1 00:00:00,200 --> 00:00:02,560 Speaker 1: The biggest thing that I've done that's really helpful for me, 2 00:00:02,800 --> 00:00:04,559 Speaker 1: because as somebody who has a hard time saying no, 3 00:00:05,240 --> 00:00:09,880 Speaker 1: is that I've started writing standard responses that I spend 4 00:00:09,920 --> 00:00:11,799 Speaker 1: a lot of time crafting, because again, I feel so 5 00:00:11,920 --> 00:00:14,840 Speaker 1: terrible about not helping people at every opportunity that I get, 6 00:00:14,960 --> 00:00:17,919 Speaker 1: especially as somebody who does research on helping, that I've 7 00:00:18,040 --> 00:00:21,520 Speaker 1: taken the time to just carefully craft a response explaining 8 00:00:21,880 --> 00:00:24,320 Speaker 1: like why it is that I'm saying no to this 9 00:00:24,400 --> 00:00:27,440 Speaker 1: whole class of requests that I get, for example, And 10 00:00:27,520 --> 00:00:29,800 Speaker 1: I have that now in the drafts at the top 11 00:00:29,840 --> 00:00:32,760 Speaker 1: of the drafts folder of my inbox, so I can 12 00:00:32,880 --> 00:00:36,639 Speaker 1: just copy and paste it into their response. 13 00:00:41,080 --> 00:00:43,560 Speaker 2: Welcome to How I Work, a show about the technics 14 00:00:43,720 --> 00:00:46,040 Speaker 2: used by leading innovators to get so much out of 15 00:00:46,080 --> 00:00:48,960 Speaker 2: their day. I'm your iis doctor Amantha Inba. I'm an 16 00:00:49,040 --> 00:00:53,239 Speaker 2: organizational psychologist, the founder of innovation consultancy Inventium, and I'm 17 00:00:53,280 --> 00:00:57,120 Speaker 2: obsessed with finding ways to optimize my work date. My 18 00:00:57,200 --> 00:01:01,080 Speaker 2: guest today is doctor Elizabeth D. Done, who is a 19 00:01:01,160 --> 00:01:04,400 Speaker 2: professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of 20 00:01:04,440 --> 00:01:09,560 Speaker 2: British Columbia. Elizabeth's research looks at how time, money and 21 00:01:09,640 --> 00:01:14,040 Speaker 2: technology shape human happiness, and she's also the co author 22 00:01:14,440 --> 00:01:17,440 Speaker 2: of a brilliant book called Happy Money, The Science of 23 00:01:17,520 --> 00:01:22,400 Speaker 2: Happier Spending with doctor Michael Norton. Elizabeth's research has been 24 00:01:22,440 --> 00:01:25,120 Speaker 2: featured in one hundreds of media outlets around the world, 25 00:01:25,160 --> 00:01:27,959 Speaker 2: including The New York Times, The Globe and Mail, The 26 00:01:28,000 --> 00:01:33,360 Speaker 2: London Times, Time, and CNN. Now. I connected with Elizabeth 27 00:01:33,680 --> 00:01:36,920 Speaker 2: a couple of months ago at TED twenty nineteen in Vancouver, 28 00:01:37,680 --> 00:01:40,240 Speaker 2: where she actually gave one of my favorite talks of 29 00:01:40,280 --> 00:01:43,840 Speaker 2: the week on how helping others can make us happier, 30 00:01:43,920 --> 00:01:46,360 Speaker 2: but it all matters in terms of how we give 31 00:01:46,440 --> 00:01:50,240 Speaker 2: that help. In this chat with Elizabeth, we talk about 32 00:01:50,280 --> 00:01:53,400 Speaker 2: how she has applied a lot of her own research 33 00:01:53,520 --> 00:01:57,160 Speaker 2: into leading a happier life, and as well as sharing 34 00:01:57,200 --> 00:01:59,800 Speaker 2: some great insights on how to spend money to be 35 00:02:00,800 --> 00:02:03,920 Speaker 2: she also has some really awesome tips around making the 36 00:02:04,040 --> 00:02:07,640 Speaker 2: act of saying no to people much easier, which I 37 00:02:07,640 --> 00:02:11,720 Speaker 2: immediately borrowed after I heard them. So on that note, 38 00:02:11,840 --> 00:02:17,079 Speaker 2: over to Elizabeth to hear about how she works. Hello, Elizabeth, 39 00:02:17,120 --> 00:02:18,120 Speaker 2: welcome to the show. 40 00:02:18,400 --> 00:02:19,360 Speaker 1: Hi, thanks for having me. 41 00:02:20,000 --> 00:02:23,480 Speaker 2: So we were both at TED twenty nineteen in Vancouver 42 00:02:23,520 --> 00:02:26,640 Speaker 2: a few weeks ago, and your talk was absolutely one 43 00:02:26,680 --> 00:02:29,040 Speaker 2: of the highlights of my week. And I'm wondering if 44 00:02:29,080 --> 00:02:32,160 Speaker 2: you can describe what you found about happiness and being 45 00:02:32,240 --> 00:02:37,840 Speaker 2: charitable and specifically how you've applied this in your own life. Yeah. 46 00:02:37,880 --> 00:02:42,440 Speaker 1: So I actually started doing this research not so much 47 00:02:42,480 --> 00:02:45,920 Speaker 1: because I was interested in charitable giving, but because I 48 00:02:46,000 --> 00:02:49,040 Speaker 1: was interested in money. After I got my first faculty job, 49 00:02:49,080 --> 00:02:51,680 Speaker 1: I suddenly started making money, and I wondered, you know, oh, 50 00:02:51,800 --> 00:02:54,040 Speaker 1: people are like actually paying me, you know, what do 51 00:02:54,080 --> 00:02:55,920 Speaker 1: I do with them? Because I was used to being 52 00:02:55,960 --> 00:02:57,880 Speaker 1: a grad student living at the poverty line, where you're 53 00:02:57,880 --> 00:03:01,800 Speaker 1: just trying to survive, right, So I started to do 54 00:03:01,840 --> 00:03:04,320 Speaker 1: these studies to figure out how people could get the 55 00:03:04,360 --> 00:03:07,079 Speaker 1: most happiness out of their money. And one of our 56 00:03:07,080 --> 00:03:11,959 Speaker 1: earliest findings was that people seem to get more happiness 57 00:03:12,000 --> 00:03:15,920 Speaker 1: from spending money on others rather than on themselves. And 58 00:03:15,960 --> 00:03:18,480 Speaker 1: these early findings made a big splash, But then we 59 00:03:18,600 --> 00:03:22,600 Speaker 1: kind of got curious about, you know, when, under what 60 00:03:22,639 --> 00:03:27,799 Speaker 1: conditions does giving actually lead to happiness. So we were 61 00:03:27,840 --> 00:03:32,400 Speaker 1: able to kind of identify when these benefits were bigger 62 00:03:32,520 --> 00:03:36,120 Speaker 1: versus smaller, and as we were finding this out, in 63 00:03:36,160 --> 00:03:38,680 Speaker 1: the lab, I was beginning to think about how to 64 00:03:38,720 --> 00:03:41,720 Speaker 1: give differently in my own life. So one of the 65 00:03:41,760 --> 00:03:45,520 Speaker 1: things we see is that people feel more joy from 66 00:03:45,600 --> 00:03:49,080 Speaker 1: giving to others when they can really see the impact 67 00:03:49,200 --> 00:03:51,560 Speaker 1: that their generosity is having. And yet a lot of 68 00:03:51,640 --> 00:03:55,560 Speaker 1: terrible giving opportunities just don't give us much of a 69 00:03:55,600 --> 00:03:59,240 Speaker 1: window into how we're really making a difference. So, as 70 00:03:59,240 --> 00:04:03,840 Speaker 1: I discussed in the Ted talk, I started really gravitating 71 00:04:03,880 --> 00:04:09,280 Speaker 1: toward these opportunities that enabled me to actually see how 72 00:04:09,320 --> 00:04:10,920 Speaker 1: I was making a difference. 73 00:04:11,640 --> 00:04:14,440 Speaker 2: And can tell me about what that then led to 74 00:04:14,600 --> 00:04:17,039 Speaker 2: in terms of like around the Group of five law 75 00:04:17,080 --> 00:04:17,800 Speaker 2: in Vancouver. 76 00:04:18,680 --> 00:04:21,640 Speaker 1: Yeah, so I am very fortunate to live in Canada, 77 00:04:21,880 --> 00:04:27,600 Speaker 1: which has this incredible set of private refugee sponsorship programs 78 00:04:27,680 --> 00:04:33,040 Speaker 1: where basically just ordinary Canadians can kind of get together 79 00:04:33,240 --> 00:04:36,680 Speaker 1: and form a little group and sponsor a family of 80 00:04:36,720 --> 00:04:41,560 Speaker 1: refugees to come and move and like, you know what's 81 00:04:41,600 --> 00:04:44,280 Speaker 1: really cool about this is you raise enough money to 82 00:04:44,279 --> 00:04:46,960 Speaker 1: support the refugees for their first year in Canada and 83 00:04:47,000 --> 00:04:48,919 Speaker 1: then they get on a plane to your city. So 84 00:04:48,920 --> 00:04:50,719 Speaker 1: we got to you know, it was like the ultimate 85 00:04:50,760 --> 00:04:54,840 Speaker 1: experience of getting to see impact because we actually got 86 00:04:54,839 --> 00:04:57,880 Speaker 1: to go to the airport and meet our family who 87 00:04:57,920 --> 00:05:00,279 Speaker 1: we've been raising money to help. And then and we 88 00:05:00,400 --> 00:05:03,560 Speaker 1: just celebrated their one year anniversary actually arriving in Canada 89 00:05:04,200 --> 00:05:07,920 Speaker 1: just last week, and so we've kind of been through 90 00:05:07,960 --> 00:05:11,359 Speaker 1: that whole journey with them since they arrived in Canada. 