Some activities punch above their weight. Just a little bit of effort and time invested in them can yield outsize rewards either in terms of happiness, health, or productivity. Take yoga, for example. Just 20 minutes after lunch can significantly boost your brain function. Or napping. A snooze of less than an hour boosts memory fivefold. And your mom was right about eating breakfast. Put a little thought into proper nutrition in the morning and you'll increase your energy all day.

So what else should we add to this list of small, painless habits that pay off big time? Research suggests that at least 30 minutes a week of reading for pleasure is a strong contender for membership in this elite club.

Picking up the latest bestseller seems like a nice enough way to pass a half hour, but what benefits beyond a better vocabulary and maybe a little less stress could it possibly offer? Quite impressive ones, according to research from the British organization Quick Reads conducted by Josie Billington of the Centre for Research Into Reading, Literature and Society at the University of Liverpool. The poll of more than 4,000 adults uncovered some startling facts on the impact of a regular reading habit on both our health and happiness.

Regular reading: A magic elixir for health.

Folks who read at least 30 minutes a week are 20 percent more likely to report greater life satisfaction and 11 percent more likely to feel creative. They're also 28 percent less likely to suffer from depression and 18 percent more likely to report high self-esteem. Even if your worries are just garden variety, reading will probably help. Reading a book was ranked as a more effective cure for anxiety than taking a walk or chatting with a friend, and almost one in five respondents (19 percent) said reading helps them feel less lonely.

Reading, the study shows, helps boost empathy and makes us feel more connected to those around us (readers also report being more comfortable chatting with strangers than nonreaders). It can also help us get through difficult periods by showing us we're not alone in our challenges and low points. And, of course, it's not a bad way to learn a few things too. Readers, unsurprisingly, had greater general knowledge, greater awareness of other cultures, and richer life experiences.

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