Hi, I'm Monica.
I'm building A Happiness Process.
A place for people who want to design their days with more clarity, intention, and small everyday joy.
This is part newsletter, part experiment, and part community-in-progress. It's a place to think out loud about what actually makes a day feel good — and to share the small, practical things that seem to help.
No gurus. No 5am cold plunges (unless you're into that). Just honest curiosity about how to make ordinary life feel a little more intentional.
What this is
Small daily choices shape how we feel.
A Happiness Process is an exploration of that idea. It's about noticing what gives you energy, building routines that actually work for your life, and using simple systems — without making your life feel like a spreadsheet.
Why I started this
It started with process.
Then it got personal.
"How can we make our days feel better on purpose?"
I've always been interested in how things work — how processes can be improved, how friction gets removed, how people can make their systems run better. That curiosity started in my work life and slowly, quietly, crept into my personal one.
At some point I started wondering: if we can apply this kind of thinking to operations, logistics, workflows — why not to the experience of being a person? Not in a cold, mechanical way. More like: what small adjustments would make my days feel more alive? What's the tiny habit I keep skipping that might actually matter?
A Happiness Process grew out of that question. It's still growing. I don't have all the answers. I have a lot of questions, a few good experiments, and a genuine belief that this stuff is worth thinking about together.
What I'm exploring
The recurring themes around here.
These are the ideas I keep coming back to — in essays, in talks, in my own life. Consider this a rough map of the territory.
- Morning routines that actually help (not just intimidate)
- Tiny happiness habits with outsized effects
- Sunlight, movement, compliments, curiosity, creativity
- Type 1 and Type 2 fun — and why both matter
- Reducing friction in everyday life
- Making ordinary days feel less autopilot
- Systems that support the human, not the other way around
- The science of wellbeing, translated into real life
- What rest actually looks like (hint: not just sleeping)
- Building a life that feels a little more like yours
Who this is for
This is for people who want
more joy without the performance.
- You like self-improvement but hate being yelled at by productivity bros with standing desks and zero compassion for Tuesdays.
- You want more joy in your days without pretending life is always easy or that everything is fine.
- You're curious about habits, systems, and small experiments — and you enjoy testing ideas without committing your whole identity to them.
- You want to feel more present in your own life, not just more efficient in it.
- You enjoy practical ideas delivered with a bit of personality — and you'd rather read something human than something that sounds like it was written by a brand.
What you'll find here
A growing collection of
useful, honest things.
Come join in
Read something. Try an experiment.
Borrow one small idea for tomorrow.
You don't have to overhaul anything. You just have to be a little curious. That's the whole requirement. If one thing you find here makes a Tuesday slightly better, then this is working exactly as intended.
No spam. No relentless optimization advice. Just honest, occasional essays in your inbox.