91 00:05:11,400 --> 00:05:17,480 Speaker 1: So it's just this incredible experience that just like blows 92 00:05:17,600 --> 00:05:20,599 Speaker 1: past all other terrible giving experiences I've ever had in 93 00:05:20,640 --> 00:05:21,200 Speaker 1: my life. 94 00:05:21,800 --> 00:05:24,800 Speaker 2: That's amazing. And I loved how you shared that in 95 00:05:24,839 --> 00:05:26,479 Speaker 2: the Ted talk and I'll definitely link to that in 96 00:05:26,480 --> 00:05:28,560 Speaker 2: the show notes so that listeners can can kind of 97 00:05:28,600 --> 00:05:31,560 Speaker 2: get the full story. And now, in terms of other 98 00:05:31,600 --> 00:05:35,920 Speaker 2: ways that you can use your money to increase happiness, 99 00:05:36,160 --> 00:05:37,880 Speaker 2: like I just love the research that you've done into 100 00:05:37,920 --> 00:05:43,560 Speaker 2: this around spending time. Spending money buying time rather than 101 00:05:43,800 --> 00:05:47,080 Speaker 2: material goods increases happiness. And this is something that I 102 00:05:47,760 --> 00:05:50,080 Speaker 2: feel like I often apply this in my own life. 103 00:05:50,160 --> 00:05:54,000 Speaker 2: Like one of my most happiest ways of spending money 104 00:05:54,080 --> 00:05:56,280 Speaker 2: is that a few months ago, I realized that I 105 00:05:56,320 --> 00:05:58,760 Speaker 2: was spending like at least a couple of hours cutting 106 00:05:58,839 --> 00:06:01,640 Speaker 2: vegetables on the weaken. So we'd go to the markets, 107 00:06:01,680 --> 00:06:04,120 Speaker 2: we'd get vegetables for the family, and I would then 108 00:06:04,360 --> 00:06:07,200 Speaker 2: be cutting them for hours and it was so boring. 109 00:06:07,480 --> 00:06:08,880 Speaker 2: And then I thought, why didn't I just put an 110 00:06:08,960 --> 00:06:12,040 Speaker 2: ad on air task which is kind of like task Grabbit. 111 00:06:12,640 --> 00:06:16,520 Speaker 2: And I've found someone, this most amazing person, Leah, who 112 00:06:16,520 --> 00:06:19,920 Speaker 2: comes over every Sunday and spends two hours cutting vegetables. 113 00:06:19,960 --> 00:06:22,800 Speaker 2: And this brings me no end of happiness. And I'm 114 00:06:22,800 --> 00:06:26,080 Speaker 2: wondering in your own life, how how have you applied 115 00:06:26,120 --> 00:06:27,159 Speaker 2: this research finding? 116 00:06:28,320 --> 00:06:31,320 Speaker 1: Yeah, so this is definitely what researcher are sometimes called 117 00:06:31,360 --> 00:06:35,760 Speaker 1: research where I've definitely struggled with this, you know, fundamental 118 00:06:35,760 --> 00:06:37,760 Speaker 1: dilemma that I think so many of us face these days, 119 00:06:37,800 --> 00:06:40,200 Speaker 1: which is just there's so much more to do and 120 00:06:40,240 --> 00:06:41,680 Speaker 1: so much so many more things I want to do 121 00:06:41,720 --> 00:06:44,920 Speaker 1: than I have time to do. And so you know, 122 00:06:45,320 --> 00:06:49,160 Speaker 1: if we can kind of just accept the notion that like, hey, 123 00:06:49,279 --> 00:06:51,200 Speaker 1: you know, I could actually pay somebody to cut the 124 00:06:51,279 --> 00:06:53,360 Speaker 1: vegetables for me or do whatever it is that like 125 00:06:53,480 --> 00:06:55,480 Speaker 1: I need help with, you can free up so much 126 00:06:55,520 --> 00:06:57,720 Speaker 1: time for yourself. So you know, one way that I 127 00:06:58,160 --> 00:07:00,839 Speaker 1: use this in my own life is basically just to 128 00:07:00,880 --> 00:07:03,800 Speaker 1: win a fight with my husband. So you know, we 129 00:07:03,880 --> 00:07:07,440 Speaker 1: had debated he is somebody who is a really good cleaner, 130 00:07:07,520 --> 00:07:09,640 Speaker 1: which I know, like I'm very lucky, I guess to 131 00:07:09,720 --> 00:07:13,640 Speaker 1: have married this great man who's also like fabulous at 132 00:07:13,680 --> 00:07:17,640 Speaker 1: like vacuuming and cleaning up. I am terrible at cleaning up, 133 00:07:17,640 --> 00:07:21,000 Speaker 1: Like I hate it. It takes me forever, Like my 134 00:07:21,080 --> 00:07:23,200 Speaker 1: husband just marvels at the amount of time it takes 135 00:07:23,240 --> 00:07:27,320 Speaker 1: me to like clean up our teeny tiny kitchen. So anyway, 136 00:07:28,360 --> 00:07:31,520 Speaker 1: I've always been in favor of paying somebody to come 137 00:07:31,520 --> 00:07:33,720 Speaker 1: in and help with the cleaning each week, and he 138 00:07:33,760 --> 00:07:38,040 Speaker 1: has always disagreed with me on that. And so, you know, 139 00:07:38,080 --> 00:07:40,880 Speaker 1: once we published eight studies in one of the leading 140 00:07:40,880 --> 00:07:45,760 Speaker 1: scientific journals demonstrating that people who use money to buy 141 00:07:45,840 --> 00:07:48,520 Speaker 1: time like that are happier than those who don't. You know, 142 00:07:48,600 --> 00:07:51,280 Speaker 1: I declared that I had won the fight, and he agreed, 143 00:07:51,360 --> 00:07:54,200 Speaker 1: and we have at this point we have a wonderful 144 00:07:54,400 --> 00:07:56,680 Speaker 1: friend of the family who comes in every week and 145 00:07:56,920 --> 00:07:59,800 Speaker 1: cleans up for a few hours, such that like my 146 00:08:00,080 --> 00:08:04,400 Speaker 1: complete and confidence in this area doesn't impair the quality 147 00:08:04,440 --> 00:08:07,160 Speaker 1: of my marriage or mean that like I have to 148 00:08:07,280 --> 00:08:10,320 Speaker 1: devote my whole Saturday afternoon to trying to make our 149 00:08:10,320 --> 00:08:14,440 Speaker 1: house not be a complete disaster, So that's kind of 150 00:08:14,440 --> 00:08:17,920 Speaker 1: the biggest way. But I'm actually thinking ahead to this fall. 151 00:08:18,360 --> 00:08:22,280 Speaker 1: I've had the great privilege of being on sabbatical during 152 00:08:22,320 --> 00:08:25,760 Speaker 1: the past year, which is like an amazing, amazing feature 153 00:08:25,880 --> 00:08:30,880 Speaker 1: of academia. So because of that, I've just gotten you know, 154 00:08:31,680 --> 00:08:34,360 Speaker 1: in a way, sabbatical creates all of this free time, 155 00:08:34,840 --> 00:08:37,559 Speaker 1: but I just have a way of taking free time 156 00:08:37,720 --> 00:08:41,560 Speaker 1: and like massively filling it. So it turns out that like, 157 00:08:41,880 --> 00:08:44,160 Speaker 1: for example, if you give a TED talk, you will 158 00:08:44,240 --> 00:08:47,040 Speaker 1: give get a lot of email and like often really 159 00:08:47,080 --> 00:08:49,480 Speaker 1: like interesting things from people all around the world. We 160 00:08:49,520 --> 00:08:51,599 Speaker 1: want to like chat with you and share step and 161 00:08:51,640 --> 00:08:54,599 Speaker 1: it's great, but you know, you start to wonder, like 162 00:08:54,640 --> 00:08:56,040 Speaker 1: how am I going to make time for all of 163 00:08:56,080 --> 00:08:59,280 Speaker 1: this and also go back to my normal job that 164 00:08:59,320 --> 00:09:02,240 Speaker 1: I'm actually paid to do, where I teach students and everything. 165 00:09:02,640 --> 00:09:05,680 Speaker 1: And so what I've decided to do is this fall, 166 00:09:06,200 --> 00:09:08,680 Speaker 1: I'm going to hire somebody for two hours a day 167 00:09:09,080 --> 00:09:11,400 Speaker 1: to just come in and do all of this stuff 168 00:09:11,440 --> 00:09:13,240 Speaker 1: I feel like I don't have time to do that 169 00:09:13,520 --> 00:09:16,520 Speaker 1: doesn't have to be done by me. And I've actually 170 00:09:16,600 --> 00:09:19,880 Speaker 1: been taking great pleasure in like starting to think about 171 00:09:19,880 --> 00:09:22,559 Speaker 1: that list of things that I could just get off 172 00:09:22,640 --> 00:09:25,160 Speaker 1: my plate and not have hanging over me. 173 00:09:25,760 --> 00:09:28,360 Speaker 2: That sounds amazing. So what sorts of things is this 174 00:09:28,440 --> 00:09:30,240 Speaker 2: person going to do well for me? 175 00:09:30,480 --> 00:09:36,240 Speaker 1: Actually, cutting vegetables is on there. So my six year old, 176 00:09:36,360 --> 00:09:38,520 Speaker 1: like the only way to get him to be vegetables 177 00:09:38,600 --> 00:09:42,160 Speaker 1: is to have cut up appealing vegetables out on the 178 00:09:42,200 --> 00:09:45,400 Speaker 1: table when he walks in the door hungry after school. 