Increase Happiness and Improve Memory by Shaking Up Your Routines

Science Reveals How Novelty Can Make Us Happier and Help Us Learn Faster

You know that rush you feel when you visit a new place? Or the excitement that pulses through your body when you finally buy that new item we’ve been wanting? There’s a biological reason behind these sensations. Your brain loves novelty! And its benefits can range from more happiness to a better memory!

The great news is that we can introduce novelty into our lives more intentionally and thus benefit from it more often. And rather than getting that boost of pleasure from an outside experience or thing, we can train ourselves to gain it from doing something that helps us grow and become more resilient — like learning!

CHANGE YOUR ENVIRONMENT, CHANGE YOUR MOOD

A new study from New York University found that greater diversity in our daily experiences is linked to greater happiness. The study monitored subjects for a period of three to four months, tracking the level of changes in their environment along with their emotional states. People reported more positive feelings on days in which they had greater variability in their outside environment.

To see if there was a further connection between novelty and happiness, the scientists used MRIs to look at the subjects’ brain activity. They found that those who had less routine in their days and were the happiest exhibited greater correlation in activity between regions of the brain associated with novelty and reward — the hippocampus and the striatum.[1]

These findings suggest that the more diverse our daily experiences are, the happier we are likely to feel.

DELIGHT YOURSELF WITH THE UNEXPECTED

Many of the most beautiful and memorable moments of our lives often arise spontaneously. We love delightful surprises because they bring us back into the present moment. Our brain has no choice but to pay full attention. Our worries and stresses are temporarily suspended as we become overwhelmed by the sensory stimuli.

Many of our brain’s functions could be narrowed down to these two overarching themes: 1) avoid threats and 2) pursue opportunities. Our drive for novelty could be linked to our innate desire to seek out opportunities to enhance our well-being and increase our chance of survival.

In exploring a new environment, learning new ideas, or trying out a new way of doing something, we increase the chances that we will come across an opportunity that could transform our lives.

Ever wondered why you get so excited just planning a vacation to a new place? It is because even the thought of novelty triggers the release of dopamine.[2] Once the stimulus becomes familiar, the reward associated with it loses a bit of its luster. Perhaps that wearing off of dopamine is also what is responsible for us becoming used to something we were initially really excited about — whether it was the new car, house, job, place, or even a relationship.

The way to restore that exciting feeling? Look at the things you already have as if you were looking at them for the first time!

IMPROVE LEARNING BY SHIFTING YOUR ENVIRONMENT

Novelty enhances learning as it sparks our curiosity which releases dopamine. Dopamine motivates us to want to explore further. The exploration of novel environments then further promotes learning as it enhances the brain’s ability to adapt (neuroplasticity) through a process called synaptic tagging. [3]

Other studies have shown additional links between novelty and the reward center of our brain. The “novelty center” of our brain, the substantia nigra/ventral tegmental area, is linked to our memory and emotional centers — the hippocampus and the amygdala.[4] When we are exposed to a new situation, we are even more likely to remember it if that situation has a strong emotional charge.

We could even extrapolate these insights further by relating the positive consequences of learning to happiness. As we learn, we gain skills which then boost our confidence and our ability to provide value. As we share our knowledge, we are likely to feel more knowledgeable or to even receive monetary rewards — assuming that knowledge is related to our career/job. The resulting rise in self-esteem or rewards is then likely to result in greater levels of happiness.

One easy way to learn faster is to integrate brand new pieces of knowledge into content that we want to retain.

If you are re-reading a chapter in an important book, for example, you can take notes while also looking up the answers to a question you had about something you just read. As you jot down the answers you find, the association of the novel content with the existing content can strengthen that memory.

ADDING MORE NOVELTY INTO LIFE

The great thing is that you don’t have to move to a new country or quit your job in order to feel the effects of novelty. The New York University study quoted above found that even small changes to your routine can yield benefits.

So here are two easy ways to introduce the feeling of novelty and thus boost your happiness today!

1. Switch up your routines

• Try out a completely new recipe once a week
• During your next grocery shopping trip, buy a new type of food you wouldn’t normally try
• Next time you pick a new movie or a book, grab one that is completely outside of your typical genre of reading
• Take a different route to work (or change up your working environment at home — perhaps moving to a different room or redecorating slightly)
• Replace one of your daily negative habits with the new habit of learning a new skill that you’ve been wanting to improve upon
• Integrate more travel into your life (when you can!)

2. Bring more awe and wonder to your life Make a conscious decision to start looking at some of the most ordinary things in your life in a new way. Next time you go out for a walk in a park nearby, try to notice the trees as if it was for the first time. If you are lucky enough to wake up next to someone you love, try to imagine that you are waking up next to them for the first time.

Feel the wonder and the awe of life around you as it is rather than with your habitual thoughts about how it should or shouldn’t be. Not only will you feel a greater sense of gratitude for what is already in your life, but you will also shape up old patterns of thinking.

SOURCES

[1] New and Diverse Experiences Linked to Enhanced Happiness, New York University, May 2020 https://www.nyu.edu/about/news-publications/news/2020/may/new-and-diverse-experiences-linked-to-enhanced-happiness--new-st.html

[2] How to Harness Your Pre-Vacation Energy All Year Long, NBC News 2018, https://www.nbcnews.com/better/health/how-harness-your-pre-vacation-energy-all-year-long-ncna940346

[3] Unexplored Territory: Beneficial Effects of Novelty on Memory https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1074742719300516

[4] Pure Novelty Spurs The Brain, Cell Press, 2006 https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/08/060826180547.htm