The key to maximizing your time? Savoring the time you’ve gotten—even the seemingly mundane experiences. According to Holmes, it’s widespread to expertise “hedonic adaptation2” as you get older, which implies that extraordinary occasions change into more and more extra bizarre, so that you savor them much less.
To offset this pure response, merely listen: “Recognize that [these experiences] are not forever,” says Holmes. “Actually depend the instances left and acknowledge that, ‘Holy cow, this, too, is limited, and that draws your attention and increases your tendency to savor.”
Not to mention, if you think back and reflect on which experiences made you feel awe-struck, chances are they’re really fairly bizarre. “Maybe it was the awe from noticing an amazing sunset, or maybe it was the awe from seeing your kids’ delight the first time they walked into Disney World,” Holmes says. “There is so much extraordinary happiness if we notice, and if we don’t notice and if we don’t savor it, then it’s past and it’s lost.”