Halo.

16. Don’t be weird about how to stack the dishwasher.

17. Reuse all plastic bags – even bread bags. Much of the packaging you can’t reuse can be taken to larger branches of supermarkets for recycling.

18. Take a photo of the tag you are given when leaving your coat in a cloakroom.

19. Can’t sleep? Try a relaxing soak with lavender bath oil before bed.

20. Add the milk at least one minute after the tea has brewed.

21. Laugh shamelessly at your own jokes.

22. It might sound obvious, but a pint of water before bed after a big night avoids a clanger of a hanger.

23. Start a Saturday morning with some classical music – it sets the tone for a calm weekend.

24. Be polite to rude strangers – it’s oddly thrilling.

25.  Buy a cheap blender and use it to finely chop onions (it saves on time and tears).

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