Finding Joy in Life: Simple Ways to Find Joy in Everyday Life

One of my big goals this year has been focusing on finding joy in life.

Specifically, finding joy in everyday life. Not waiting for the great times or the special times to feel joyful and enjoy my days. But instead, finding ways to feel good and find joy in the midst of ordinary, everyday life.

It’s been a practice of slowing down and being mindful enough to notice and appreciate the joyful little delights happening all around me.

As well as finding ways to purposely add joy to my days to make every day feel lovely. The good days. The tough days. And even the ordinary, mundane, nothing-special days!

Finding and making these little moments of joy have changed my life and my outlook quite dramatically. By finding ways to sprinkle more little delights throughout my day, while also being mindful of the joy already happening all around me, the way my days feel has changed significantly.

The little delights and moments of joy might seem small and insignificant on their own. But when all of these little moments are added up together, they contribute a great deal of joy to my life. And are able to help my ordinary, everyday days feel delightful, lovely and so much more joyful!

In today’s post, I want to share more about this practice of finding joy in life. Including how you can find more joy in your days, as well as how you can actively add joy to your days too.

Be sure to sign up at the bottom of this post to get a FREE printable to help you add more joy and tiny delights to your days!

*This post contains affiliate links. Click here for the full disclosure policy.*

Turning off autopilot

It can be easy to get caught up in daily life. Work, chores, raising a family, the to-do lists, the places to be, the adult responsibilities, etc.

Near the end of last year, I noticed this was where I was at. My days felt more guided by my to-do list than anything else. Like I spent too much time living on autopilot. Getting done what needed to be done, but not enjoying my days or feeling as joyful as I wished I was.

Joy is a choice

But then it hit me one day that no one is going to make my life magically feel more joyful and lovely for me. I’m the only one who can choose a more joy-filled life. And it was time to take action!

The way our days feel sometimes feels out of our control. But often, we have so much more control over the way our days feel than we realize.

“Busy is a choice. Stress is a choice. Joy is a choice. Choose well.”

~ Ann Voskamp

Being intentional about creating a life you love in the midst of the ordinary, the every day, the good days and the bad days is a choice. We have the power to make the choice. To intentionally choose, create and design a life that feels good to us.

And one significant way I’ve been able to do that is by looking for and adding tiny moments of joy throughout my days.

Good in every day

We don’t need to wait for the big, special days to feel good or find joy in our lives. Every day can have parts that feel good and have joy.

We can take an active role in creating a more joyful life. First by paying enough attention to notice the joy that’s already there. Then finding ways to intentionally add more joy to the day as well.

Of course, we won’t feel joy or delight all day, every day. But there is joy and good to be found in almost every day if we are simply open to noticing and accepting it. And when we intentionally do things to add more joy to our days as well.

Creating space for joy

One of the biggest barriers to having a more joy-filled life is clutter.

Whether it’s physical clutter in your home, taking up your time and energy and adding stress to your days. Clutter in your schedule, causing you to feel overly busy, rushed and frazzled. Mental clutter leaving you feeling distracted, not present and exhausted. Or another kind of clutter making life feel more difficult, frustrating and draining than necessary.

Creating space in your home and your days to find and add tiny delights and joy is essential. Clear the clutter, let go of what’s bogging you down and adding unnecessary stress to your life.

It’s hard to find or add joy to your days when your space, your time and your energy have no margin or breathing room for joy!

Simplifying your home and your schedule frees up your time so you actually have the margin in your life to notice the joy around you. And so you have the margin and breathing room in your days to add little bits of joy and delight as well.

Finding joy in everyday life

As I mentioned, there are two ways to experience more joy in your life.

Finding joy

The first is actively looking for the joy that’s already there. Slowing down, paying attention, noticing and appreciating the joyful moments already happening in your life.

It could be the way the setting sun shines through the trees. The feel of a hug from someone you love. Genuinely laughing at something funny. The smell of the air after the rain. Or even the first delicious sip of your coffee in the morning.

These are things that are always happening around you. The key is just being present and mindful enough to notice and appreciate them.

Making joy

The second way to experience more joy in your life is to make it happen. To pay attention to what brings you joy and find ways to add more of that to your days.

For example, glugging down your coffee while you try to do 3 other things and rush out the door doesn’t feel very enjoyable. But spending a few minutes making a delicious coffee, exactly the way you like it, then taking the time to savour it (or even savour the first few sips!) sounds a lot more enjoyable.

It’s something small but turns the act of drinking your morning coffee into something lovely. Something that feels quite delightful and something to look forward to each day.

How to find the joy in your daily life

The easiest way I have found to find the joy that already exists in your daily life is through a gratitude practice.