179 00:09:45,600 --> 00:09:48,360 Speaker 1: Otherwise it's not going to happen. But like, and it's 180 00:09:48,440 --> 00:09:51,199 Speaker 1: not that hard, Like, you know, I have a PhD. 181 00:09:51,480 --> 00:09:55,439 Speaker 1: Like I graduated SUMA from Harvard, Like, cutting vegetables shouldn't 182 00:09:55,440 --> 00:09:57,920 Speaker 1: be that hard for me, but like this is supposed 183 00:09:58,000 --> 00:10:01,559 Speaker 1: is a real challenge in my life. So I yeah, 184 00:10:01,640 --> 00:10:04,680 Speaker 1: that's gonna that's gonna be one of the things I've also, 185 00:10:04,920 --> 00:10:06,680 Speaker 1: you know, just like all of the little things that 186 00:10:06,800 --> 00:10:10,040 Speaker 1: end up on my calendar of like you know, drop 187 00:10:10,080 --> 00:10:15,920 Speaker 1: off old clothes at the thrift store, pick up dry cleaning, 188 00:10:16,280 --> 00:10:19,200 Speaker 1: you know, pick up bananas, all of these like little 189 00:10:19,280 --> 00:10:21,760 Speaker 1: small things that are not that big a deal that 190 00:10:21,960 --> 00:10:25,559 Speaker 1: create you know, this kind of time confetti where I 191 00:10:25,600 --> 00:10:27,600 Speaker 1: feel like I don't have the big chunks of time 192 00:10:27,640 --> 00:10:30,560 Speaker 1: that I want to work on things and so, you know, 193 00:10:30,679 --> 00:10:32,800 Speaker 1: it just occurred to me of like, oh, I live 194 00:10:32,840 --> 00:10:35,360 Speaker 1: in a college town where there are always lots of 195 00:10:35,440 --> 00:10:38,840 Speaker 1: students who need small part time jobs, like a couple 196 00:10:38,920 --> 00:10:42,160 Speaker 1: hours in the late afternoon. That's flexible, and so for 197 00:10:42,320 --> 00:10:45,400 Speaker 1: like thirty or forty dollars, I can get all of 198 00:10:45,440 --> 00:10:48,840 Speaker 1: that stuff done and free out the time that I 199 00:10:48,880 --> 00:10:51,920 Speaker 1: want to be able to, you know, really engage with students, 200 00:10:52,160 --> 00:10:56,160 Speaker 1: really dig into writing projects, maybe even respond to some 201 00:10:56,200 --> 00:10:58,080 Speaker 1: of those emails that I've been getting about the ted 202 00:10:58,120 --> 00:11:01,720 Speaker 1: talk and so, yeah, that's in my plan for the fall. 203 00:11:02,440 --> 00:11:05,240 Speaker 2: That's so cool. And look, it's funny when I share 204 00:11:05,320 --> 00:11:08,600 Speaker 2: my vegetable cutting story. Some I get mixed responses. Some 205 00:11:08,640 --> 00:11:12,640 Speaker 2: people like that is brilliant, and other people are like, well, 206 00:11:12,880 --> 00:11:15,160 Speaker 2: don't you feel guilty like you could be doing that yourself? 207 00:11:15,360 --> 00:11:19,320 Speaker 2: And how do you respond to those people that sort 208 00:11:19,320 --> 00:11:23,679 Speaker 2: of almost I guess, feel guilty to buy time for themselves. 209 00:11:23,960 --> 00:11:26,480 Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean the guilt is real, right, Like we 210 00:11:26,520 --> 00:11:29,520 Speaker 1: see in our studies that you know, just the thought 211 00:11:29,760 --> 00:11:33,640 Speaker 1: of paying for help with a dislike task does provoke 212 00:11:33,880 --> 00:11:37,800 Speaker 1: guilt in some people. And interestingly, what we see is 213 00:11:37,880 --> 00:11:41,040 Speaker 1: kind of the best predictor of whether people experience guilt 214 00:11:41,040 --> 00:11:43,760 Speaker 1: when they think about paying for help with a dislike task. 215 00:11:44,320 --> 00:11:49,280 Speaker 1: Is whether they spontaneously think of a specific other person 216 00:11:49,679 --> 00:11:52,840 Speaker 1: who would have to take that task on, and whether 217 00:11:52,880 --> 00:11:56,040 Speaker 1: they see giving that person the task as a burden 218 00:11:56,200 --> 00:11:58,680 Speaker 1: as opposed to a benefit to the service provider. So 219 00:11:58,760 --> 00:12:01,559 Speaker 1: if you feel like, oh, oh gosh, by offloading this task, 220 00:12:01,640 --> 00:12:04,400 Speaker 1: I'm sticking somebody else with this terrible thing that I 221 00:12:04,480 --> 00:12:07,959 Speaker 1: hate doing, then you know, it's not surprising at all 222 00:12:08,000 --> 00:12:10,520 Speaker 1: that that provokes guilt. And we do see that if 223 00:12:10,559 --> 00:12:13,120 Speaker 1: you experience that kind of guilt, it does kind of 224 00:12:13,440 --> 00:12:17,560 Speaker 1: undercut the happiness that you might otherwise experience from being 225 00:12:17,559 --> 00:12:20,320 Speaker 1: able to get rid of that task. So, you know, 226 00:12:20,360 --> 00:12:22,840 Speaker 1: I think one way to think about it is just 227 00:12:23,480 --> 00:12:28,920 Speaker 1: can you find a way to offload this task in 228 00:12:28,960 --> 00:12:31,520 Speaker 1: a way that would actually maybe be a benefit to 229 00:12:32,480 --> 00:12:35,720 Speaker 1: the person who you're hiring. So, you know, for me, 230 00:12:35,960 --> 00:12:39,000 Speaker 1: I think of it as Okay, students need jobs that 231 00:12:39,080 --> 00:12:43,160 Speaker 1: are compatible with being able to study. Right, So a 232 00:12:43,240 --> 00:12:46,760 Speaker 1: job that's actually flexible, that is kind of out a 233 00:12:46,760 --> 00:12:50,120 Speaker 1: little bit outside of typical class hours, you know, that 234 00:12:50,160 --> 00:12:54,240 Speaker 1: they can kind of do on their own and in 235 00:12:54,320 --> 00:12:58,719 Speaker 1: their own time, is actually going to be beneficial, and 236 00:12:58,840 --> 00:13:01,959 Speaker 1: so that I think about it, and obviously making sure 237 00:13:02,000 --> 00:13:04,520 Speaker 1: you're paying them fairly and just being nice and polite 238 00:13:04,559 --> 00:13:07,840 Speaker 1: and respectful and treating them like a person, then you know, 239 00:13:08,000 --> 00:13:11,280 Speaker 1: I think of it as actually providing a benefit to 240 00:13:11,400 --> 00:13:13,800 Speaker 1: the students as well as, you know, a massive benefit 241 00:13:13,880 --> 00:13:14,080 Speaker 1: to me. 242 00:13:14,840 --> 00:13:18,000 Speaker 2: Yeah, that's such great advice. I want to move on 243 00:13:18,080 --> 00:13:22,000 Speaker 2: to your inbox, which you've mentioned might be slightly overflowing. 244 00:13:22,160 --> 00:13:26,160 Speaker 2: And you published research a few years ago around the 245 00:13:26,200 --> 00:13:30,240 Speaker 2: optimal way to check email, I guess, and I'm curious 246 00:13:30,440 --> 00:13:32,439 Speaker 2: if you could just share, you know, the findings of 247 00:13:32,480 --> 00:13:35,560 Speaker 2: that research and also how do you approach your own 248 00:13:35,600 --> 00:13:37,960 Speaker 2: inbox to maximize happiness. 