What can we do for you today

What Should I Do Today? 30 New Things To Do Today

It’s always fun to do something new, but often we fall into the trap of spending our days the same way. Whether you’re stuck attending meetings on weekdays, and sleeping the day away on weekends, it’s easy to fall into routines. Finding activities to do today is even more challenging to manage for those who have children.

If you’re stuck in the same old routine, it might be time to try something new.

So what new things can you do today?

Sometimes, you just need to switch up your routine and mix things up a bit. Everything listed here is something you can easily do no matter where you live, and even on a tight budget! Try out one of these 30 new things today, you’ll be happy you did.

30 New Things To Do Today

Whether you want to find inspiration for places to visit today, stuff to do today, or simply something to do today in general, here are some ideas.

1. Visit a suburb in your city that you’ve never been to before, or somewhere you haven’t explored much.

You may just find a new place to love.

Visiting new places is one of the most special things you can do especially if you want to switch up your surroundings. When you explore a new place, you will renew your sense of adventure in many ways.

2. Learn ten phrases in a new language–what about Japanese, Italian or Portuguese?

Learning a language is challenging, but it’s one of the most rewarding things you will ever do.

When learning a language, just remember to be patient. Start with greetings, and then conversational phrases.

3. Listen to a genre of music you haven’t tried before–perhaps Jazz, Punk, or Blues?

Do not be afraid to experiment with a new genre you don’t listen to normally. Music can be a form of therapy that can relax you.

Credit: charlesdeluvio via Unsplash.com

4. Have a picnic in your local park complete with a packed lunch and your animal friends.

You can prepare a sumptuous charcuterie board filled with your favorite cheeses and cold cuts.

You can enjoy your picnic alone and all you need is to bring a book with you, or a pair of headphones to listen to new music.

⌄ Scroll down to continue reading article ⌄

If you want to take the extra mile, invite some of your closest friends and you can ask them to contribute food to the picnic. Use this time to catch up with each other.

Credit: Svetlana Kuznetsova via Unsplash.com

5. Start a daily journal to write your thoughts in.

Writing can be a form of therapy.

When you journal, you can put your thoughts into words and this will help you untangle difficult emotions. When you write your experiences and thoughts down, you can also look back on the things you have written a couple of years from now.

Credit: lilartsy via Unsplash.com

6. Try a new cuisine–what about French, Lebanese or Korean?

Experimenting with a new cuisine is such an exciting thing to do.

When you explore new cuisines, you will be surprised at the burst of flavors you will encounter. Try to push yourself when it comes to discovering new flavors. Who knows, you’ll end up finding your next favorite food through this tip.

Credit: Vicky Ng via Unsplash.com

7. Visit your local library and borrow some books for the weekend.

Perhaps you want to stick with classic books, or you want to try newly published ones?

Reading can be your little escape from reality. When you read, you can imagine yourself in the shoes of characters and see the world in a new light.

⌄ Scroll down to continue reading article ⌄

8. Plant some flowers in your garden.

If you don’t have one, try an indoor potted plant. Gardening is immensely therapeutic, and you’ll be surprised at how this activity will make you feel grounded.

Some of the flowers you can plant include roses or sunflowers. You can also try planting basil, dill, or tomatoes if you love cooking.

⌄ Scroll down to continue reading article ⌄

9. Visit a local museum or art gallery and view their latest exhibition.

Enjoying art may not be for everyone, but it never hurts to try. You may even be surprised at how much art can make you feel things.

Credit: Matheus Viana via Pexels.com

10. Learn a new skill–what about sewing, gardening, or cooking?

You can pick a short-term skill that could be done in a single afternoon. This can include learning how to cook a certain dish, or painting on a canvas. You can also learn something more long-term such as learning how to surf, play tennis, or play the guitar.

11. Say hello to a neighbor you don’t usually talk to.

Who knows, you’ll have tons of things in common. Talking to new people can be extremely refreshing.

12. Make a card for a friend and send it to them with a handwritten note.

Handwritten letters are so special and will truly make your friends feel valued.

Credit: Anastasia Anastasia via Unsplash.com

13. Learn how to cook a new dish for dinner.

We all get tired of eating the same thing. Why not try making something new? You can also try experimenting with new cuisine. For instance, if you’ve always wanted to learn how to cook steak, why don’t you try it? You can also teach yourself how to bake and then give away your baked goods to your friends.

