We have never been more committed to living longer. Smartwatches count our steps, apps track our sleep, and social media is flooded with advice on biohacking. Yet, despite all this optimisation, many people feel increasingly exhausted, disconnected and emotionally depleted.
Psychologists say the paradox lies at the heart of a growing idea called Joyspan—a term coined by American gerontologist Dr Kerry Burnight. The idea sounds cliche, but is straightforward. If lifespan measures the years in your life, joyspan measures the life in your years. It asks a deceptively simple question: what is the point of living longer if you are not truly enjoying the time you have?
For 27-year-old marketing strategist Arjun Mehta, the question arrived after a severe burnout. On paper, his life looked enviable: a stable corporate career, an active social life and relentless ambition. Yet beneath the constant motion was a creeping numbness.
“I had optimised everything—my work, my fitness, even my weekends—but I genuinely couldn’t remember the last time I felt joy without turning it into content or productivity,” he says.
Therapy eventually pushed him towards activities he had long abandoned: football, cooking elaborate Sunday meals and simply logging off. “The strange part was realising joy felt uncomfortable at first. I had trained myself to believe leisure doesn’t suit the ambitious.”
The idea resonates across generations. At 63, Meera Sanyal found herself confronting a different kind of emptiness after retirement and the loss of her husband. Having spent decades as a teacher, mother and caregiver, she realised she no longer knew what brought her joy beyond responsibility.
A community gardening group, yoga classes and a return to Hindustani classical music gradually changed that. “For the first time in years, I stopped doing just the needful and started doing what made me feel alive,” she says. Better sleep, less restlessness and a renewed sense of purpose soon followed.
According to clinical psychologist Dr Kamna Chhibber, Director, Mental Health Programme, Fortis Healthcare, joyspan differs fundamentally from conventional ideas of happiness.
“Happiness is temporary. Something good happens, you feel happy, and then it fades,” she explains. “Joyspan asks how much of your life genuinely feels worth living. It is about sustained well-being built on how you engage with life, not simply on what life delivers.” The concept rests on four pillars: growth, adaptability, giving and connection. Together, they create psychological resilience and a stronger sense of meaning. Yet modern life often works against them.
“Many people grow up believing their worth is tied to productivity,” says Dr Chhibber. “The idea that a productive person is a valuable person runs so deep that even leisure begins to feel like something that must be earned.”
The science behind joy extends beyond psychology. Consultant psychiatrist Dr Siddharth Chowdhury notes that genuine joy activates complex reward and bonding pathways involving dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin and other neurochemicals.
“When joy is genuine rather than merely stimulating, the nervous system can shift away from chronic stress,” he explains. “Breathing settles, muscle tension reduces and the body gets a break from constantly being on alert.”
He distinguishes between instant gratification and deeper fulfilment. Endless scrolling, online shopping and digital distractions may provide short bursts of pleasure, but they rarely satisfy for long. “Deeper joy comes from connection, mastery, affection and playfulness. The first is stimulation; the second is nourishment.”
As the global longevity industry expands, Chowdhury believes joy deserves equal attention alongside diet, exercise and sleep. “A person can have excellent supplements, a clean diet and a fitness tracker with the emotional life of a damp spreadsheet. Joyspan is the difference between merely extending life and actually inhabiting it.”
While the term may be new, the idea is not. Indian traditions have long recognised the importance of ananda—a state of enduring bliss and contentment. Radhika Iyer Talati, founder of Anahata Organic, suggests cultivating joy through simple daily rituals: a structured routine, breathwork, gentle yoga, mindful movement and activities pursued purely for pleasure rather than performance.
In a culture increasingly obsessed with optimisation, Joyspan offers a radical proposition: perhaps the healthiest thing we can do is make room for joy.
