If you really want to be happy, don’t buy a home, be a lawyer or retire early …. that’s what the research says anyway!

In an age of anxiety and uncertainty, people are more stressed than ever.

So it’s no surprise so many of us are searching for ways to bring more happiness to our lives. A Google search on “how to be happy” brings up more than 6.7 billion results.

Over more than two years, he studied hundreds of academic studies, interviewed psychologists, sociologists, and happiness researchers about what brings a person joy.

Happiness can refer to a wide range of moods, emotions, sensations, and traits — each with benefits and drawbacks.

Here are some of the more interesting tips that research showed up:

If email has been sitting in your inbox for a few days, or even a just few hours, it often seems polite to begin your response by apologising for your delayed response.

Such anxiety may make you think you’re being conscientious, but you’re probably just driving yourself crazy.

According to a study from Loughborough University, which analysed email interruptions within the workplace, people respond to emails within an average of six seconds. Yet in almost all cases, the sender doesn’t actually expect an immediate response.

A few years ago, Duke University psychology professor Dan Ariely conducted a test, asking people who emailed him to fill out a form indicating when they want a reply — with options for “next month,” “next week,” “tomorrow,” or “drop everything and deal with it ASAP.”

Only 2% said they needed an immediate answer. When given a choice, Ariely said in an interview with Bloomberg, “very, very few people say ‘answer me now.’ ”

So, take the stress out of email management by removing “apologies for the delay” from your vocabulary. It’s very likely that the recipient didn’t even spot it.

Rent or buy?  This question has tormented people for ever. Considerations range from personal budget to family size to location can influence the decision.

Those looking to enhance their happiness might find the answer lies with a rental.

In 2017, The Telegraph conducted a survey of 5,800 participants seeking to discover if people were happier renting or owning their homes. The survey questions focused on how financial circumstances contributed to happiness and stress levels. The results showed that those who rented detached, single-family homes were the least stressed.

It showed that people who rent homes tend to spend a greater portion of their finances on housing, but also showed that homeowners were just as likely to list money as their biggest concern. Also, those who rented single-family homes were more likely than homeowners to report good work-life balances.

Not only that, renters reported enjoying relaxing at home more than homeowners, who tended to put traveling as one of their primary keys to happiness.

This isn’t to imply that a rented home is always a happier home; owning a home has its perks, and the decision should mostly come down to whether people are financially and mentally secure.

If you don’t want to deal with the extra costs and maintenance of owning a home, consider simplifying your life and reducing stress by renting a place.

Retiring early has been the ultimate dream for many: Who wouldn’t want to cut out the nine-to-five existence by the age of 50?

Before withdrawing from the working world to spend your days sipping piña coladas, however, consider that early retirement might not be so healthy for your mind or happiness. Cross-sectional studies have found that workers who retire early tend to be less happy than those who stay in the workforce through to 65+.

Additional studies also found a connection between retirement and memory — or, as some economists call it, mental retirement. Drawing on memory-test data from the U.S., England, and 11 European countries, researchers found that the earlier people retired, the more their cognitive abilities declined.

Even if the work itself isn’t stimulating, there’s evidence that social skills and personality skills –  getting up in the morning, dealing with people, knowing the value of being prompt and trustworthy – are also important.

4. Embrace getting older

Forget what you’ve heard about having a midlife crisis. In fact, getting older is a pretty good predictor of happiness.

That was among the findings of a longitudinal study from the University of Alberta in Canada that looked at participants’ happiness levels as they aged from 14 to 43, with the participants self-defining and self-reporting their well-being on a scale from “not happy” to “very happy.”

The study found that over the 25-year period, as individuals aged, they generally grew happier. The increase in happiness remained even when controlling for variables such as gender, marital status, unemployment, and physical health.

The takeaway? Stop worrying about getting older. Chances are that wherever you see yourself in five years, you’re going to be happier when you get there.

Maybe it’s all the lawyer jokes, but those who practice law have been found to be particularly unhappy. A 1990 study from Johns Hopkins University found that lawyers were 3.6 times more likely than non-lawyers to suffer from depression.

Researchers point to three main reasons as to why lawyers have a hard time finding happiness:

1. Prudence is one of the main qualifications for lawyers, which can often translate to skepticism or pessimism.
2. The high pressure put on and low influence given to young associates are the sort of work conditions that result in low morale in other workplaces.
3. The work — at least in the U.S. — is often a zero-sum game where your win is someone else’s loss, creating a hyper-competitiveness that also drains one’s sense of workplace satisfaction.

A 2016 study conducted by the American Bar Association, concluded that lawyers “experience problematic drinking that is hazardous, harmful, or otherwise consistent with alcohol use disorders at a higher rate than other professional populations.”

Researchers looking into how happy people tend to complain surveyed 400 college students about their pet peeves with current or former romantic partners. They found that those who complain in a more deliberate way, with a purpose to help fix whatever is wrong, tend to be happier.

The researchers attributed this to the old buzzword, “mindfulness”, suggesting that perhaps people who are more mindful modulate the type of complaints they offer, preferring to engage in instrumental types of complaints over expressive ones.

So the next time you’re about to complain to a friend, give this a try: Stop for a minute and think about how you would prefer things to be and how they could be improved, rather than simply venting.  Good luck!

Alex Palmer is a journalist and excavator of fascinating facts. He is the New York Times best-selling author of “The Santa Claus Man.”“Happiness Hacks,” published by The Experiment, is his latest book. Alex’s writing has appeared in Lifehacker, Best Life, Mental Floss, Slate, Esquire and many others.