14. Re-read an old favorite book.

Don’t leave it gathering dust on your bookshelf; get it out and read it all over again. Every time you read your favorite book, you will surely learn something new.

15. Research the culture of a different country online–what about India, Guatemala, or Sweden?

When you visit these countries in the future, you are already armed with knowledge.

There’s also something magical about learning about new cultures because you can compare them with yours. Try to see the similarities and dissimilarities between the culture you are studying, and the culture you are used to.

Credit: Element5 Digital via Pexels.com

16. Go for a walk or bicycle ride around your neighborhood.

This will give you much-needed exercise. Doing these things is also a great way to release endorphins which can make you happier.

17. Watch a classic film like Casablanca, The Godfather, or The Wizard of Oz.

Classic films are called classic for the reason – these films have stood the test of time. No matter which stage you are in your life, you are bound to learn a lesson from these films.

Credit: Andre Tan via Unsplash.com

18. Make a photo album of a recent holiday you took.

Don’t let your memories get lost on your computer hard drive; make a special keepsake album of your trip. Looking at these photos will make you remember all the happy memories you’ve had during your trip.

Credit: rikka ameboshi via Pexels. com

19. Visit your local farmers’ markets and pick out some fresh produce.

Farmers’ markets are full of delicious fresh fruit, veggies, and more. Whether you live in a small or big city, chances are, there are Farmer’s markets that open every weekend.

Use this opportunity as a time to shop for the freshest ingredients if you want to cook. You may even find local artists that sell trinkets and art here.

20. Plan a day trip to somewhere outside your city–it might be the seaside, mountains or another city!

Just seeing a new environment will do wonders for your mental health. This doesn’t need intense planning.

You can be spontaneous and drive around without a destination in mind. Who knows, you may discover a new restaurant or destination you’ll end up loving.

⌄ Scroll down to continue reading article ⌄

21. Check out what community events are running in your area and attend one.

This can be a concert by local bands, a sports event, or a fair. Attending activities like this is also an amazing way to meet new people and make new friends.

22. Make a birthday present for a friend.

Handmade gifts are personal and much more special than anything you could buy from a store.

For instance, you can make a scrapbook of all the moments you’ve had together, or you can make them an artsy gift such as a dream catcher. This will only take a little effort from you but it will paint a smile on their faces.

Credit: Olga Kalinina via Pexels.com

23. Attend a play at your local theater.

Support your local theater and have a fun night out at the same time.

Credit: Justin Campbell via Unsplash.com

24. Volunteer with your local nature conservation society to plant some trees.

Conservation societies are always looking for helping hands; do your bit and plant some trees.

Make sure to research well about all the organizations in your area and choose ones that have a sustainability program to ensure your efforts don’t go to waste.

Credit: Eyoel Kahssay via Unsplash.com

25. Be a tourist in your city.

Visit all the popular tourist sites you’ve likely never been to (don’t forget your camera!)

26. Call a friend you haven’t spoken to recently

Just have a good long chat with them or have a quick catch-up!

27. Put on your favorite song and dance your heart out.

You might be surprised at how much fun you have! You can also invite your friends for an intimate house party.

Credit: cottonbro via Pexels.com

28. Invite some friends over for a BBQ.

There’s nothing better than an afternoon spent with good friends and good food. You can prepare the food, or ask your friends to do a potluck.

Credit: Aral Tasher via Unsplash.com

29. Try out a new form of exercise.

Have you tried pilates, tennis, surfing, or yoga? Try a new form of exercise now!

Credit: Sonnie Hiles via Unsplash.com

30. Organize a clothing swap with your friends.

You’ll have a great time, and save some cash and the environment all at the same time!

This is an awesome way to have new things while still being eco-friendly. Remember that one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.

⌄ Scroll down to continue reading article ⌄

Bottom Line

Asking yourself what you can do today is the first step in changing up your routine. Thanks to the activities listed above, you finally have ideas on the fun things to do today to keep your life interesting.

Keep in mind that trying out new things is a form of self-care, and you shouldn’t feel guilty if you want to do something new.

Now that you’ve read my list of 30 new things to try today, my question for you is, “what new things will you try today?”