249 00:13:38,640 --> 00:13:42,640 Speaker 1: So I got curious about email when I like basically 250 00:13:42,800 --> 00:13:48,280 Speaker 1: broke our university email server. But I was just getting 251 00:13:48,360 --> 00:13:52,000 Speaker 1: so much email that, like, at the time, our email 252 00:13:52,040 --> 00:13:54,800 Speaker 1: system was called squirrel mail, which like brought to mind 253 00:13:54,840 --> 00:13:57,760 Speaker 1: these like little squirrels desperately running and trying to keep 254 00:13:57,800 --> 00:14:00,600 Speaker 1: up with my inbox. But anyway, I was just getting 255 00:14:00,600 --> 00:14:03,320 Speaker 1: so much email that like literally the email system at 256 00:14:03,320 --> 00:14:05,920 Speaker 1: the time like was having trouble handling it, and I 257 00:14:05,960 --> 00:14:08,480 Speaker 1: was having trouble handling it. And I thought, Okay, you know, 258 00:14:08,520 --> 00:14:11,280 Speaker 1: I'm a behavioral scientist. I should be able to use 259 00:14:11,320 --> 00:14:13,520 Speaker 1: the tools of science to figure out how we could 260 00:14:13,559 --> 00:14:17,640 Speaker 1: do this better. And so, working with my former graduate student, 261 00:14:17,720 --> 00:14:22,160 Speaker 1: custom In Kushlev, we just undertook, you know, an exploratory 262 00:14:22,200 --> 00:14:24,960 Speaker 1: study to try to try to figure this out. And 263 00:14:25,320 --> 00:14:27,920 Speaker 1: part of our reasoning is that, you know, a challenge 264 00:14:27,920 --> 00:14:31,280 Speaker 1: that email poses is that it kind of tempts us 265 00:14:31,320 --> 00:14:35,479 Speaker 1: to constantly be switching tasks. So you might be preparing 266 00:14:35,720 --> 00:14:38,760 Speaker 1: a talk or working on some other project, but you've 267 00:14:38,760 --> 00:14:42,120 Speaker 1: got your email inbox open, and so you're tempted to 268 00:14:42,200 --> 00:14:45,040 Speaker 1: just kind of switch back and forth between email and 269 00:14:45,040 --> 00:14:47,960 Speaker 1: whatever else you're you're focusing on. And it turns out 270 00:14:48,000 --> 00:14:51,120 Speaker 1: that that kind of task switch switching can be pretty 271 00:14:51,160 --> 00:14:54,880 Speaker 1: cognitively costly. It takes us quite a while to mentally 272 00:14:54,920 --> 00:14:57,360 Speaker 1: go back and forth between those different kinds of tasks, 273 00:14:57,360 --> 00:14:59,680 Speaker 1: so we're actually losing time along the way. It's like 274 00:14:59,680 --> 00:15:03,720 Speaker 1: you're paying a little tax every time you switch tasks. 275 00:15:04,120 --> 00:15:06,920 Speaker 1: So it's a task tax, say that ten times fast. 276 00:15:08,120 --> 00:15:11,480 Speaker 1: But anyway, so we reason then that if you could 277 00:15:11,560 --> 00:15:14,800 Speaker 1: just get people to check email a little less often, 278 00:15:14,920 --> 00:15:17,160 Speaker 1: like three times a day or maybe five times a 279 00:15:17,240 --> 00:15:21,160 Speaker 1: day that that should reduce the amount of task switching 280 00:15:21,200 --> 00:15:24,080 Speaker 1: they were doing and therefore potentially reduce the level of 281 00:15:24,120 --> 00:15:28,040 Speaker 1: stress they were experiencing, this feeling of being overwhelmed. So 282 00:15:28,080 --> 00:15:31,960 Speaker 1: what we did was we assign people to alter the 283 00:15:32,000 --> 00:15:35,200 Speaker 1: way that they manage their email. So we asked people 284 00:15:35,280 --> 00:15:38,000 Speaker 1: to try to just check their email three times a 285 00:15:38,080 --> 00:15:41,160 Speaker 1: day for a week. Now, as anyone who has ever 286 00:15:41,200 --> 00:15:43,760 Speaker 1: tried to run an experiment or run a company or anything, 287 00:15:43,800 --> 00:15:46,280 Speaker 1: we'll know like, there's what you ask people to do, 288 00:15:46,320 --> 00:15:49,200 Speaker 1: and then there's what they actually do. And so we 289 00:15:49,240 --> 00:15:52,440 Speaker 1: asked people to check their email three times a day. 290 00:15:52,440 --> 00:15:54,400 Speaker 1: On average, I think it was more like five times 291 00:15:54,440 --> 00:15:56,120 Speaker 1: a day did they checked the email, But still it was 292 00:15:56,120 --> 00:15:59,440 Speaker 1: substantially less than the number of times people checked email 293 00:16:00,160 --> 00:16:03,040 Speaker 1: the control condition when we just said, you know, we 294 00:16:03,080 --> 00:16:06,240 Speaker 1: actually said to try to check their email frequently. And 295 00:16:06,720 --> 00:16:08,720 Speaker 1: when we said to check their email frequently during the 296 00:16:08,760 --> 00:16:10,800 Speaker 1: day throughout the day, they basically did what they'd always 297 00:16:10,800 --> 00:16:13,440 Speaker 1: been doing, which was to check email like at least 298 00:16:13,480 --> 00:16:16,400 Speaker 1: a dozen times a day or so. Now, what we 299 00:16:16,520 --> 00:16:19,640 Speaker 1: saw is that people ended up feeling significantly less spressed 300 00:16:19,840 --> 00:16:22,680 Speaker 1: on a day to day basis when they just restricted 301 00:16:22,720 --> 00:16:25,320 Speaker 1: themselves to checking email, you know, three or five times 302 00:16:25,360 --> 00:16:29,480 Speaker 1: a day, as opposed to like constantly frequently going back 303 00:16:29,480 --> 00:16:31,600 Speaker 1: and forth between their inbox and whatever else they were 304 00:16:31,640 --> 00:16:32,120 Speaker 1: working on. 305 00:16:33,040 --> 00:16:35,440 Speaker 2: And so, how have you applied that in your own life? 306 00:16:35,440 --> 00:16:39,320 Speaker 2: Because I think that that's great advice, But then email 307 00:16:39,480 --> 00:16:42,320 Speaker 2: is super addictive in terms of how it's designed. So 308 00:16:42,880 --> 00:16:44,760 Speaker 2: how how do you do that in your own life? 309 00:16:44,800 --> 00:16:48,600 Speaker 2: Is that shea willpower and discipline to only check a 310 00:16:48,600 --> 00:16:50,960 Speaker 2: handful of times? What does that look like? Yeah? 311 00:16:51,000 --> 00:16:54,080 Speaker 1: I mean I sometimes feel like a cardiologist too, smokes, 312 00:16:54,200 --> 00:16:56,680 Speaker 1: because I'm a happiness researcher and I do not do 313 00:16:56,760 --> 00:16:58,800 Speaker 1: everything right. I mean, part of the point of my 314 00:16:58,880 --> 00:17:01,360 Speaker 1: ted talk is that, you know, it takes a lot 315 00:17:01,360 --> 00:17:03,840 Speaker 1: of time and effort to actually apply these lessons from 316 00:17:03,880 --> 00:17:09,360 Speaker 1: happiness science effectively, but I do try it take it seriously. 317 00:17:09,440 --> 00:17:12,320 Speaker 1: Actually met with the founders of a company called Boomerang 318 00:17:12,440 --> 00:17:15,399 Speaker 1: that created this thing called inbox Pause, which is an 319 00:17:15,480 --> 00:17:18,480 Speaker 1: add on for Gmail that allows you to just pause 320 00:17:18,560 --> 00:17:21,080 Speaker 1: your inbox so you can decide, Hey, for the next 321 00:17:21,160 --> 00:17:23,320 Speaker 1: three hours, I don't want any email to come in, 322 00:17:23,920 --> 00:17:27,200 Speaker 1: which is really useful because the trap that I fall 323 00:17:27,200 --> 00:17:29,640 Speaker 1: into with email is I go to it because I'm 324 00:17:29,640 --> 00:17:32,280 Speaker 1: trying to find something for like the talk that I'm giving, 325 00:17:32,920 --> 00:17:34,880 Speaker 1: you know, and I need a little bit of information 326 00:17:34,920 --> 00:17:37,280 Speaker 1: about how long it was supposed to be, or something 327 00:17:37,359 --> 00:17:39,600 Speaker 1: that's contained in an email, and I go to find 328 00:17:39,640 --> 00:17:41,760 Speaker 1: that out, and then I see four new messages and 329 00:17:41,800 --> 00:17:45,320 Speaker 1: I get caught up and checking those instead of, you know, 330 00:17:45,480 --> 00:17:47,439 Speaker 1: just going back to the task I was originally working on. 331 00:17:47,800 --> 00:17:50,640 Speaker 1: So that's where that inbox pause feature comes in handy. 332 00:17:50,800 --> 00:17:54,439 Speaker 1: I also try to batch my emails as much as 333 00:17:54,440 --> 00:17:56,800 Speaker 1: I can, so to you know, just do a bunch 334 00:17:56,800 --> 00:17:59,720 Speaker 1: of them all at once rather than checking throughout the day. 335 00:17:59,800 --> 00:18:02,199 Speaker 1: But again I am not perfect at this. So if 336 00:18:02,280 --> 00:18:04,800 Speaker 1: you talk to somebody who is like I would love 337 00:18:04,880 --> 00:18:08,600 Speaker 1: to hear them on your podcast. It is really challenging, 338 00:18:09,320 --> 00:18:11,399 Speaker 1: you know, And certainly I would advise people whose jobs 339 00:18:11,480 --> 00:18:16,200 Speaker 1: depend on quickly responding to email to cut down checking 340 00:18:16,280 --> 00:18:18,760 Speaker 1: email to just a few times a day. But if 341 00:18:18,760 --> 00:18:22,000 Speaker 1: you're somebody for whom you know your career success depends 342 00:18:22,160 --> 00:18:25,880 Speaker 1: on having at least a couple good hours where you're 343 00:18:26,040 --> 00:18:30,840 Speaker 1: just focused on creating or thinking deeply about something, then 344 00:18:31,160 --> 00:18:34,639 Speaker 1: you know, if you can at least create the discipline 345 00:18:34,720 --> 00:18:39,040 Speaker 1: to hit pause on your inbox. Then I think that 346 00:18:39,359 --> 00:18:42,480 Speaker 1: you know, that is probably a worthwhile strategy in reducing 347 00:18:42,560 --> 00:18:44,120 Speaker 1: the stress that email creates. 