jebmo’s posthaven

If one of your 2020 goals is to work on more productive habits and increase your own happiness in life, Yale might be able to help you get there.

Yale is offering its course on “The Science of Well-Being” online through Coursea for anyone to take, provided you have an internet connection.

The course officially kicks off today and runs for ten weeks. Each week has roughly 2 hours of coursework you’ll need to get through, typically a mixture of readings and videos. For instance, this week involves 4 videos totaling 14 minutes and eight different readings. Next week involves 7 videos totaling 63 minutes of watch time, 3 readings, and a quiz.

Here’s the official course description:

“In this course, you will engage in a series of challenges designed to increase your own happiness and build more productive habits. As preparation for these tasks, Professor Laurie Santos reveals misconceptions about happiness, annoying features of the mind that lead us to think the way we do, and the research that can help us change. You will ultimately be prepared to successfully incorporate a specific wellness activity into your life.”

Everything is done at your own pace, so you can work ahead if you’d like or play catchup if you end up falling behind. The whole thing is estimated to take around 20 hours in total to finish.

While taking the course is free, if you want to get a certificate marking that completion you’ll need to pay $50. That certificate can be shared in the “Certificates” portion of your LinkedIn profile or mentioned on your resume, in a cover letter, or wherever else you think it might be applicable. Of course, you can certainly mention completing the course even if you don’t pay that $50.