Mandy Oaklander | October 17, 2026

What's your favorite way to cultivate zest in your everyday life? Mine is easy: I simply force myself to do the things I know are good for me. Go to that yoga class, take that walk, say yes to that invitation.

Yale psychologist Joan M. Cook has some good ideas of her own. And if you’re not naturally a sunny person, don’t worry—zest is a skill best practiced.

TODAY’S TOPICS

Zest up your life
Park your phone like a psychologist
Got a question for us?
Why human judgment is still far from obsolete

SATURDAY READ

Zest is a key ingredient to good living

By Joan M. Cook

Malte Mueller—Getty Images

Approaching life with positive expectations, a get-up-and-go attitude, and eagerness is related to many good things in life. This individual asset is often referred to as zest, and it can be purposefully developed to assist us in managing daily stressors as well as creating meaningful lives.

True zest is not due to hyperarousal or too much caffeine. It is a cultivated cheerfulness and joy. When we are stressed or not feeling well, it’s hard to avoid doing things halfway or halfheartedly. But there are ways we can increase zest even when it seems like the deck is stacked against us, the world is filled with conflict, and our social media feeds are thick with chaos and gloom.

Psychologists Christopher Peterson and Martin Seligman pioneered the field of positive psychology, the scientific study of human flourishing. One of the highlights of their initiatives was published in 2004, Character Strengths and Virtues, a groundbreaking text on the 24 universal character strengths. Zest is one of the 24 strengths.

Read the full essay here.

AT HOME WITH AN EXPERT

Where a psychologist parks her family’s phones

Carrie Fisher

At psychologist Carrie Mackensen’s house, even party guests’ phones get their own seating area. Mackensen, whose book Digitally Dysregulated: How Screens Hijack Kids’ Brains and What Parents Can Do About It comes out in 2027, recently hosted her son’s eighth-grade class. She set out baskets with a handwritten sign: “Park Your Phone To Party. Your friends are here.” The kids spent four hours swimming and playing outside, she says. “They had a blast.”

The family’s everyday routine follows the same principle: Give devices a place to stay. Mackensen leaves her own phone in a wooden bowl in the kitchen, with the ringer on so she can hear calls without carrying it around. Overnight, the family’s devices charge in the parents’ closet, far away from beds.

If you want to try a similar routine, Mackensen has this advice: Explain the change to your kids and make it a weeklong experiment. “Are we talking more? Are we picking up a book or playing a game of cards?” she says. Notice what fills the space when phones aren’t always within reach. —Angela Haupt, Editor, Health & Wellness

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