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rianneland9 karma

Hi Dr. Santos, I have 2 questions for you related to the current covid-19 situation.

I follow the course "The Science of Well-Being" where you show that we get happier from purchasing experiences vs. material. Due to covid-19, experiences are canceled or postponed to an unknown date, and it's hard to get new exiting experiences right now because we all have to stay home. How does this affect our happiness and how can we cope with the continued disappointment of yet another future experience being canceled?

Next to that, I read all over the internet that it's super important to have a routine during these days at home, what is your view on this? Since variety seems to be better for breaking hedonic adaptation and setting reference points.

Thanks in advance for your answers! I really enjoy the course :)

rianneland2 karma

Thanks so much for your response!

I agree this crisis will most likely help us savoring experiences after, this crisis is a great interruption to all the good things we used to take for granted. But it also helps me personally to savor and enjoy experiences right now, like a sunset or even the growing of flowers and plants in my home. This situation's been like a wake up call to pay more attention to the present moment and experience everything more mindfully.

Interesting episode of The Happiness Lab, thanks for bringing it to my attention!