Use this 1 simple trick to feel happier, says Harvard expert—it involves your bucket list

This story is part of CNBC Make It's Tools for Happiness series, which details what we learned from taking a free happiness course offered by Harvard University.

Keeping a bucket list is an effective way to be sure you have fun and fulfilling experiences like skydiving and traveling internationally — but you might benefit from making your list a bit shorter.

Arthur C. Brooks, a professor at Harvard University and social scientist, defines a bucket list as "a list of accomplishments or experiences we want to have or achieve in our lifetimes," during his free course about happiness. A bucket list can be written down or even just something you think about often but haven't penned to paper.

Regardless of what your list looks like, "the objective is to achieve satisfaction as you check items off your list," Brooks says in a video for the class. The overall goal people strive for is to feel satisfied that they've fulfilled their wishes by the time they're nearing the end of their lives, he adds.

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Unfortunately, research shows that bucket lists can have the opposite effect on happiness. "Instead of making us feel better about ourselves after we experience or gain an achievement, our expectations reset almost immediately," Brooks notes.

The good feelings after checking something off of your bucket list only last for a short time, and usually lead to a want for more achievements and grander experiences, he says.

To alleviate the overwhelming feelings of either checking things off of your bucket list or not being able to, Brooks recommends shortening your list.

"Instead of aspiring to add more things to your life, think about how you can aspire to take things away," he says during the course.

Brooks recommends removing three things from your bucket list to take the pressure off of yourself and boost your happiness.

Here are the four steps he recommends for doing so:

1. Write out your bucket list. Focus on your biggest goals and dreams.
2. Rank each item on your bucket list from most important to least important to you. "Ask yourself, are these things truly contributing to my happiness, or could I be happier if I stopped pursuing them and focused instead on things I already enjoy in my life?" Brooks suggests.
3. Remove the three lowest rankings on the list, and replace them with three things you've already experienced or already have that you appreciate.
4. Revisit the list once a year and repeat the process. "As you refine the list, you will slowly increase the balance of your haves over your wants and work on increasing gratitude in your life."

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