No, the answer isn't copious amounts of drugs and alcohol. Believe it or not, it's interruption:

Six studies demonstrate that interrupting a consumption experience can make pleasant experiences more enjoyable and unpleasant experiences more irritating, even though consumers avoid breaks in pleasant experiences and choose breaks in unpleasant experiences. Across a variety of hedonic experiences (e.g., listening to noises or songs, sitting in a massage chair), the authors observe that breaks disrupt hedonic adaptation and, as a result, intensify the subsequent experience.

Source: "Interrupted Consumption: Disrupting Adaptation to Hedonic Experiences" from the Journal of Marketing Research

Related posts:

How to save a lot of money on entertainment.

Time flies when you're having fun - but the reverse is also true:

Does betting on sports make watching them more fun?

You should follow me on Twitter here or subscribe to this blog's feed. If you're a regular reader please support the blog by doing your book and movie shopping at the store. You'll find all my recommendations there. Here are the site's most popular posts of all time.