35 Small Acts of Kindness You Can Do Today

Originally published 2017-09-12.

Want to do something good today but not sure where to start? The simplest answer is to pick one small, concrete act that fits the people around you, and do it before the day is out. Below are 35 everyday ideas, grouped by where you are likely to be: at home, at work, in your neighbourhood, out among strangers, and inside your own head. Most cost nothing, and none takes more than an afternoon.

"No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted" is a line often attributed to Aesop. The exact wording does not appear in the ancient fables, but it captures the moral of The Lion and the Mouse, in which a tiny creature repays a lion's mercy by gnawing through the net that has trapped him.

Why small kindnesses are worth the effort

Kindness is sometimes mistaken for softness, as if being generous meant being easy to take advantage of. In practice it takes confidence to give without keeping score, and steadiness to stay patient when you would rather snap. Being kind does not mean having no boundaries; it means choosing, deliberately, to make someone's day a little easier.

There is also evidence that the giver benefits. In a well-known study published in Science in 2008, psychologists Elizabeth Dunn, Lara Aknin and Michael Norton found that people who spent money on others reported greater happiness than those who spent the same amount on themselves. In one experiment, as little as five dollars directed at someone else was enough to make a measurable difference over a single day. What mattered was the share of money given away, not the total.

The list that follows is not a checklist to complete. Think of it as a menu: choose what suits your life, your budget and the actual needs of people you know.

In your neighbourhood

1. Start a free book exchange. A small weatherproof box by your gate, stocked with books you have finished, invites neighbours to take one and leave one. The Little Free Library movement began this way in Hudson, Wisconsin, in 2009 and now counts more than 150,000 registered exchanges worldwide.
2. Cut the grass for an older neighbour. Yard work becomes hard with age or illness. Ask first, then show up with the mower.
3. Put out cold drinks on hot days. A cooler on the porch with a note for postal workers, delivery drivers and refuse collectors is a quiet thank-you to people who work outdoors in the heat.
4. Collect litter on your walk. Bring a bag and gloves and clear one stretch of pavement or park path.
5. Walk dogs at a local shelter. Many rescue centres welcome volunteer walkers; exercise and company make animals calmer and more adoptable.
6. Feed a parking meter that is about to run out. Where it is legal, a few coins can spare a stranger a fine.
7. Visit a care home with treats. Bring something to share, then sit down and listen. Residents often value conversation more than the cake.

At work

8. Bring in something you baked. Homemade biscuits on a Monday morning say "I thought about you" more clearly than any memo.
9. Take the larger share of a joint task. When work is divided, quietly volunteer for the heavier half.
10. Keep a spare umbrella at your desk. Sooner or later a colleague will be caught in the rain and grateful for the loan.
11. Celebrate a colleague's birthday. A few decorations on their desk or locker, or a card signed by the team, makes people feel noticed.
12. Praise good service to a manager. When someone helps you well, tell their supervisor or leave a named review. It can count at appraisal time.

With family and friends

13. Give parents a break. Offer to take a friend's children out for an afternoon and teach them something you enjoy, so the adults get a few hours to themselves.
14. Write to your grandparents. A handwritten card arrives as something to keep, reread and show off.
15. Organise a meal train. For a family with a new baby, a bereavement or an illness, a shared calendar of home-cooked dinners removes one daily worry. Free online sign-up tools make it easy.
16. Really listen to a child. Put the phone down and let them tell the whole story, even the long version.
17. Take the smaller slice. When sharing a treat, let others choose first.
18. Do someone else's chore. Empty the bins or clean the kitchen when it is your housemate's or partner's turn, without announcing it.
19. Introduce two people who should know each other. If you have long thought two friends would get on, arrange a coffee for the three of you.
20. Ring an old friend. Ask how they are and what their day has been like, then let the call run as long as they want.
21. Give a sincere compliment. Notice a friend's outfit, haircut or effort, and say so specifically.

For strangers

22. Leave change in a vending machine. The next person finds their snack already paid for.
23. Pay for the order behind you. At a café or drive-through, cover the next customer's coffee.
24. Tip more generously. Next time you eat out, consider doubling your usual tip, especially where service staff rely on tips for much of their pay.
25. Hold the door. A two-second gesture, but people remember it on a bad day.
26. Let other drivers merge. Calm, courteous driving lowers everyone's stress and makes the road safer.
27. Smile at people you pass. Simple friendliness makes public spaces feel warmer.
28. Send a letter to someone who is struggling. The World Needs More Love Letters, a volunteer project that began with handwritten notes left around New York City, collects letters each month for people nominated by their loved ones and mails them as a bundle.

Giving time, things and support

29. Volunteer for a cause you care about. Food banks, literacy schemes, conservation groups and hospices all need regular helpers.
30. Swap a night out for a fundraiser. Spend one evening at a charity quiz, concert or dinner instead of your usual spot.
31. Declutter and donate. Clothes, kitchenware and toys you no longer use can be given to a charity shop or a shelter that needs them.
32. Thank a former teacher. Write to a teacher or lecturer who shaped you. Many keep such letters for years.

Kindness that starts with you

33. Forgive someone. Forgiving does not mean excusing harm or reopening contact; it can simply mean putting down a grudge you have carried too long.
34. Apologise properly. Name what you did, say you are sorry, and change the behaviour.
35. Let small irritations go. Before reacting, ask whether the problem will matter next week. If not, let it pass.

Making it stick

Good intentions fade quickly, so make one choice now. Pick a person and an action, decide when you will do it, and keep it specific: "drop soup at Maria's on Thursday" works better than "be nicer". Offer help in a way that is easy to refuse, and be guided by what the other person actually wants rather than what feels generous to you.

At the end of the day, ask yourself one question: did I follow through? Small acts done regularly add up to a reputation, a friendship and, over time, a neighbourhood where people look out for each other.

Sources: Harvard Business School Working Knowledge on Dunn, Aknin and Norton (2008); Little Free Library (Wikipedia); The World Needs More Love Letters; The Lion and the Mouse (Wikipedia).