The problem is that it's easy (very easy) to get stuck in local maxima with regards to happiness. Once I'm in the flow of programming, it's definitely more fun than whatever fidget videogame I'm playing while watching Netflix. But getting started is significantly more work, so I procrastinate to the point of not doing it at all. Or like how having an athletic (and thus conventionally attractive) body type opens up far more oppurtunities for greater happiness than being more rotund, but achieving it requires an ongoing sacrifice of short-term gratification (eating less, working out).
In a fantastic quote from Antony Bourdain: "I understand there's a guy inside me who wants to lay in bed, smoke weed all day, and watch cartoons and old movies. My whole life is a series of stratagems to avoid, and outwit, that guy."
When you are watching Netflix while simultaneously playing video games you are most likely hiding from your problems.
I used to do the same(still do sometimes), but these moments of joy are not happiness. They are a distraction from the suffering you are experiencing in real life.
In a fantastic quote from Antony Bourdain: "I understand there's a guy inside me who wants to lay in bed, smoke weed all day, and watch cartoons and old movies. My whole life is a series of stratagems to avoid, and outwit, that guy."