Gratitude journalling makes me happy. When I gratitude journal for a few days in a row, I sleep better, talk more, joke more, laugh more, eat more, and exercise with vigour. While some of this has been borne out by research, it’s likely that most are secondary effects of global improvements in subjective mood. That is, gratitude makes us so happy it improves all areas of our lives. For sleep, preliminary findings on the relationship between gratitude and sleep were replicated in a study which found that gratitude journalling improves sleep length and quality by reducing pre-sleep rumination. For the rest, this article nicely sums up why an attitude of gratitude is a gift from heaven. Gratitude journalling:

• Improves your social capital (you’re more motivated to be social, you make more friends, deepen preexisting relationships, and are seen as more genuine, trustworthy, and likeable; anecdotally, I experience the same prosocial benefits from loving-kindness meditation)
• Makes you less sad, anxious, and depressed
• Gives you more energy (you exercise more and are a better conversationalist)
• Makes you enjoy work more and improves coworker relations
• Makes you less envious, more resistant to stress, happier
• And more!

Gratitude journalling is easier than exercising or dieting, and it’s free. So . . .