348 00:18:44,760 --> 00:18:48,200 Speaker 2: Yeah, I think inbox pause is such a fantastic tool. 349 00:18:48,320 --> 00:18:50,880 Speaker 2: And one of my other favorite ones is Freedom. I'm 350 00:18:50,920 --> 00:18:52,400 Speaker 2: not sure if you've come across Freedom. 351 00:18:52,600 --> 00:18:53,280 Speaker 1: I don't know that one. 352 00:18:53,920 --> 00:18:57,680 Speaker 2: It basically just locks you out of any website or 353 00:18:57,840 --> 00:19:01,920 Speaker 2: software application that you want it designated times during the day, 354 00:19:02,119 --> 00:19:06,480 Speaker 2: and it's great eliminates the need for willpower essentially for 355 00:19:06,480 --> 00:19:08,399 Speaker 2: forming good habits. So I think that's a good one. 356 00:19:08,520 --> 00:19:12,880 Speaker 1: I think I need to try that one. Yeah, that's yeah. 357 00:19:13,040 --> 00:19:14,840 Speaker 2: On the topic of things that can be quite addictive 358 00:19:14,920 --> 00:19:19,200 Speaker 2: a smartphones, and you've done some really interesting research here, 359 00:19:19,359 --> 00:19:22,040 Speaker 2: like last year, I think it was last year, published 360 00:19:22,040 --> 00:19:26,800 Speaker 2: some research around the impact of parents using their smartphones 361 00:19:26,840 --> 00:19:31,120 Speaker 2: around their kids, and also other research around the impact 362 00:19:31,160 --> 00:19:33,160 Speaker 2: of phone use when you're out with friends. And I'm 363 00:19:33,160 --> 00:19:35,840 Speaker 2: wondering if you can talk about like what you found 364 00:19:35,880 --> 00:19:39,000 Speaker 2: in terms of the impact that smartphones are having on 365 00:19:39,040 --> 00:19:42,359 Speaker 2: our ability to connect and again, like how have you 366 00:19:42,400 --> 00:19:45,320 Speaker 2: applied this in your own life. 367 00:19:45,480 --> 00:19:50,960 Speaker 1: So I got really curious about how smartphones were affecting 368 00:19:51,440 --> 00:19:55,399 Speaker 1: social interactions when I noticed, you know, that it looked 369 00:19:55,440 --> 00:19:59,520 Speaker 1: like our social interactions were often sort of punctuated by 370 00:20:00,119 --> 00:20:05,080 Speaker 1: people looking down at their screens during wheels or while 371 00:20:05,080 --> 00:20:08,720 Speaker 1: out with their kids. And so, you know, there's been 372 00:20:08,800 --> 00:20:14,760 Speaker 1: so much debate around the effects of smartphones, particularly on children, 373 00:20:15,160 --> 00:20:18,600 Speaker 1: but most of this research has been correlational, so just 374 00:20:18,640 --> 00:20:20,800 Speaker 1: looking at like how much do people use their phones 375 00:20:20,880 --> 00:20:23,879 Speaker 1: and how lonely they are or whatever. And I think 376 00:20:24,440 --> 00:20:28,680 Speaker 1: this gets us almost nowhere, because there's just so many 377 00:20:28,760 --> 00:20:31,440 Speaker 1: differences between the kinds of people who are using their 378 00:20:31,440 --> 00:20:34,440 Speaker 1: phones a ton versus you know, barely using phones at all. 379 00:20:34,920 --> 00:20:37,520 Speaker 1: And so in our work, what we've consistently tried to 380 00:20:37,520 --> 00:20:40,000 Speaker 1: do the kind of unifying thread, is that we've taken 381 00:20:40,040 --> 00:20:44,080 Speaker 1: an experimental approach where we try to subtly manipulate how 382 00:20:44,160 --> 00:20:46,959 Speaker 1: much people are using their phones and then look at 383 00:20:47,000 --> 00:20:50,240 Speaker 1: what happens. So my favorite study in this whole line 384 00:20:50,240 --> 00:20:52,439 Speaker 1: of work is what we call the restaurant study. So 385 00:20:52,440 --> 00:20:56,119 Speaker 1: in this one, we basically took over a table in 386 00:20:56,200 --> 00:21:01,720 Speaker 1: a local cafe for about eight months, and almost every 387 00:21:01,840 --> 00:21:04,480 Speaker 1: night we would get a group of friends or family 388 00:21:04,480 --> 00:21:07,680 Speaker 1: members to come in and have dinner, and we would 389 00:21:07,680 --> 00:21:10,520 Speaker 1: pick up the tab in exchange for them filling out 390 00:21:10,520 --> 00:21:12,480 Speaker 1: some surveys at the end of the meal. And the 391 00:21:12,520 --> 00:21:14,840 Speaker 1: critical thing was they had no idea that the study 392 00:21:14,960 --> 00:21:19,240 Speaker 1: had anything to do with technology at all. So, for 393 00:21:19,400 --> 00:21:23,920 Speaker 1: in one condition, we told participants that we needed them 394 00:21:23,960 --> 00:21:26,560 Speaker 1: to just put their phones away during the meal, but 395 00:21:26,600 --> 00:21:30,159 Speaker 1: we embedded that instruction amidst a bunch of sort of 396 00:21:30,160 --> 00:21:33,880 Speaker 1: other little housekeeping details about the study. And then meanwhile, 397 00:21:33,880 --> 00:21:36,760 Speaker 1: in the other condition, we told people that we needed 398 00:21:36,800 --> 00:21:39,159 Speaker 1: them to have their phones out and available during the 399 00:21:39,200 --> 00:21:41,880 Speaker 1: meal so that they could receive a brief survey via 400 00:21:41,960 --> 00:21:45,360 Speaker 1: text halfway through the meal. Meanwhile, participants in the other 401 00:21:45,400 --> 00:21:47,720 Speaker 1: groups knew that they would also be re seeing the survey, 402 00:21:47,760 --> 00:21:49,160 Speaker 1: but they thought it would be brought over to them 403 00:21:49,200 --> 00:21:51,879 Speaker 1: on paper. So in this way we were able to 404 00:21:52,000 --> 00:21:54,800 Speaker 1: ensure that half the groups had their phones out and 405 00:21:54,840 --> 00:21:58,440 Speaker 1: available during the meal, and the other groups all had 406 00:21:58,480 --> 00:22:01,880 Speaker 1: their phones put away, and then we just let them eat, 407 00:22:02,160 --> 00:22:05,480 Speaker 1: like order your food, enjoy your meal, whatever. And then 408 00:22:05,680 --> 00:22:08,160 Speaker 1: at the end of the meal, while we paid the bill, 409 00:22:08,240 --> 00:22:11,639 Speaker 1: we had participants complete a survey just telling us how 410 00:22:11,720 --> 00:22:15,040 Speaker 1: much they'd enjoyed the experience and so forth. And what 411 00:22:15,080 --> 00:22:18,679 Speaker 1: we saw is that people enjoyed this experience of dining 412 00:22:18,680 --> 00:22:23,800 Speaker 1: out with friends and family significantly less when phones were 413 00:22:23,840 --> 00:22:28,560 Speaker 1: out and available compared to when phones were put away. Importantly, though, 414 00:22:28,880 --> 00:22:31,120 Speaker 1: you know, they still enjoyed the meal when phones were out. 415 00:22:31,119 --> 00:22:34,080 Speaker 1: So sometimes I see these like really like over the 416 00:22:34,119 --> 00:22:38,600 Speaker 1: top statements even about our own research, like that phones 417 00:22:38,640 --> 00:22:41,200 Speaker 1: are destroying the world. Like the kinds of effect sizes 418 00:22:41,280 --> 00:22:46,280 Speaker 1: we're seeing are not like, you know, apocalyptic, So it's 419 00:22:46,280 --> 00:22:48,320 Speaker 1: not like that all the pleasure of being out with 420 00:22:48,359 --> 00:22:51,240 Speaker 1: your friends and family goes away, but it is diminished 421 00:22:51,440 --> 00:22:54,200 Speaker 1: in a way that's you know, pretty easy to detect 422 00:22:54,480 --> 00:22:57,879 Speaker 1: with statistics that whereby you know, people just aren't getting 423 00:22:57,960 --> 00:22:59,919 Speaker 1: quite as much pleasure out of being out with their 424 00:23:00,000 --> 00:23:02,520 Speaker 1: friends and family when everyone's got their phones out compared 425 00:23:02,520 --> 00:23:03,600 Speaker 1: to when phones are put away. 426 00:23:04,320 --> 00:23:06,639 Speaker 2: It's fascinating, and I think it is interesting, Like I 427 00:23:06,720 --> 00:23:09,199 Speaker 2: was looking on how that was reported. I think it 428 00:23:09,240 --> 00:23:12,240 Speaker 2: was like a half point different or something like