Featured photo credit: Unsplash via unsplash.com

10 Simple Things You Can Do Today That Will Make You Happy

Happiness is so interesting, because we all have different ideas about what it is and how to get it. It’s also no surprise that it’s the number one value for Buffer’s culture, if you see our slidedeck about it. So naturally we are obsessed with it.

I would love to be happier, as I’m sure most people would, so I thought it would be interesting to find some ways to become a happier person that are actually backed up by science. Here are ten of the best ones I found.

1. Exercise more – seven minutes might be enough

You might have seen some talk recently about the scientific seven minute workout mentioned in The New York Times. So if you thought exercise was something you didn’t have time for, maybe you can fit it in after all.

Exercise has such a profound effect on our happiness and well-being that it’s actually been proven to be an effective strategy for overcoming depression. In a study cited in Shawn Achor’s book, The Happiness Advantage¹, three groups of patients treated their depression with either medication, exercise, or a combination of the two. The results of this study really surprised me. Although all three groups experienced similar improvements in their happiness levels to begin with, the follow up assessments proved to be radically different:

The groups were then tested six months later to assess their relapse rate. Of those who had taken the medication alone, 38 percent had slipped back into depression. Those in the combination group were doing only slightly better, with a 31 percent relapse rate. The biggest shock, though, came from the exercise group: Their relapse rate was only 9 percent!

You don’t have to be depressed to gain benefit from exercise, though. It can help you to relax, increase your brain power and even improve your body image, even if you don’t lose any weight.

A study in the Journal of Health Psychology² found that people who exercised felt better about their bodies, even when they saw no physical changes:

Body weight, shape and body image were assessed in 16 males and 18 females before and after both 6 × 40 mins exercise and 6 × 40 mins reading. Over both conditions, body weight and shape did not change. Various aspects of body image, however, improved after exercise compared to before.

We’ve explored exercise in depth before, and looked at what it does to our brains, such as releasing proteins and endorphins that make us feel happier, as you can see in the image below.

2. Sleep more – you’ll be less sensitive to negative emotions

We know that sleep helps our bodies to recover from the day and repair themselves, and that it helps us focus and be more productive. It turns out, it’s also important for our happiness.

In NutureShock³, Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman explain how sleep affects our positivity:

Negative stimuli get processed by the amygdala; positive or neutral memories gets processed by the hippocampus. Sleep deprivation hits the hippocampus harder than the amygdala. The result is that sleep-deprived people fail to recall pleasant memories, yet recall gloomy memories just fine.
In one experiment by Walker, sleep-deprived college students tried to memorize a list of words. They could remember 81% of the words with a negative connotation, like “cancer.” But they could remember only 31% of the words with a positive or neutral connotation, like “sunshine” or “basket.”

The BPS Research Digest explores another study⁴ that proves sleep affects our sensitivity to negative emotions. Using a facial recognition task over the course of a day, the researchers studied how sensitive participants were to positive and negative emotions. Those who worked through the afternoon without taking a nap became more sensitive late in the day to negative emotions like fear and anger.

Using a face recognition task, here we demonstrate an amplified reactivity to anger and fear emotions across the day, without sleep. However, an intervening nap blocked and even reversed this negative emotional reactivity to anger and fear while conversely enhancing ratings of positive (happy) expressions.

Of course, how well (and how long) you sleep will probably affect how you feel when you wake up, which can make a difference to your whole day. Especially this graph showing how your brain activity decreases is a great insight about how important enough sleep is for productivity and happiness:

Another study⁵ tested how employees’ moods when they started work in the morning affected their work day.

Researchers found that employees’ moods when they clocked in tended to affect how they felt the rest of the day. Early mood was linked to their perceptions of customers and to how they reacted to customers’ moods.
And most importantly to managers, employee mood had a clear impact on performance, including both how much work employees did and how well they did it.

Sleep is another topic we’ve looked into before, exploring how much sleep we really need to be productive.

3. Move closer to work – a short commute is worth more than a big house

Our commute to the office can have a surprisingly powerful impact on our happiness. The fact that we tend to do this twice a day, five days a week, makes it unsurprising that its effect would build up over time and make us less and less happy.

