For years, scientists have linked learning to happiness so it's no surprise that learning new skills and experiencing something different leads to a greater sense of happiness and fulfillment.

A 2012 study by San Francisco State University found that people who spend money on experiences such as cinema tickets or a weekend away were happier than those who spent money on material goods. Researchers also discovered that those who were more inclined to spend their disposable income on experiences were more likely to be extroverts, with an openness to new skills and ideas.

"Even for people who naturally find themselves drawn to material purchases, our results suggest that getting more of a balance between traditional purchases and those that provide you with an experience could lead to greater life satisfaction and well-being," they concluded.

Of course, doing something new doesn't have to involve spending money. It could be as simple as taking a look around a museum you haven't been to for ages, volunteering at your local refugee network, helping out on an allotment or setting up a free language exchange to learn a different language. Vanderkam recommends people to "dig deep" and rediscover a favourite childhood skill such as playing the piano or cycling.

An important element to this is achieving a sense of pleasurable concentration and creative focus that will make the hours fly by. Over 30 years ago, psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi coined this state as "flow". Once you have trained your brain, like a muscle, to "flow" at the weekend it may be easier to do so during the working week, with tasks you actually have to do.

"The real challenge," as Csikszentmihalyi explains "is to take something that you have to do that has purpose and meaning" and work out how to induce a state of flow while doing it. "It's possible to experience your job and your family life as flow, and that to me is more important than that we provide opportunities for flow in art and sports."

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