How to really be happy

For Diana Athill it's a hot bath. For Whistles boss Jane Shepherdson, it's taking time out in her canoe. And for French professor Edward Langille, it's working in his garden.
In this special issue of Weekend magazine, we've asked people from all walks of life what makes them happy. Most have at least one hobby or treat that instantly lifts their spirits. For some lucky people, such as street performer Nathan Kell, it's their job that brings them fulfilment. For others, graphic designer David Richards among them, close relationships are the key to contentment: "Since becoming a dad, my daughter is the one thing that makes both my wife and me absolutely over the moon. If I'm at work, I'll just look at a picture of her and smile."
We also asked a host of experts what steps we can take – small or large – to increase our levels of happiness, particularly in the middle of a downturn. Weekend columnist Oliver Burkeman looks at what we have learned from the positive psychology movement in the last 10 years – and confesses to keeping what psychologist Sonja Lyubomirsky calls a "gratitude journal", listing all the little things for which he feels thankful. "Naturally, I am hugely embarrassed to admit this," he says. "The awkward truth, though, is that keeping a gratitude journal has made a detectable and sustained difference to my state of mind."
He's not alone. In an online study of 26,000 people, announced last week, counting your blessings and reliving a positive memory from the previous day were two of the most effective techniques for boosting happiness.
When it comes to contentment within relationships, a little encouragement goes a long way, finds Luisa Dillner. She examines psychologist Shelly Gable's surprising finding that how your partner reacts to your positive news is even more important to your happiness than how he or she supports you when you get bad news.
Meanwhile, Stuart Jeffries looks at what to do if you feel stuck in a career you don't enjoy or, worse, if you have lost your job. He talks to sociologist Richard Sennett, author of The Craftsman, about his work with newly redundant Wall Street bankers, and how they have sought fulfilment in alternative careers.
Emma Cook finds out how to break free from worry, and discovers how cognitive behavioural therapy can boost our levels of satisfaction and self-esteem. And Hannah Booth asks the world's leading experts for their single most important happiness tip: from showing yourself compassion and trying meditation techniques to using your natural pessimism and investing in relationships rather than material possessions.
Ultimately, for Vince Cable, it's the key relationships in his life that have brought him contentment, while singer Jamelia says that her most important realisation came while she was single: that she could be happy on her own.