According to The Art of Manliness⁶, having a long commute is something we often fail to realize will affect us so dramatically:

… while many voluntary conditions don’t affect our happiness in the long term because we acclimate to them, people never get accustomed to their daily slog to work because sometimes the traffic is awful and sometimes it’s not. Or as Harvard psychologist Daniel Gilbert put it, “Driving in traffic is a different kind of hell every day.”

We tend to try to compensate for this by having a bigger house or a better job, but these compensations just don’t work:

Two Swiss economists who studied the effect of commuting on happiness found that such factors could not make up for the misery created by a long commute.

Love this post? Pass it along! Schedule this post to send to your followers when they’re most likely to see it.

4. Spend time with friends and family – don’t regret it on your deathbed

Staying in touch with friends and family is one of the top five regrets of the dying⁷. If you want more evidence that it’s beneficial for you, I’ve found some research that proves it can make you happier right now.

Social time is highly valuable when it comes to improving our happiness, even for introverts. Several studies have found that time spent with friends and family makes a big difference to how happy we feel, generally.

I love the way Harvard happiness expert Daniel Gilbert⁸ explains it:

We are happy when we have family, we are happy when we have friends and almost all the other things we think make us happy are actually just ways of getting more family and friends.

George Vaillant is the director of a 72-year study of the lives of 268 men.

In an interview in the March 2008 newsletter to the Grant Study subjects, Vaillant was asked, “What have you learned from the Grant Study men?” Vaillant’s response: “That the only thing that really matters in life are your relationships to other people. ”

He shared insights of the study with Joshua Wolf Shenk at The Atlantic⁹ on how the men’s social connections made a difference to their overall happiness:

The men’s relationships at age 47, he found, predicted late-life adjustment better than any other variable, except defenses. Good sibling relationships seem especially powerful: 93 percent of the men who were thriving at age 65 had been close to a brother or sister when younger.

In fact, a study published in the Journal of Socio-Economics¹⁰ states than your relationships are worth more than $100,000:

Using the British Household Panel Survey, I find that an increase in the level of social involvements is worth up to an extra £85,000 a year in terms of life satisfaction. Actual changes in income, on the other hand, buy very little happiness.

I think that last line is especially fascinating: Actual changes in income, on the other hand, buy very little happiness. So we could increase our annual income by hundreds of thousands of dollars and still not be as happy as if we increased the strength of our social relationships.

The Terman study, which is covered in The Longevity Project¹¹, found that relationships and how we help others were important factors in living long, happy lives:

We figured that if a Terman participant sincerely felt that he or she had friends and relatives to count on when having a hard time then that person would be healthier. Those who felt very loved and cared for, we predicted, would live the longest.
Surprise: our prediction was wrong… Beyond social network size, the clearest benefit of social relationships came from helping others. Those who helped their friends and neighbors, advising and caring for others, tended to live to old age.

5. Go outside – happiness is maximized at 13.9°C

In The Happiness Advantage, Shawn Achor recommends spending time in the fresh air to improve your happiness:

Making time to go outside on a nice day also delivers a huge advantage; one study found that spending 20 minutes outside in good weather not only boosted positive mood, but broadened thinking and improved working memory…

This is pretty good news for those of us who are worried about fitting new habits into our already-busy schedules. Twenty minutes is a short enough time to spend outside that you could fit it into your commute or even your lunch break.

A UK study from the University of Sussex¹² also found that being outdoors made people happier:

Being outdoors, near the sea, on a warm, sunny weekend afternoon is the perfect spot for most. In fact, participants were found to be substantially happier outdoors in all natural environments than they were in urban environments.

The American Meteorological Society¹³ published research in 2011 that found current temperature has a bigger effect on our happiness than variables like wind speed and humidity, or even the average temperature over the course of a day. It also found that happiness is maximized at 13.9°C, so keep an eye on the weather forecast before heading outside for your 20 minutes of fresh air.

The connection between productivity and temperature is another topic we’ve talked about more here. It’s fascinating what a small change in temperature can do.

6. Help others – 100 hours a year is the magical number

One of the most counterintuitive pieces of advice I found is that to make yourself feel happier, you should help others. In fact, 100 hours per year (or two hours per week) is the optimal time we should dedicate to helping others in order to enrich our lives.

