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Fragmented Fun

 

Techniques Happiness > Fragmented Fun

Description | Discussion | See also

 

Description

Take the things that you know you enjoy doing and break them up, doing a bit at a time. 

When you are doing something you enjoy, watch for the pleasure tailing off and stop right then rather than think you should continue because you believe this should be fun. Take a break, look forward to restarting then pick up where you left off with a renewed joy.

Space out the actions such that the pleasure from each has completely faded before starting the next fragment. You can even put in longer periods between the activities so you can enjoy looking forward to the pleasant activities.

Examples of fragmenting fun include:

  • Eating a bar of chocolate one chunk at a time, waiting until the taste of each has completely faded or even only having one chunk per day.
  • Taking several short holidays rather than one long one.
  • Spend money on experiences rather than things to which you will become adapted.
  • Create serendipity in your life providing space for opportunity and luck.
  • Regularly step out of the rut, doing new things and changing a job or career that has become boring.
  • Drinking one glass of wine a night rather than consuming the whole bottle in one go.
  • Buying one item of clothing on each shopping trip rather than burning all the money you have for clothes in one go.
  • Watching one episode per night (or week) of a DVD series collection.

You can also look for ways to reduce adaptation, for example by refusing or removing things that make life easier or more comfortable.

It can take some willpower to do this, but it is definitely worth it!

Discussion

Adaptation is a skill that we use widely. As well as getting used to pleasurable things, it also helps us live in harsh circumstances and tolerate the less pleasant things in life. Although life can be more troublesome, people with severe disabilities are not significantly less happy than able-bodied, wealthy people. Another testament to our ability to adapt can be found in how humans live in more climates than any other creature.

Hedonic Adaptation is a known process whereby, as we become used to pleasurable situations, our happiness fades over time. A classic example is going on holiday, where the first day is full of excitement about the new environment, but which can soon sag to comfort and even boredom as you wonder whether to go down to the pool again or just sit and read.

Mathematically, this can be drawn as a negative exponential, decaying from the initial joyful spike, with total happiness being the area under the curve.

Nelson and Meyvis (2008) offered people sessions in a massage chair, either as uninterrupted periods or with breaks through the session. Those who were given the massages with breaks ended up happier than those who had a single uninterrupted massage.

In what has been called the Hedonic Treadmill, the fading of happiness keeps us busy seeking the next high. We often think acquisitions or events will make us happy forever, but they do not. Sadly, you will not be happy forever when you get married, win the lottery, retire or achieve whatever dreams you have. So you just have to keep doing things to stay happy and the best way to maximize happiness is to break it up into small chunks.

See also

Willpower, The Set-point Theory of Happiness, Adaptation

 

Ariely, D. (2010). The Upside of Rationality, London: Harper

Nelson, L.D. and Meyvis, T. (2008). Interrupted Consumption: Adaptation and the Disruption of Hedonic Experience. Journal of Marketing Research, 45, 654-664.

 

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Site Menu

| Home | Top | Quick Links | Settings |

Main sections: | Disciplines | Techniques | Principles | Explanations | Theories |

Other sections: | Blog! | Quotes | Guest articles | Analysis | Books | Help |

More pages: | Contact | Caveat | About | Students | Webmasters | Awards | Guestbook | Feedback | Sitemap | Changes |

Settings: | Computer layout | Mobile layout | Small font | Medium font | Large font | Translate |

 

 

Please help and share:

 

Quick links

Disciplines

* Argument
* Brand management
* Change Management
* Coaching
* Communication
* Counseling
* Game Design
* Human Resources
* Job-finding
* Leadership
* Marketing
* Politics
* Propaganda
* Rhetoric
* Negotiation
* Psychoanalysis
* Sales
* Sociology
* Storytelling
* Teaching
* Warfare
* Workplace design

Techniques

* Assertiveness
* Body language
* Change techniques
* Closing techniques
* Conversation
* Confidence tricks
* Conversion
* Creative techniques
* General techniques
* Happiness
* Hypnotism
* Interrogation
* Language
* Listening
* Negotiation tactics
* Objection handling
* Propaganda
* Problem-solving
* Public speaking
* Questioning
* Using repetition
* Resisting persuasion
* Self-development
* Sequential requests
* Storytelling
* Stress Management
* Tipping
* Using humor
* Willpower

Principles

+ Principles

Explanations

* Behaviors
* Beliefs
* Brain stuff
* Conditioning
* Coping Mechanisms
* Critical Theory
* Culture
* Decisions
* Emotions
* Evolution
* Gender
* Games
* Groups
* Habit
* Identity
* Learning
* Meaning
* Memory
* Motivation
* Models
* Needs
* Personality
* Power
* Preferences
* Research
* Relationships
* SIFT Model
* Social Research
* Stress
* Trust
* Values

Theories

* Alphabetic list
* Theory types

And

About
Guest Articles
Blog!
Books
Changes
Contact
Guestbook
Quotes
Students
Webmasters

 

| Home | Top | Menu | Quick Links |

© Changing Works 2002-
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