emmamseppala

This year, like every year, most of us are trying to get more done, be happier, and have better relationships. Given the high levels of burnout across professions (50 percent by some…

The holiday season is filled with gifts—and empty of what people really want. We’re seeing a loneliness crisis in our society with 42.6 million adults in the U.S. suffering from it (and that’s not…

“Follow your heart,” “Go with your gut,” “Find yourself,” “Speak your truth”—we’ve all heard these phrases ad nauseam.Each one is supposed to encourage us to live authentically and in line with our own…

Phubbing is the practice of snubbing others in favor of our mobile phones. We’ve all been there, as either victim or perpetrator. We may no longer even notice when we’ve been…

In workplaces and families across the world, communication has gone online. We send endless emails; we video chat rather than travel across town to meet. Actually sitting down and interacting…

Most of us don’t like confrontation — but it’s a fact of life we can’t run from forever. We have to assert ourselves, our boundaries and our needs — and others have to do…

Stress has a rotten reputation—but not all of it is bad. The “good” kind gets you across the street quickly when you see an oncoming vehicle, or it motivates you…

More and more people are feeling tired and lonely at work. In analyzing the General Social Survey of 2016, we found that, compared with roughly 20 years ago, people are twice…

Americans generally believe that they need to “deserve” their vacations—that they should work hard, even push themselves, before they actually take a break. In researching my book, The Happiness Track,…