If we go back to Shawn Achor’s book again, he says this about helping others:

…when researchers interviewed more than 150 people about their recent purchases, they found that money spent on activities—such as concerts and group dinners out—brought far more pleasure than material purchases like shoes, televisions, or expensive watches. Spending money on other people, called “prosocial spending,” also boosts happiness.

The Journal of Happiness Studies ¹⁴ published a study that explored this very topic:

Participants recalled a previous purchase made for either themselves or someone else and then reported their happiness. Afterward, participants chose whether to spend a monetary windfall on themselves or someone else. Participants assigned to recall a purchase made for someone else reported feeling significantly happierimmediately after this recollection; most importantly, the happier participants felt, the more likely they were to choose to spend a windfall on someone else in the near future.

So spending money on other people makes us happier than buying stuff for ourselves. What about spending our time on other people? A study of volunteering in Germany¹⁵ explored how volunteers were affected when their opportunities to help others were taken away:

Shortly after the fall of the Berlin Wall but before the German reunion, the first wave of data of the GSOEP was collected in East Germany. Volunteering was still widespread. Due to the shock of the reunion, a large portion of the infrastructure of volunteering (e.g. sports clubs associated with firms) collapsed and people randomly lost their opportunities for volunteering. Based on a comparison of the change in subjective well-being of these people and of people from the control group who had no change in their volunteer status, the hypothesis is supported that volunteering is rewarding in terms of higher life satisfaction.

In his book Flourish: A Visionary New Understanding of Happiness and Well-being¹⁶, University of Pennsylvania professor Martin Seligman explains that helping others can improve our own lives:

…we scientists have found that doing a kindness produces the single most reliable momentary increase in well-being of any exercise we have tested.

7. Practice smiling – it can alleviate pain

Smiling itself can make us feel better, but it’s more effective when we back it up with positive thoughts, according to this study¹⁷:

A new study led by a Michigan State University business scholar suggests customer-service workers who fake smile throughout the day worsen their mood and withdraw from work, affecting productivity. But workers who smile as a result of cultivating positive thoughts – such as a tropical vacation or a child’s recital – improve their mood and withdraw less.

Of course it’s important to practice “real smiles” where you use your eye sockets. It’s very easy to spot the difference:

According to PsyBlog¹⁸, smiling can improve our attention and help us perform better on cognitive tasks:

Smiling makes us feel good which also increases our attentional flexibility and our ability to think holistically. When this idea was tested by Johnson et al. (2010), the results showed that participants who smiled performed better on attentional tasks which required seeing the whole forest rather than just the trees.

A smile is also a good way to alleviate some of the pain we feel in troubling circumstances:

Smiling is one way to reduce the distress caused by an upsetting situation. Psychologists call this the facial feedback hypothesis. Even forcing a smile when we don’t feel like it is enough to lift our mood slightly (this is one example of embodied cognition).

One of our previous posts goes into even more detail about the science of smiling.

8. Plan a trip – but don’t take one

As opposed to actually taking a holiday, it seems that planning a vacation or just a break from work can improve our happiness. A study published in the journal, Applied Research in Quality of Life¹⁹ showed that the highest spike in happiness came during the planning stage of a vacation as employees enjoyed the sense of anticipation:

In the study, the effect of vacation anticipation boosted happiness for eight weeks.
After the vacation, happiness quickly dropped back to baseline levels for most people.

Shawn Achor has some info for us on this point, as well:

One study found that people who just thought about watching their favorite movie actually raised their endorphin levels by 27 percent.
If you can’t take the time for a vacation right now, or even a night out with friends, put something on the calendar—even if it’s a month or a year down the road. Then whenever you need a boost of happiness, remind yourself about it.

9. Meditate – rewire your brain for happiness

Meditation is often touted as an important habit for improving focus, clarity and attention span, as well as helping to keep you calm. It turns out it’s also useful for improving your happiness:

In one study, a research team from Massachusetts General Hospital looked at the brain scans of 16 people before and after they participated in an eight-week course in mindfulness meditation. The study, published in the January issue of Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging, concluded that after completing the course, parts of the participants’ brains associated with compassion and self-awareness grew, and parts associated with stress shrank.