that. 429 00:23:12,520 --> 00:23:14,159 Speaker 1: Yeah, it's like a half a point difference out of 430 00:23:14,160 --> 00:23:16,880 Speaker 1: some point scale, so it matters, right, It's like, yeah, 431 00:23:16,880 --> 00:23:20,440 Speaker 1: we should take this into account. But you know, it's 432 00:23:20,440 --> 00:23:22,600 Speaker 1: also not like the end of the world if you 433 00:23:22,680 --> 00:23:24,720 Speaker 1: have to have your phone out, you know, and so 434 00:23:24,760 --> 00:23:26,760 Speaker 1: the way that I this is one lesson that I 435 00:23:26,800 --> 00:23:29,880 Speaker 1: think maybe my friends would disagree, But I think I'm 436 00:23:29,960 --> 00:23:33,440 Speaker 1: pretty good about applying this in everyday life. So I 437 00:23:33,600 --> 00:23:38,199 Speaker 1: really do try when I'm out with my friends to 438 00:23:38,880 --> 00:23:41,640 Speaker 1: put my phone away at dinner. Like we at home, 439 00:23:41,680 --> 00:23:45,719 Speaker 1: we do have, you know, pretty strict sort of family 440 00:23:45,760 --> 00:23:49,560 Speaker 1: norms about not having phones out, although you know, again 441 00:23:49,720 --> 00:23:51,560 Speaker 1: we're not perfect. Like my six year old the other 442 00:23:51,600 --> 00:23:53,440 Speaker 1: day told me he wants to save all his money 443 00:23:53,440 --> 00:23:55,560 Speaker 1: so he can buy a phone, and I was like, 444 00:23:55,680 --> 00:23:59,640 Speaker 1: oh my god, I'm obviously winning at parenting. 445 00:24:02,680 --> 00:24:05,840 Speaker 2: I love the study design, like I feel like, you know, 446 00:24:06,160 --> 00:24:08,560 Speaker 2: most most science studies. I feel like I can say 447 00:24:08,600 --> 00:24:12,760 Speaker 2: this having vain a recovering academic, a quite dull business survey. 448 00:24:13,000 --> 00:24:15,760 Speaker 2: You're analyzing the data. But I just love what you 449 00:24:15,800 --> 00:24:18,919 Speaker 2: did with that experimental design. And I'm wondering, where do 450 00:24:19,000 --> 00:24:22,920 Speaker 2: your ideas for I guess these studies and most specifically 451 00:24:22,960 --> 00:24:25,760 Speaker 2: how you're measuring, like you know, the different variables you're 452 00:24:25,800 --> 00:24:28,320 Speaker 2: interested in. Where did these ideas come from? 453 00:24:28,800 --> 00:24:32,040 Speaker 1: Yeah? I mean one thing is that I've just discovered 454 00:24:32,080 --> 00:24:36,000 Speaker 1: over time that if I'm curious about something, it usually 455 00:24:36,000 --> 00:24:38,000 Speaker 1: turns out that other people will want to know the 456 00:24:38,040 --> 00:24:41,560 Speaker 1: answer to. So you know, when I first started making 457 00:24:42,359 --> 00:24:45,560 Speaker 1: money as a you know, twenty seven year old who've 458 00:24:45,600 --> 00:24:48,480 Speaker 1: been in graduate school up until that point, I wanted 459 00:24:48,480 --> 00:24:52,160 Speaker 1: to know, like, okay, what does science say about how 460 00:24:52,200 --> 00:24:54,480 Speaker 1: I could use that money more effectively in order to 461 00:24:54,640 --> 00:24:57,920 Speaker 1: be happier. And I was shocked by how little science 462 00:24:57,960 --> 00:25:00,800 Speaker 1: had to say on this topic back then, and so, 463 00:25:01,359 --> 00:25:03,280 Speaker 1: you know, I just wanted to find out. I was 464 00:25:03,359 --> 00:25:06,960 Speaker 1: just curious, So I started doing these studies and honestly, 465 00:25:07,080 --> 00:25:09,000 Speaker 1: like it kind of came as a surprise to me 466 00:25:09,080 --> 00:25:11,600 Speaker 1: when you know, a New York Times reporter covered this 467 00:25:11,640 --> 00:25:14,119 Speaker 1: research and it became the most emailed article in the 468 00:25:14,160 --> 00:25:16,240 Speaker 1: paper that week. And that's when it kind of hit 469 00:25:16,280 --> 00:25:19,240 Speaker 1: me with like, oh, okay, Like if I'm curious about something, 470 00:25:19,280 --> 00:25:22,560 Speaker 1: if I'm really super curious about something, other people are 471 00:25:22,600 --> 00:25:24,240 Speaker 1: likely to be too, so I kind of follow my 472 00:25:24,280 --> 00:25:27,879 Speaker 1: own curiosity, you know. And with the smartphone research, it 473 00:25:27,960 --> 00:25:30,679 Speaker 1: was just such a striking change to live through, right, Like, 474 00:25:30,720 --> 00:25:34,359 Speaker 1: we've really lived through a technological revolution and just gotten 475 00:25:34,520 --> 00:25:38,879 Speaker 1: to witness it happening, and there's so much speculation, but 476 00:25:39,040 --> 00:25:42,879 Speaker 1: just this like crazy giant vacuum of like good data 477 00:25:42,920 --> 00:25:46,240 Speaker 1: where people were drawing all of these conclusions about what 478 00:25:46,320 --> 00:25:49,080 Speaker 1: phones were doing. But I just didn't see any good 479 00:25:49,200 --> 00:25:51,760 Speaker 1: experiments and so that made me go, Okay, like, how 480 00:25:51,800 --> 00:25:55,159 Speaker 1: are we going to figure this out? And to be honest, 481 00:25:55,400 --> 00:26:00,399 Speaker 1: you know, it's always a collaborative process. So it's always 482 00:26:00,680 --> 00:26:04,399 Speaker 1: kind of talking through ideas with my graduate students and 483 00:26:04,400 --> 00:26:09,119 Speaker 1: my primary collaborators, and you know, we'll often sort of 484 00:26:09,240 --> 00:26:12,200 Speaker 1: keep working through it until we figure it out. And often, 485 00:26:12,240 --> 00:26:14,240 Speaker 1: you know, often our first studies on this topic aren't 486 00:26:14,240 --> 00:26:18,120 Speaker 1: the greatest, Like the we when we first started doing 487 00:26:18,160 --> 00:26:21,480 Speaker 1: research on smartphone news, we hadn't figured out a great 488 00:26:21,520 --> 00:26:25,080 Speaker 1: way to keep people from realizing that we were studying phones. 489 00:26:25,119 --> 00:26:28,560 Speaker 1: And that was really frustrating to me because people have 490 00:26:28,640 --> 00:26:31,000 Speaker 1: so many theories about how smartphones are affecting them. So 491 00:26:31,080 --> 00:26:33,400 Speaker 1: I thought, okay, we got to figure out some ways 492 00:26:33,440 --> 00:26:35,560 Speaker 1: to keep people from knowing that this is what we're 493 00:26:35,640 --> 00:26:38,080 Speaker 1: up to. And that kind of spurred us to try 494 00:26:38,119 --> 00:26:40,320 Speaker 1: to just think more creatively about that problem. 495 00:26:40,880 --> 00:26:42,879 Speaker 2: And so like, how does that work, Like you'll sitting 496 00:26:42,880 --> 00:26:45,600 Speaker 2: in a room together notting this out, or do you 497 00:26:45,640 --> 00:26:48,159 Speaker 2: go away individually and come back with ideas like what 498 00:26:48,200 --> 00:26:49,760 Speaker 2: does that creative process look like? 499 00:26:50,240 --> 00:26:53,800 Speaker 1: So I'm a very social thinker. I have zero single 500 00:26:53,840 --> 00:26:58,560 Speaker 1: authored papers and uh even and you know, my book 501 00:26:58,600 --> 00:27:00,960 Speaker 1: Happy Money I wrote with good friend of mine Mike Norton. 