--- title: The Most Proven Technique For Increasing Long Term Happiness description: Every night, write down three things that went well on that day canonical: https://time.com/3709747/increasing-long-term-happiness/ author: Eric Barker article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-02-18T05:01:24.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:49:36.728Z article:section: Ideas og:title: The Most Proven Technique For Increasing Long Term Happiness og:description: Every night, write down three things that went well on that day og:url: https://time.com/3709747/increasing-long-term-happiness/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt143972491a2f7ea7/69877f4de20a8753c9a851d7/485640743-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5084 og:image:height: 2860 og:image:alt: morning-dew og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Most Proven Technique For Increasing Long Term Happiness twitter:description: Every night, write down three things that went well on that day twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt143972491a2f7ea7/69877f4de20a8753c9a851d7/485640743-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Most Proven Technique For Increasing Long Term Happiness > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=59f1d85b-f3c0-45d7-828e-93573af8f026&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: How to Maximize Happiness With Your Spending: An Economist Explains [Watch (HLS stream): How to Maximize Happiness With Your Spending: An Economist Explains](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/Ypg3UoAM.m3u8) (1:29)  _Published 2014-06-09. University of Michigan economist Justin Wolfers explains how best to spend your money to maximize happiness._ by [Eric Barker](https://time.com/author/eric-barker/) ## Eric Barker Feb 18, 2015 5:01 AM UTC  Morning Dew Morning Dew Getty Images by [Eric Barker](https://time.com/author/eric-barker/) ## Eric Barker Feb 18, 2015 5:01 AM UTC This technique has been proven [again](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/was-grandmom-right-about-counting-your-blessi) and [again](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/what-are-quick-little-things-you-can-do-to-in) and [again](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/does-any-of-this-make-yourself-happier-stuff). Here it is, explained by its originator, University of Pennsylvania professor Martin Seligman. Via [Flourish: A Visionary New Understanding of Happiness and Well-being](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1439190763/ref=as%5Fli%5Fss%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=spacforrent-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1439190763): --- > “” --- **_This piece originally appeared on_** [**_Barking Up the Wrong Tree_**](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2012/05/the-most-proven-technique-for-increasing-long/)**_._** **Join over 161,000 readers. Get a free weekly update via email** [**here**](http://eepurl.com/o6uAD)**.** Related posts: [How To Stop Being Lazy And Get More Done – 5 Expert Tips](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2014/08/how-to-stop-being-lazy/) [6 Things The Most Productive People Do Every Day](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2014/06/most-productive-people/) [New Harvard Research Reveals A Fun Way To Be More Successful](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2014/09/be-more-successful/) ## Transcript Other ways you can better use your money to get more happiness bang for your buck. The research seems to suggest there are ways in which you can. The first would be to say, focus on experiences rather than goods. Right now you might covet a new car, and you might think that one of your next get to sit in a fancy new sports car, that you'll be so much happier. The truth is you'll be sitting in traffic. You'll be thinking about the day you just had at work. We think about other things and the fact that you're in a shiny new car won't be that salient you won't get that much joy out of it. Think instead about a, a great vacation. You can probably remember the last great great vacation you had. And you can still enjoy dining out on those memories. And that's the sensing in which it makes sense to focus on spending. On experiences rather than things. And then there are actually techniques we can use to do a even better job of that. I remember when I went to the World Series. I didn't just go to the World Series. I bought a, a baseball cap, that always reminds me of the fact that I went to the World Series with my stepfather. That elongates the experience. Like I get to relive having been at the World Series many, many more times. And then there's research from Mike Norton at Harvard who says that, giving money can actually yield greater happiness. And it's an instinct that's within many of us. And I, the way I interpret Mike's research is don't let the inner, inner economist or the inner Grinch within you squash that impulse. 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