Meditation literally clears your mind and calms you down, it’s been often proven to be the single most effective way to live a happier life. I believe that this graphic explains it the best:

According to Shawn Achor, meditation can actually make you happier long-term:

Studies show that in the minutes right after meditating, we experience feelings of calm and contentment, as well as heightened awareness and empathy. And, research even shows that regular meditation can permanently rewire the brain to raise levels of happiness.

The fact that we can actually alter our brain structure through mediation is most surprising to me and somewhat reassuring that however we feel and think today isn’t permanent.

We’ve explored the topic of meditation and it’s effects on the brain in-depth before. It’s definitely mind-blowing what this can do to us.

10. Practice gratitude – increase both happiness and life satisfaction

This is a seemingly simple strategy, but I’ve personally found it to make a huge difference to my outlook. There are lots of ways to practice gratitude, from keeping a journal of things you’re grateful for, sharing three good things that happen each day with a friend or your partner, and going out of your way to show gratitude when others help you.

In an experiment²⁰ where some participants took note of things they were grateful for each day, their moods were improved just from this simple practice:

The gratitude-outlook groups exhibited heightened well-being across several, though not all, of the outcome measures across the 3 studies, relative to the comparison groups. The effect on positive affect appeared to be the most robust finding. Results suggest that a conscious focus on blessings may have emotional and interpersonal benefits.

The Journal of Happiness studies published a study²¹ that used letters of gratitude to test how being grateful can affect our levels of happiness:

Participants included 219 men and women who wrote three letters of gratitude over a 3 week period.
Results indicated that writing letters of gratitude increased participants’ happiness and life satisfaction, while decreasing depressive symptoms.

For further reading, check out 7 Simple productivity tips you can apply today, backed by science, which goes even deeper into what we can do to be more grateful.

Here’s a look at all 10 factors in case you’d like to Pin them for later:

Quick last fact: Getting older will make yourself happier

As a final point, it’s interesting to note that as we get older, particularly past middle age, we tend to grow happier naturally²². There’s still some debate over why this happens, but scientists have got a few ideas:

Researchers, including the authors, have found that older people shown pictures of faces or situations tend to focus on and remember the happier ones more and the negative ones less.
Other studies have discovered that as people age, they seek out situations that will lift their moods — for instance, pruning social circles of friends or acquaintances who might bring them down. Still other work finds that older adults learn to let go of loss and disappointment over unachieved goals, and hew their goals toward greater wellbeing.

So if you thought being old would make you miserable, rest assured that it’s likely you’ll develop a more positive outlook than you probably have now.

Want to chat about this article? Leave a comment below or send me an email with your thoughts.

P.S. If you liked this post, you might enjoy our Buffer Blog newsletter. Receive each new post delivered right to your inbox, plus our can’t-miss weekly email of the Internet’s best reads. Sign up here.

Photo credit: Spencer Finnley, Dr. Chuck Hillman, Berkeley, Paul Ekman, The Mind Unleashed.

References:

“The Happiness Advantage” by Shawn Achor
“How To Feel Better About Your Body, Backed By Research” the Journal of Health Psychology
“NutureShock,” by Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman
“An afternoon nap tunes out negative emotions, tunes in positive ones” The BPS Research Digest
“Got up on the wrong side of the bed? Your work will show it.” by EurekAlert
“Where Is the Grass Greener? The Economics of Happiness” by Brett & Kate McKay
“Top Five Regrets of the Dying” by Susie Steiner
Harvard happiness expert Daniel Gilbert
“What Makes Us Happy?” by Joshua Wolf Shenk at The Atlantic
“This Is What Your Relationships Are Worth In Dollars” by Erik Barker
“The Longevity Project” by Howard S. Friedman, Leslie R. Martin
“Sea + sun = happiness: science” by the University of Sussex
“Weather and Individual Happiness” by Yoshiro Tsutsui
“How To Create A Feedback Loop Of Happiness” by Erik Barker
“Is being selfless the smartest way to be selfish?” by Erik Barker
“Flourish: A Visionary New Understanding of Happiness and Well-being” by Martin E. P. Seligman
“For a better workday, smile like you mean it” by Michigan State University
“10 Hidden Benefits of Smiling” by PsyBlog
“How Vacations Affect Your Happiness” by Tara Parker-Pope
“Was grandmom right about “counting your blessings’?’”” by Erik Barker
“How to quickly and easily feel happier and more satisfied with life” by Erik Barker
“Why are older people happier?” by Association for Psychological Science

"What else can we do for you?" What does failure in the Kaspi.

kz application teach

On October 28, the Kaspi.kz application, popular among Kazakhstanis, stopped working. Due to a “technical failure” in the system, people could not pay for services, make purchases, and remained indebted to taxi drivers.