502 00:27:01,440 --> 00:27:04,720 Speaker 1: So I don't like to think alone. I know that's 503 00:27:04,760 --> 00:27:09,640 Speaker 1: like the kind of idealized vision as like the scholars 504 00:27:09,640 --> 00:27:12,959 Speaker 1: sitting by themselves thinking deeply, and I can do that 505 00:27:13,000 --> 00:27:17,960 Speaker 1: for like two hours. I'm kind of over it. So 506 00:27:18,000 --> 00:27:20,320 Speaker 1: for me, it's not been about just like talking through 507 00:27:20,320 --> 00:27:23,240 Speaker 1: the problem with someone I really like. And you know, 508 00:27:24,000 --> 00:27:26,879 Speaker 1: because I've just been on sabbatical, I was kind of 509 00:27:26,920 --> 00:27:29,720 Speaker 1: thinking about and at this point stage in my career, 510 00:27:29,920 --> 00:27:33,200 Speaker 1: like there's just so many more interesting opportunities than time 511 00:27:33,240 --> 00:27:35,360 Speaker 1: available to pursue them. So I was trying to come 512 00:27:35,400 --> 00:27:38,920 Speaker 1: up with some rules for myself of like what projects 513 00:27:38,960 --> 00:27:42,439 Speaker 1: to take on. And the rules that I've come up 514 00:27:42,480 --> 00:27:45,760 Speaker 1: with are it has to be exciting to me, like 515 00:27:45,800 --> 00:27:47,199 Speaker 1: I have to be curious about it, I have to 516 00:27:47,200 --> 00:27:50,400 Speaker 1: want to know the answer. It has to be important 517 00:27:50,440 --> 00:27:53,040 Speaker 1: for the world, like as in I think it would 518 00:27:53,040 --> 00:27:55,320 Speaker 1: be useful for other people to have this knowledge too, 519 00:27:56,480 --> 00:27:58,040 Speaker 1: and maybe there's something we could do with it that 520 00:27:58,119 --> 00:28:01,720 Speaker 1: would be beneficial for the humans. And then finally, like, 521 00:28:02,200 --> 00:28:03,840 Speaker 1: I have to be able to do it with people 522 00:28:03,880 --> 00:28:07,360 Speaker 1: I enjoy being around, because for me, that process of 523 00:28:07,400 --> 00:28:11,360 Speaker 1: like thinking through these challenges is so much more rewarding 524 00:28:11,560 --> 00:28:15,359 Speaker 1: and motivating. If I can share it with somebody that 525 00:28:15,520 --> 00:28:17,120 Speaker 1: is just really fun to be with. 526 00:28:17,960 --> 00:28:20,680 Speaker 2: That's so cool. I love those. I love those kind 527 00:28:20,680 --> 00:28:23,600 Speaker 2: of rules of principles. How did you land on those? 528 00:28:23,760 --> 00:28:27,359 Speaker 2: Was that a hard process or was it quite easy 529 00:28:27,400 --> 00:28:29,320 Speaker 2: when you sat down to consciously think about it. 530 00:28:29,640 --> 00:28:32,640 Speaker 1: I've been thinking through these ideas kind of throughout my sabbatical. 531 00:28:32,760 --> 00:28:36,960 Speaker 1: I'm a runner, and often when I'm running or someone's 532 00:28:37,000 --> 00:28:41,240 Speaker 1: mountain biking, like my mind just gravitates to these issues 533 00:28:41,240 --> 00:28:43,080 Speaker 1: of like what is it that's really important to me? 534 00:28:43,920 --> 00:28:46,760 Speaker 1: And so that's kind of something that I've been marinating 535 00:28:46,800 --> 00:28:49,600 Speaker 1: on throughout my sabbatical and that I've just sort of 536 00:28:49,680 --> 00:28:52,960 Speaker 1: landed on in reflecting on, you know, what projects have 537 00:28:53,040 --> 00:28:56,560 Speaker 1: been really satisfying that I'm so glad I did, you know, 538 00:28:56,720 --> 00:28:59,840 Speaker 1: and which projects do I wish i'd like walked away from. 539 00:29:00,120 --> 00:29:02,080 Speaker 1: So you know, I have a real luxury at the 540 00:29:02,120 --> 00:29:04,560 Speaker 1: stage of my career, which is that as a full professor, 541 00:29:04,600 --> 00:29:07,040 Speaker 1: I will never be evaluated in any meaningful way again. 542 00:29:07,480 --> 00:29:09,640 Speaker 1: And so it's I you know, I wouldn't say other 543 00:29:09,720 --> 00:29:13,600 Speaker 1: veeples should necessarily follow this advice because not everyone has that, 544 00:29:13,720 --> 00:29:18,120 Speaker 1: you know, luxury of never being evaluated. But you know, 545 00:29:18,280 --> 00:29:21,080 Speaker 1: I think some of us do right and and or 546 00:29:21,120 --> 00:29:22,800 Speaker 1: at least you can just go screw it, like I'm 547 00:29:22,800 --> 00:29:24,240 Speaker 1: just going to act like I'm never going to be 548 00:29:24,240 --> 00:29:27,800 Speaker 1: evaluating again. And so I think it's important to recognize 549 00:29:27,800 --> 00:29:30,520 Speaker 1: that freedom and go okay, like, so what actually matters 550 00:29:30,520 --> 00:29:32,920 Speaker 1: to me? What are the projects that you know, I'm 551 00:29:32,960 --> 00:29:34,840 Speaker 1: so glad I pursued, and what do they have in 552 00:29:34,880 --> 00:29:37,680 Speaker 1: common and for me? You know, just projects that are 553 00:29:37,680 --> 00:29:41,120 Speaker 1: exciting to me, that matter for other people, and that 554 00:29:41,560 --> 00:29:44,880 Speaker 1: are part of get to be involved working through these 555 00:29:44,960 --> 00:29:47,760 Speaker 1: challenges with other people that I enjoy being around. You know. 556 00:29:47,960 --> 00:29:49,320 Speaker 1: That's that's the winning combo. 557 00:29:50,040 --> 00:29:52,360 Speaker 2: I really like that a lot. And I would imagine 558 00:29:52,560 --> 00:29:56,080 Speaker 2: what comes with that is saying no to a lot 559 00:29:56,120 --> 00:29:58,320 Speaker 2: of people and a lot of opportunities. And I'm wondering, like, 560 00:29:58,840 --> 00:30:01,520 Speaker 2: what's your approach to say no? Is this something that 561 00:30:01,560 --> 00:30:04,760 Speaker 2: you've I guess given thought to. I feel like so 562 00:30:04,800 --> 00:30:07,200 Speaker 2: many people are after the perfect way to say no. 563 00:30:08,480 --> 00:30:11,640 Speaker 1: I have a really hard time saying no, so like, 564 00:30:11,800 --> 00:30:14,320 Speaker 1: just to be fully honest, like, let me tell you 565 00:30:14,360 --> 00:30:17,680 Speaker 1: my most typical way of dealing with this problem. It 566 00:30:17,760 --> 00:30:21,160 Speaker 1: is that I receive a perfectly reasonable request via email, 567 00:30:21,400 --> 00:30:23,640 Speaker 1: say from somebody who wants to be on me to 568 00:30:23,680 --> 00:30:28,200 Speaker 1: be on their podcast. Yeah, and then I ignore it 569 00:30:29,480 --> 00:30:35,080 Speaker 1: right back start it and feel guilty about it, and 570 00:30:35,120 --> 00:30:37,560 Speaker 1: then like eventually it falls down far enough in my 571 00:30:37,600 --> 00:30:39,600 Speaker 1: inbox said I no longer see it and don't deal 572 00:30:39,640 --> 00:30:41,600 Speaker 1: with it. And let me tell you, that is not 573 00:30:41,760 --> 00:30:44,720 Speaker 1: a good strategy for life. I'm a fairy toil, although 574 00:30:44,760 --> 00:30:46,640 Speaker 1: I haven't studied it directly, that is not the rood 575 00:30:46,720 --> 00:30:50,040 Speaker 1: to happiness. So I'm trying to be more proactive now 576 00:30:50,200 --> 00:30:52,600 Speaker 1: about handling this stuff, especially as just like more and 577 00:30:52,640 --> 00:30:55,760 Speaker 1: more cool, interesting opportunities for my way. It just means 578 00:30:55,800 --> 00:30:59,640 Speaker 1: that there's I've decided my default answer to everything now 579 00:30:59,720 --> 00:31:02,280 Speaker 1: has to be no, which is hard for me because 580 00:31:02,360 --> 00:31:04,480 Speaker 1: I am much more inclined to say yes. But I 581 00:31:04,960 --> 00:31:08,120 Speaker 1: have gotten myself in hot water by saying yes to 582 00:31:08,120 --> 00:31:12,880 Speaker 1: too many things. So I've decided that, you know, I 583 00:31:12,920 --> 00:31:16,400 Speaker 1: basically need to say no unless I'm like really excited 584 00:31:16,440 --> 00:31:19,640 Speaker 1: about something, or like I really owe the person, you know, 585 00:31:20,600 --> 00:31:23,480 Speaker 1: and that's fair. And one thing that the biggest thing 586 00:31:23,560 --> 00:31:25,880 Speaker 1: that I've done that's really helpful for me because as 587 00:31:25,880 --> 00:31:28,520 Speaker 1: somebody who has a hard time saying no, is that 588 00:31:29,080 --> 00:31:32,800 Speaker 1: I've started writing standard responses that I spend a lot 589 00:31:32,800 --> 00:31:35,160 Speaker 1: of time crafting because again, I feel so terrible about 590 00:31:35,240 --> 00:31:37,920 Speaker 1: not helping people at every opportunity that I get, especially 591 00:31:37,920 --> 00:31:40,960 Speaker 1: as somebody who does research on helping, that I've taken 592 00:31:40,960 --> 00:31:44,640 Speaker 1: the time to just carefully craft a response explaining like 593 00:31:44,840 --> 00:31:47,320 Speaker 1: why it is that I'm saying no to this whole 594 00:31:47,360 --> 00:31:50,239 Speaker 1: class of requests that I get, for example, And I 595 00:31:50,320 --> 00:31:52,560 Speaker 1: have that now in the drafts at the top of 596 00:31:52,600 --> 00:31:55,560 Speaker 1: the drafts folder of my inbox, so I can just 597 00:31:55,760 --> 00:31:59,600 Speaker 1: copy and paste it into their response. And you know, 598 00:31:59,720 --> 00:32:03,680 Speaker 1: somebody asking me for something where my response just needs 599 00:32:03,720 --> 00:32:05,440 Speaker 1: to be no, and if it's one of those categories, 600 00:32:05,680 --> 00:32:09,320 Speaker 1: I can just copy and paste that like thoughtful, carefully 601 00:32:09,320 --> 00:32:13,800 Speaker 1: written response of no without having to devote thought to it, 602 00:32:13,800 --> 00:32:16,200 Speaker 1: because devoting thought to it makes me feel guilty. 