TL;DR: Having something to look forward to may be one of the most overlooked mental health tools in the workplace. Research shows anticipation can boost mood, increase motivation, reduce stress, and help people feel more hopeful and energized. Employers can support employee wellbeing by helping people create more meaningful moments inside and outside of work.
It’s not just the sunshine or warmer weather. It’s the feeling that something good is coming.
A weekend trip. A concert. A baseball game. A family barbecue. Even something small like meeting a friend for ice cream after work.
These moments matter more than we think.
In fact, research suggests that anticipation itself can improve mental wellbeing. Looking forward to something creates positive emotion before the event even happens. It gives the brain a sense of hope, momentum, and emotional energy.
And right now, many employees need more of that.
Anticipatory joy is exactly what it sounds like: the happiness you feel before something good actually happens.
It's the giddiness of counting down days to a trip. It's scrolling through restaurant menus the week before a birthday dinner. It's the buzz of knowing a long weekend is almost here.
Psychologists often refer to this as “positive anticipation” or “anticipatory savoring.” Basically, our brains don’t wait for good experiences to arrive before responding to them. We start feeling some of the emotional benefits ahead of time.
In a lot of ways, looking forward to something helps carry us through everyday life.
When you anticipate a positive experience, your brain releases dopamine, the same chemical associated with pleasure and motivation. This happens before the event, not just during it.
That means a trip you're planning three months out is already doing something beneficial for your mental state today. The brain doesn't wait for the event to start rewarding you.
Life gets stressful. Work gets hard. The everyday grind has a way of wearing people down. Having something good on the horizon gives you a psychological anchor, a reason to push through the tough stretches.
Research has linked positive future thinking to lower rates of anxiety and depression. When people have things to look forward to, they tend to cope better with current stress because the "future" feels brighter and more worth working toward.
Here's something that might surprise you: anticipation doesn't just lift your mood. It can also sharpen your focus and boost your productivity.
When you have a reward in sight (a vacation, a big event, a special weekend), it becomes easier to stay engaged and put in the effort to get there. That's why "treat yourself" is more than a fun phrase. It's actually solid psychological strategy.
Anticipatory joy gives you something to hold onto during difficult moments. When the present feels heavy, the future can feel like a lifeline.
People who regularly plan positive experiences tend to report higher overall life satisfaction. Not because their lives are objectively better, but because they've wired their thinking toward the positive more consistently.
Having something to look forward to can boost mood, reduce stress, and create a sense of hope and motivation. Research suggests that positive anticipation activates reward pathways in the brain and supports emotional wellbeing before the event even happens.
Yes. Studies show that anticipating positive experiences can increase happiness and emotional resilience. In many cases, people experience joy not only during meaningful events, but while looking forward to them.
Positive anticipation is the emotional benefit people experience when looking forward to something enjoyable or meaningful in the future.
Future plans can create excitement, purpose, and emotional momentum. Even small moments like a weekend activity, dinner with friends, or an upcoming vacation can help break up routine and improve mood.
While anticipation is not a replacement for systemic burnout solutions, positive experiences and future plans can help create emotional recovery, hope, and mental breaks from stress and routine.
Summer naturally creates a lineup of things to look forward to. That's part of why so many people say summer is their favorite season, even when it's objectively sweaty and busy.
Consider everything summer tends to bring:
Each one of those things becomes a small mental health boost the moment it goes on your calendar. That's not a coincidence. It's anticipation doing its job.
The good news is that this mental health benefit isn't seasonal. You don't have to wait for summer to experience it.
Here's how to intentionally build anticipatory joy into your everyday life, no matter the time of year.
It sounds simple, but this is genuinely one of the most effective wellbeing strategies out there. Pick a date and put something on the calendar. It doesn't have to be expensive or elaborate.
Ideas that work:
The size of the thing matters less than having it there, visible on the horizon.
Part of what makes anticipation so powerful is savoring it. Share what you're excited about with a coworker, a partner, or a friend. Talking about upcoming events extends the enjoyment by keeping the positive feeling active in your mind.
This is also why making plans with other people (rather than solo) tends to amplify the effect. Now two people are benefiting from the anticipation.
This sounds obvious, but a lot of people tamp down their excitement to avoid disappointment. That's a natural protective instinct, but it also robs you of the benefit.
Letting yourself feel genuinely excited, even about small things, trains your brain to notice and amplify positive emotions. Over time, that has real effects on mood and outlook.
Big events are great, but you don't want too much distance between things to look forward to. Try to have something meaningful on the calendar within the next few weeks, not just months away.
A good rule of thumb: always have at least one thing coming up that makes you a little excited when you think about it.
If you're an HR leader or wellness coordinator, this is worth paying attention to.
Employees who have things to look forward to, both inside and outside of work, are generally more engaged, more resilient, and better able to manage day-to-day stress. That's not a small thing.
You can support anticipatory joy in the workplace by:
When the work environment itself gives people something to look forward to, it contributes to a culture where wellbeing is built into the day, not just addressed after burnout hits.
The mental health benefit of looking forward to something is real, science-backed, and surprisingly accessible. You don't need a lavish vacation or a once-in-a-lifetime event to experience it. You just need something on the horizon that makes you feel a spark of excitement.
Summer is a natural reminder of how powerful that feeling can be. But the real opportunity is learning to create that feeling year-round, for yourself and for the people around you.
Put something on the calendar. Let yourself be excited about it. And notice what it does for the rest of your week.