Marzhan Elshibayeva, executive director of the Kazakh fintech company Kaspi, which owns Kaspi Bank, refused to answer RFE/RL's questions and sent a previously prepared statement:

“All services in the Kaspi.kz application are working. All customer money is safe and accounts are displayed correctly. The most important thing is to quickly and quickly fix the failure so that people can again use the services as soon as possible. Do not pay attention to fake mailings from unscrupulous people. We always honestly inform our customers about any incidents, ”the text was approximately posted in all social networks of the company.

RFE/RL asked experts what risks such financial paralysis entails.

“IF HACKERS GOT ACCESS TO TRANSACTIONS, YOU WOULD NOT KNOW ABOUT IT”

- According to my observations, this was not a cyber attack, but most likely a technical failure on the part of the developers. Apparently this happened when they were updating the system and database. Not to say that this is normal, but large corporations, such as Google or Facebook, also have such cases. Perhaps not as often as Kaspi. They also had this problem two years ago,” Olzhas Satiev, head of the Center for Analysis and Investigation of Cyber Attacks in Kazakhstan (TSARKA), tells RFE/RL.

According to the IT specialist, the cause could be a human factor.

- We updated the software, errors got out somewhere. I initially assumed that the problem should be solved within a day, and it happened. When hacked, people's account balance would jump. If hackers hacked into the system and gained access to transactions, then ordinary users would not know about it,” Satiev believes.

"TODAY'S INFORMATION THAT "THE IS NORMAL" IS NOT ENOUGH"

Director of the Talap Center for Applied Research Rakhim Oshakbaev says that he himself did not experience any difficulties, since he does not use the Kaspi application. But, the economist is convinced, the bank and relevant government agencies should draw conclusions, in particular, regarding what risks the mass concentration of the population's funds in one financial institution may bear.

“We need to look at the real concentration, if it is really high, then perhaps it makes sense for the competition protection agency, recently created under the presidential administration, to analyze from the position of the regulator how dangerous such a concentration is,” Oshakbaev said.

The expert refers to precedents when the world's IT giants concentrated a large market share in their hands and the authorities made decisions on restrictions.

Today's information that "everything is fine" is not enough. And if this failure repeats and will be systemic?

- Given their de facto system-forming position, it is probably necessary to analyze and respond, to see how critical such failures were and what are the reasons. Today's information that "everything is fine" is not enough. And if this failure repeats and will be systemic? But, as they say, every cloud has a silver lining, and this case should give rise to an internal analysis for the bank itself,” the economist said.

According to Oshakbaev, despite the dominance of the application in the market, based on security and safety considerations, customers should diversify where their funds are stored.

"EVEN BIG GIANTS CAN FALL"

The latest failure gives other banks a reason to develop and improve their services, says Rasul Rysmambetov, director of the public fund Financial Freedom, financier.

Now we see that even the big giants can fall. This means that even small banks in the current digital age can benefit from the largest companies.

- Having a card of only one bank is bad. Yesterday's failure demonstrates to others that there is room to grow and there are niches where you can go to win an audience. Many banks argue like this: “We won’t catch up with Kaspi, so we’ll stand somewhere in the bushes.” But now we see that even the big giants can fall. This means that small banks in the current digital age can benefit the largest companies if they provide a reliable system for transferring or cashing out. Competitors should rejoice at such a fall. And if such failures continue, then they will be fine,” Rasul Rysmambetov believes.

At the same time, the financier admits that, in general, the national banking system “does not inspire confidence” and predicts that by the summer of 2021 “the situation in the banking sector will worsen.”

— People began to take less loans. Banks also do not meet the needs of borrowers. I mean the corporate sector. Banks, most likely, will experience a crisis by the end of the year and next spring, so the government, I think, is preparing to help the banks somehow. No one wants domestic banks to collapse,” Rysmambetov said.

