As part of the release of my book Promoting Happiness, I have launched a new website: promotinghappiness.com. Here you will find all my happiness-related tips and articles as well as my happiness blog. You can also find out more about my book.

I am happy to announce the publication of my book Promoting Happiness: a workbook to help you appreciate and get the most out of your life.

The book offers an opportunity to create a happier, more balanced life. Since it is a workbook, the reader will apply what they read through over 170 activities. To make things easier, ample space is provided within the workbook to complete the activities. It includes many tips and ideas inspired by the exciting field of Positive Psychology.

To find out more visit promotinghappiness.com.

The December edition of my Happiness and Wellbeing ezine is now available. It is available free of charge to subscribers. This issue includes an article on getting energised as well as how to get the life of a panda! There are also a number of tips, as well as news of the latest research to enhance your health, happiness and wellbeing.

Today is World Hello Day. Your task for today is to say hello to 10 people. Thanks to the likes of Facebook and Twitter this task really is easy to do. The idea behind this is that by using communication we may be able to bring about peace and end conflict. The day was first commemorated in 1973, as a response to the conflict between Egypt and Israel.  Today it is observed in 180 countries.

Tuesday is the time when people feel most stressed and overwhelmed at work and it hits its peak by 11:45 that morning. These are the findings of a study by Bimuno who surveyed 3000 adults. It is at this time that workers realise how much they have to get through during the week, not helped by using Monday to ease back into work after the weekend. Furthermore, Tuesday was also the day that people tended to work through lunch, not allowing themselves a decent break. One in 10 of those polled owned up to browsing Facebook on Monday, rather than getting started on tasks.

So now you are warned about Tuesday - be prepared. Be ready with some deep breathing exercises, or whatever quick stress relief technique works for you. Try and make better use of Monday so you don't have to work so long on Tuesday. Work your way through your to-do list and allow yourself a visit to Facebook once you have finished, as a reward for all your hard work.

Try the following activities, to give your brain a workout and delay the onset of dementia later on in life.

• Read a book
• Do a crossword
• Play board games
• Play card games
• Write something
• Have a group discussion
• Play a musical instrument

In a study conducted by Hall and colleagues at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in Bronx, New York, participants aged between 75 and 85 were asked how often they took part in the above activities. The more activities a person engaged in, the later the onset of mental decline. Those most active saw a decline 1.29 years later than those who were least mentally active. It is believed that brain exercise enables the brain to better cope with the neuron damage which leads to dementia. Although it cannot prevent it, such brain activities can delay it.

Avoid situations that make you sad and stressful and appreciate every waking hour. This is what older people do and recent research supports the premise that older people are happiest. Carstensen at Stanford University studied people aged from 18 to their mid-90s and had them keep diaries. Older people had fewer negative moods and were better able to deal with criticisms. Carstensen suggests people develop healthy routines and have a good balance in life.