603 00:32:16,840 --> 00:32:20,160 Speaker 2: That is such a great idea, having a canned response 604 00:32:20,240 --> 00:32:22,959 Speaker 2: for no that's actually a really well thought out and 605 00:32:23,040 --> 00:32:27,840 Speaker 2: crafted one. I love that. I'm gonna steal that one, 606 00:32:28,560 --> 00:32:30,800 Speaker 2: and I guess, like you know, it has really got 607 00:32:30,800 --> 00:32:35,160 Speaker 2: a few minutes left. If people listening to this episode 608 00:32:35,600 --> 00:32:39,400 Speaker 2: could just make one change to their work life or 609 00:32:39,440 --> 00:32:43,320 Speaker 2: their personal life to boost happiness, what would you recommend 610 00:32:43,520 --> 00:32:46,440 Speaker 2: they do? Maybe one tip for work and one tip 611 00:32:46,520 --> 00:32:48,280 Speaker 2: for their personal life. 612 00:32:48,680 --> 00:32:51,120 Speaker 1: I mean, I think one that kind of stretches across both, 613 00:32:51,120 --> 00:32:54,600 Speaker 1: but I guess is most relevant to personal life is 614 00:32:55,000 --> 00:32:58,760 Speaker 1: just a recommendation to buy time. If you're someone who 615 00:32:58,800 --> 00:33:03,560 Speaker 1: feels like you're overwhelmed and really busy, just think of 616 00:33:03,800 --> 00:33:08,040 Speaker 1: one task that you hate doing, something you dread that 617 00:33:08,080 --> 00:33:10,840 Speaker 1: you could pay somebody else for help with, or to 618 00:33:10,880 --> 00:33:15,240 Speaker 1: just completely take off your plate for work life. But 619 00:33:15,320 --> 00:33:16,720 Speaker 1: I guess I would say, you know, we know from 620 00:33:16,720 --> 00:33:21,080 Speaker 1: research on happiness that social relationships are absolutely critical to 621 00:33:21,680 --> 00:33:27,560 Speaker 1: our well being, and so prioritize working with people that 622 00:33:27,640 --> 00:33:31,400 Speaker 1: you really enjoy spending time with. One way that I've 623 00:33:31,440 --> 00:33:35,280 Speaker 1: applied this is I used to admit graduate students largely 624 00:33:35,320 --> 00:33:38,920 Speaker 1: based on their you know, gres and grades, and those 625 00:33:38,920 --> 00:33:40,920 Speaker 1: things still matter, of course I look at them and 626 00:33:40,960 --> 00:33:43,480 Speaker 1: take them into account, but now my number one criterion 627 00:33:43,760 --> 00:33:46,440 Speaker 1: is do I want to spend like hours a week 628 00:33:46,600 --> 00:33:49,880 Speaker 1: sitting in a room talking about ideas with this person, 629 00:33:50,360 --> 00:33:52,719 Speaker 1: and the answer has to be yes for me to 630 00:33:52,880 --> 00:33:53,840 Speaker 1: admit them. 631 00:33:54,240 --> 00:33:58,080 Speaker 2: Wow, that's great. Do you know many other professes that 632 00:33:58,120 --> 00:33:59,960 Speaker 2: would use a criteria like that. 633 00:34:01,000 --> 00:34:03,160 Speaker 1: I think you know a lot of people in my 634 00:34:03,280 --> 00:34:05,640 Speaker 1: field do. Of course, you know, I'm a psychologist, so 635 00:34:05,680 --> 00:34:09,800 Speaker 1: we may need more achieve to with these things. But honestly, 636 00:34:09,840 --> 00:34:12,000 Speaker 1: it took me a while to get there, right because 637 00:34:12,280 --> 00:34:14,799 Speaker 1: on the flip side, right, like, there's research on the 638 00:34:14,840 --> 00:34:18,760 Speaker 1: interview illusion, where sometimes we interview people and it's hard 639 00:34:18,800 --> 00:34:24,640 Speaker 1: to know whether they'll actually perform well as a function 640 00:34:24,800 --> 00:34:26,359 Speaker 1: of how well they do in the interview. So an 641 00:34:26,360 --> 00:34:29,600 Speaker 1: interview isn't necessarily great information about how good they're going 642 00:34:29,640 --> 00:34:33,120 Speaker 1: to be at their jobs, And so there is a 643 00:34:33,200 --> 00:34:35,440 Speaker 1: tension there, right Like, you shouldn't just oh, I like 644 00:34:35,480 --> 00:34:37,279 Speaker 1: that person. I'm sure they'll be great at their jobs. 645 00:34:37,320 --> 00:34:40,120 Speaker 1: But for me, I'm not trying to predict how good 646 00:34:40,160 --> 00:34:42,520 Speaker 1: a graduate student they'll be. You know. That's why I 647 00:34:42,600 --> 00:34:44,640 Speaker 1: do take into accalent, Jerry's and grades and all of 648 00:34:44,680 --> 00:34:49,000 Speaker 1: these other things for nation letters. But those relatively thin 649 00:34:49,120 --> 00:34:53,200 Speaker 1: slices of just spending time with someone else do seem 650 00:34:53,239 --> 00:34:56,239 Speaker 1: to provide a pretty good indicator of how we'll feel 651 00:34:56,239 --> 00:34:59,840 Speaker 1: about them over the long term, and so, you know, 652 00:35:00,040 --> 00:35:04,080 Speaker 1: for me, it's about just recognizing that the quality of 653 00:35:04,560 --> 00:35:07,719 Speaker 1: time on a day to day basis really matters, and 654 00:35:07,760 --> 00:35:11,040 Speaker 1: that surrounding myself with people who are not just smart, 655 00:35:11,080 --> 00:35:15,120 Speaker 1: but are like fun and interesting and funny makes daily 656 00:35:15,160 --> 00:35:17,160 Speaker 1: work life so much more enjoyable. 657 00:35:18,200 --> 00:35:20,600 Speaker 2: Yeah, I think that's great. I know that when when 658 00:35:20,640 --> 00:35:23,200 Speaker 2: we're recruiting people at Inventing, we often think about the 659 00:35:23,239 --> 00:35:26,279 Speaker 2: airport test because we travel so much as consultants, and 660 00:35:26,360 --> 00:35:30,000 Speaker 2: so would I be happy to spend four hours in 661 00:35:30,080 --> 00:35:33,800 Speaker 2: an airport waiting for a delayed plane? I like that 662 00:35:33,960 --> 00:35:38,320 Speaker 2: something similar? Yes, yes. Now finally, Elizabeth, how can people 663 00:35:38,719 --> 00:35:41,680 Speaker 2: find you and consume more of what you're doing? 664 00:35:42,880 --> 00:35:48,360 Speaker 1: Well, I am very googleable, so if they just google 665 00:35:48,400 --> 00:35:52,800 Speaker 1: my name, that should take them right to my ted talk. Also, 666 00:35:52,960 --> 00:35:57,279 Speaker 1: my website has all of my publications. We try to 667 00:35:57,280 --> 00:36:00,799 Speaker 1: make as many of them as possible freely available, as 668 00:36:00,880 --> 00:36:04,719 Speaker 1: well as videos and media interviews, stories I've written for 669 00:36:04,719 --> 00:36:08,359 Speaker 1: The New York Times. They're all up there, and you're 670 00:36:08,400 --> 00:36:12,759 Speaker 1: also people could also follow me on Twitter. I'm at 671 00:36:12,960 --> 00:36:13,799 Speaker 1: done happy. 672 00:36:13,600 --> 00:36:16,880 Speaker 2: Lab fantastic, and I will link to all those in 673 00:36:16,920 --> 00:36:20,040 Speaker 2: the show notes. Elizabeth, I've loved our chat and I 674 00:36:20,080 --> 00:36:22,480 Speaker 2: feel so much happier for it. Say thank you. 675 00:36:23,120 --> 00:36:24,480 Speaker 1: My pleasure, thanks for having me. 676 00:36:25,400 --> 00:36:27,960 Speaker 2: Hello there. That is it for today's show. Thank you 677 00:36:28,080 --> 00:36:31,200 Speaker 2: so much for listening. I hope you got some great 678 00:36:31,360 --> 00:36:36,200 Speaker 2: practical tips and feeling as happy as I was after 679 00:36:36,280 --> 00:36:40,000 Speaker 2: that interview. If you are enjoying how I work, I 680 00:36:40,000 --> 00:36:42,279 Speaker 2: would love it if you would take I reckon. It 681 00:36:42,280 --> 00:36:45,360 Speaker 2: takes maybe five seconds to leave as star rating or 682 00:36:45,400 --> 00:36:49,080 Speaker 2: even write some kind words as a review. I just 683 00:36:49,239 --> 00:36:53,279 Speaker 2: love getting feedback from listeners. It totally brightens my day. 684 00:36:53,440 --> 00:36:55,840 Speaker 2: So if you have a spare five or ten seconds, 685 00:36:55,840 --> 00:36:57,839 Speaker 2: I'd love it if you could do that. So that's 686 00:36:57,880 --> 00:37:01,239 Speaker 2: all for today and I'll see you next time. I'm