Leave the party while you're still having fun

The bitter end is often just that

If you read popular psychology books, you’ve probably heard of the phenomenon called “recency bias.” Whatever has happened most recently sticks out in the brain more.

This means that if you were bored at the end of what was mostly a good party, you will remember the mostly good party as boring. This isn’t fair of your brain to do this, but it’s true. Personally, I prefer to have better memories of things.

So, best to leave the party while you’re still having fun. That way, you’ll remember the party as fun — and as a plus, you might be able to go to bed within an hour of your usual bedtime.

All the metaphorical parties

This idea to leave the party while you’re still having fun works for literal parties, but it’s true for other experiences too.

For instance, it’s best not to continue in a job or volunteer role until you hate it. While you’re still enjoying the role, but are beginning to feel bored or irritated, start considering new opportunities.

Do the same with social engagements. If seeing “bowling league” on your calendar doesn’t make you quite as excited as it used to, consider whether there are other ways you could stay connected with your friends and have fun, while you still have happy memories of the bowling alley.

It’s OK to quit

Consider letting your kids leave while they’re having fun too. Instead of requiring them to try “one more semester” of dance before you let them quit, maybe you could let them quit now while they still remember mostly enjoying dance. If they quit a semester from now they might remember hating it and being forced to do it, and you might have four months of battling over getting out the door.

Most good things do come to an end eventually. Sometimes that end happens because of circumstance, but sometimes things stop being good because we’ve done enough of them. Or we become different people. And that’s OK. You don’t have to fight it. If you leave the party while you’re still having fun, you’ll probably have good memories, rather than bad feelings about something that went on too long.