Hello and welcome to The Upgrade, the podcast from the team of LifeHacker, where we help you improve your life one week at a time.

I'm Alice Bradley, editor-in-chief of Lifehacker.

And I'm Jordan Calhoun, Lifehacker's deputy editor. And do we even need to say that it's been a

tough year, Jordan? Tough is an understatement, Alice, at least for most of us. And for that very

reason, we're speaking with someone who has plenty of science-backed strategies for coping during this

pandemic. That person is award-winning psychology professor, Dr. Lori Santos. If we really want to focus

on what actually makes us happy, usually it's things that are much simpler than we think. It's

things like taking time to be present. You're taking time for social connection, moving our

body, getting enough

sleep, right? When you go after that stuff, it doesn't feel like you're chasing after happiness.

You're just like doing the stuff that you should normally do as a human. Dr. Santos is professor

of psychology and head of Silliman College at Yale University. She's an expert on human cognition

and the cognitive biases that impede better choices.

And her course, Psychology and the Good Life, recently became Yale's most popular course

in over 300 years.

Dr. Santos is also the host of the great podcast, The Happiness Lab, which covers the latest

scientific research on happiness.

Recently, the podcast had a coronavirus bonus season focusing on how to

take care of your mental health during this challenging time. Alice, what do you think about

when someone asks you about your happiness? Like, how do you respond to that question? I feel like

it's such a, it's one that like you can make into like a big philosophical question, are you happy?

Or you can minimize it into are you happy right now or how are you feeling? Like, how do you can make into, like, a big philosophical question, are you happy? Or you can minimize it into, are you happy right now?

...