The goal of a gratitude practice is to train yourself to look for the good and the joy in your life. Teaching you to slow down, notice and appreciate the good that already fills your life.

And the best part is, a gratitude practice can be really simple and be done in any number of ways!

You can try a formal gratitude journal, where you write down a list of things you’re grateful for each day. Or you might have a less formal practice of making a habit to stop and notice some things you’re grateful for at some point during the day. Or something else entirely!

Gratitude journals

Personally, I love using a journal for my gratitude practice. And I’ve used a journal in a few different ways to help add more gratitude to my days.

I have “The Five-Minute Journal” that includes space for a short gratitude list in both the morning and at the end of the day. This is a great way to build a gratitude habit and mindset quickly and easily.

And I also include a gratitude list in my regular journal as well. Listing a few things I’m grateful for to start my journaling session.

My kids and I also have a gratitude journal that we use at bedtime together. We each add one thing we’re grateful for to the journal. And it’s always so fun to hear what they are grateful for.

If you have kids, I highly recommend starting a gratitude practice with them. Not only are you helping them build a gratitude practice to notice and appreciate the good in their lives (alongside you!). But it’s such a fun way to connect with your kids and hear about how they see the world!

Tiny delights

I’ve recently come across a new take on gratitude journaling that I love and has become my new gratitude journaling practice.

I first heard about it from Sasha of Frank & Feel on the Quiet Matters podcast. Instead of making a gratitude list, Sasha suggests making a list of tiny delights. Tiny delights are any little thing that brought joy or felt delightful to you that you’re taking the time to notice and appreciate.

Focusing on tiny delights can feel like a really low-pressure way to start paying attention to the good parts of your day. And is a great way to help you put on a lens of gratitude to look through so you can continue noticing and appreciating these tiny delights!

The key to any of these methods is that you’re making an intentional effort to notice and appreciate the good in your life. The delights, the joy, the things you’re grateful for that are already happening in your life. You’re just being intentional about celebrating them!

How to add more joy to your life

The second way to find more joy in your life is to make it happen.

For most of us, life is already busy and full. You might feel like you don’t have time or energy to add another thing to your to-do list.

And that’s why I love adding tiny delights to the day to add more joy to life. Keeping it really simple and easy is key. I don’t want trying to add joy to become another source of stress – that’s the exact opposite of what we’re trying to accomplish!

Tiny delights for well-being

Instead, I sat down one afternoon and started making a list of tiny, little things that make me feel good and make my days feel lovely to me.

I called the list my “tiny delights for well-being”. Little things I can do that feel delightful to me and add more joy to the day. Things I can do even when the day is already full or busy. Even when I don’t feel like I have much extra time or energy. Basically, things that only take a few minutes, that I can easily add into a typical day, but will add a little burst of joy and feel delightful to me.

They became little micro acts of intentional self-care. Things I can easily add to my everyday life to add a little more joy.

Alone they may not seem like much. But when I’m able to consistently sprinkle a few of these little delights and micro acts of self-care throughout my day, they really add up to make a difference.

No matter what else is going on during the day, I can take a few minutes, pick a tiny delight and add a little pocket of joy to the day.

And by the end of the day, these tiny delights and little acts of self-care sprinkled throughout the day really change the way my day feels overall.

A tool to find joy in your life

The list became a great jumping-off point for me to find ways to add more joy to the day. And is especially helpful when I find myself on autopilot or feeling like my focus is just on getting things done. I can still get done what needs to get done, but add a few tiny delights to the mix while I do it. Making the day feel a lot more enjoyable and intentional!

As time went on, I needed the list less and less. The tiny delights became natural and engrained in my days over time. But the list is still a great tool to fall back on when I slip back into autopilot mode.

Make your own list of tiny delights

I want to help you add more tiny delights and micro acts of self-care to your days too!

Sign up using the form below and I’ll send you a copy of my “Tiny Delights for Well-Being” list. As well as a blank template to make your own list of tiny delights too!

Use my list as it is to add some tiny delights to your days too. Or use it as inspiration to create your own list to add more joy to your days.

Think about what makes you feel good. Little things you can easily add to a typical day in your life to add a little more joy and delight to the day.

Put your list somewhere you’ll see it often to remind yourself to add little pockets of joy to your days too!

I printed my list in a smaller size so it was small enough to easily tuck in with my daily planner. Keeping it front and center helped remind me to do the things on the list often. Over time, these tiny delights and little acts of self-care have become habits. But I still keep the list visible to remind me of the importance of these little ways to add more joy to my days!

Enjoy a life with more joy!

I hope this will inspire you to see the potential for finding more joy in life and adding more joy to your days as well.

I’d love to hear what you’re putting on your list of tiny delights! Leave a comment and share some of your tiny delights and favourite ways to add joy to your days are!