The Science of Fun and 3 Ways to Add More to Your Life | Mike Rucker

In today’s episode, we cover fun with Mike Rucker. Mike is an organizational psychologist, behavioral scientist, recovering entrepreneur, and the author of The Fun Habit: How the Pursuit of Joy and Wonder Can Change Your Life.

The pursuit of pleasure has been beaten into us as an unhealthy one by many thought leaders throughout history, but what role do fun and leisure play in increasing our productivity, how can you leverage pleasure to make daily work more enjoyable, and what can you do to create more space in your day for pleasurable activities if you find yourself burning out on work?

What to Listen For

• Introduction – 0:00
• How does focusing on happiness lead to rumination and depression? 

• Hedonic Flexibility Principle – 16:02
• What role do fun and leisure play in maximizing productivity and life satisfaction?
• How important is it to take a sabbatical periodically to recharge and regain a healthy focus on life and work?

• Activity Bundling – 34:03 
• What can you do to add fun and pleasure to your daily activities to make them more enjoyable and thus encourage you to do them better?

• Creating Options for Fun in Your Life – 43:28 
• What little decisions can you make everyday to make your life more fulfilling?
• What simple framework can you use to create space in your life to integrate more fun activities and decrease the number of soul-sucking activities?

It is evident that happiness does not necessarily lie in big accomplishments or major life changes, but rather in the small choices we make each day. When we focus on making those choices fun and enjoyable, we are more likely to stick with them and see lasting results. What are some small decisions you can make today to add a little bit of fun and pleasure to your daily routine?

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Resources from this Episode