Don’t Do the Things You Love

The New York Times:

Do you like ice cream? Then don’t eat it — at least not every day.

At least, that’s what Wendy Wood’s research suggests. In an interview with Gretchen Rubin of The Happiness Project, the psychology professor discusses how people form habits, and how they can change them — but Mihir Patkar at Lifehacker zeros in on her advice for what shouldn’t be habitual. Ms. Wood says, “the more often you eat ice cream, the less pleasure you get from eating it.” She explains: 

“With repetition, our action tendencies get stronger but our feelings habituate and weaken.

“The bottom line is that, if you really enjoy something, you don’t want to repeat it in a routine way so that it becomes a habit. You lose the pleasure in the experience. Instead, you want to make habitual the necessities in life … that is, regular exercise, a healthy diet, saving money and paying the bills, and working. The pleasures in life should be savored and not performed in a habitual way … including time with family, a great glass of wine, and the sunset over the ocean.”

Read the whole story: The New York Times