HOW THE MINISTRY OF FIN WANTED TO BAN KASPI - TRANSFERS

Director of Financial Technologies and Innovation Sector Association of Financiers of Kazakhstan Konstantin Pak tends to look at the situation with optimism. In his opinion, the latest failure is not of a systemic nature.

- This is a one-time occurrence that is unlikely to happen again in the near future. In addition, the failure was fixed within a few hours. It's very prompt. Clients could only be affected by such a brief outage in a very specific situation. To do this, you had to be in a situation where you have absolutely no alternative alternative means of payment and the payment needs to be made exactly in those 2-3 hours when the service was not available, Konstantin Pak believes.

A year ago, the Ministry of Finance was trying to "deal" with an application that many people use to pay for goods and services from which taxes do not go to the treasury. At first, they wanted to close the application, but as a result, the idea was abandoned.

We thought about banning such a mechanism, but in general this may not have a very positive effect on our economy.

“Today Kaspi Gold payments are a very popular mechanism. From the point of view of the law on payment systems, it meets the requirements, but from the point of view of the Tax Code and fiscalization, it does not quite comply. These transactions are not taxable. We thought about banning such a mechanism, but in general this may not have a very positive effect on our economy, ”said in November 2019years in the government, Vice Minister of Finance Ruslan Yensebaev.

Then Kaspi undertook that by 2021 it would develop a solution that would comply with the Tax Code.

Today, the number of users of the Kaspi.kz mobile application, according to official data, exceeds seven million. According to the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange (KASE), as of October 1, more than a third of the shares of Kaspi.kz belonged to the chairman of the board of directors, businessman Vyacheslav Kim. About a quarter went to Georgian businessman Mikhail Lomtadze. In the middle of this month, the company held an initial public offering on the London Stock Exchange and received about a billion dollars from investors. The IPO of the bank, called the most retail in Kazakhstan, did not involve retail investors.

The best we can do for you!

04/03/2018

Doing the best and surprising is our tradition, as the visitors of our stands were repeatedly convinced of. And if it seems to someone that after Batimat 2016 and 2017 it’s already difficult to impress with something, we are ready to prove the opposite at the International Construction and Interior Exhibition BATIMAT RUSSIA 2018, which will be held from April 3 to 6 at the Crocus Expo IEC (Moscow).

Offers:

the largest booth among all exhibitors;
presentation of the product and the latest trends in the world of ceramic fashion from the Italian studio Gracia Design (Italy), the developer of one of the most popular brands in the Russian (and not only) market - Gracia Ceramica;
a large number of new formats: 30x90, 12. 5x50, 7.5x30, 20x20, 10x20, special elements and decors;
set for virtual reality, which will allow you not only to see, but also to be inside your future interior, besides changing it in real time;
a terminal specially created for us with a loaded Unitile Ready Solutions module, with panoramic interiors and video clips with interior visualization for each Gracia Ceramica collection;
rich program, competitions and prizes, including tickets to the Cersaie exhibition, refreshments and a warm welcome from the friendly Unitile team.

But the main thing is the largest number of new collections in the history of the renewed company - 64 VIRTU & MAESTRIA collections from Gracia Ceramica. After all, it is VIRTU & MAESTRIA, thanks to the skill of the best Italian artists, that opens up unlimited opportunities for you to create your own world, to reveal and embody the most daring ideas in the interior. Express yourself without words through the comfortable classic luxury of Casa elegante, the bold and bright urban chic of Casa moderne, the refined naturalism and beauty of natural materials and textures of Eco casa.

At your disposal is a huge selection of formats, the widest palette of colors and shades, an endless kaleidoscope of patterns and lines, from geometric to ethnic ornaments, eternal gold, metal and noble aging in the shabby chic style, natural textures of semi-precious stone, marble, wood, fabric and skins, mixing styles and the ability to mix elements of collections.

“A new era has come in fashion - there are no more rules. Now it's all about individual style, a combination of haute couture, fast fashion, classics and young designers at the same time,” said one of the best fashion designers of our time, recognized and revered enfant terrible of the fashion world, Alexander McQueen.

The modern world is a triumph of the individual over the crowd, individuality over the template. This is the unlimited freedom of creativity, fantasy, imagination, the rejection of established canons and a new rethinking of existing traditions.

Your home is not just your castle.

Learn more