Today’s Solutions: January 12, 2025

two women friends wearing vibrant t shirts walk happily in nature

4 Foolproof tips for making your daily walk fun again

We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: carving out time in your schedule for regular exercise and time spent in nature is an essential part of self-care that touts numerous benefits both for your body and your mind. One of the most efficient ways to do both at once is to get outside Read More...

Kids learning happily online

Cyberbullying decreased sharply during the pandemic

Despite what you might have thought, when many schools closed for remote learning during the Pandemic, parents, teachers, and students alike were relieved to find that cyberbullying actually decreased by a lot.  A new study from Boston University has found that cyberbullying fell by between 30 Read More...

Hand playing with a snowball, snowy surroundings, trees with snow on them.

Got debt? Here’s a strategy for paying it off.

According to financial experts, Around 80 percent of American adults are in debt in some shape or form. Whether it’s student loans, medical bills, car payments, credit cards, or mortgages, to put it bluntly, the nation has some bills to pay. With these huge sums lingering over our heads, there's Read More...

Gut biome anxiety

Your gut biome could be behind your anxiety

Here at The Optimist Daily, we regularly report on new findings about our incredible microbiome. Scientists keep uncovering more and more crucial roles these tiny microorganisms living in our gut play. From memory, to warding off chemotherapy side effects, to preventing brain damage in premature Read More...

group of colleagues talk with each other

Stop comparing yourself to others. Try this instead

As the old saying goes, comparison is the thief of joy—and humans love joy! So, why is it that we so often suffer from the tenacious tendency to compare ourselves to others? This impulse to compare is called “social comparison,” and there are two ways in which we engage with it. Upward Read More...

A user colors a digital mandala using a stylus on the main display. An EEG headset monitors brain signals and a peripheral display, in the form of an artists' palette, generates new colors based on the EEG data.

Understanding the brain through mindful mandala coloring

Mandala coloring is a centuries-old tradition. Coloring in these beautiful geometric configurations has been used by many as a technique for mindfulness, focusing your concentration on a certain task to improve overall mental health and wellbeing. Researchers, from the University of Lancaster, Read More...

Happy professional man in a suit carries clock instead of suitcase celebrating time off

Valuing employee mental health, this bank offers 3-months paid leave

Tom Blomfield, the founder of the British online bank Monzo, stepped down from his position and left the company in 2021 because of the mounting anxiety and stress he experienced while running the business during the pandemic. The bank responded to this development in a remarkable way. To Read More...

Sad woman sitting by herself on the grass observing the sunset

Do this to stop feeling insecure

All of us feel insecure sometimes. It’s unavoidable. But if you feel insecure most of the time, or in many different situations, you’re suffering more than might be necessary. What is chronic insecurity? Insecurity has many root causes, but chronic insecurity is different, as it almost Read More...

Young woman leaning her head backwards with eyes closed

These 3 techniques will help you regulate your emotions better

Managing your emotions isn’t the same as suppressing them. In fact, suppressing your emotions and the pain you might feel will only make emotional wounds worse over time. To gain control over your emotions, it’s important to acknowledge the presence of those emotions while recognizing that your Read More...

Asian man stands outside and looks at Fitbit on wrist

Fitness trackers could help detect early signs of depression

Unlike physical ailments, mental health concerns like anxiety and depression are more difficult to notice because they are happening internally, many times without any obvious changes that would be glaring to colleagues, friends, loved ones, or even the individual themselves. Being able to Read More...