Forget Nonna-Maxxing. Ask Your Grandmother One Question Instead

You don’t need to interview 1,500 people to benefit from that perspective. Start with one older woman you trust—but don’t simply ask which habits she followed. Some were meaningful choices; others were simply what her time and circumstances demanded. Instead, Pillemer suggests asking: “As you look back over your life, what’s the most important thing you’ve learned that you’d like to pass on to someone younger?”

Then ask her to help you make it small: “What could I do this week to put that lesson into practice?” Trying her answer might make your life a little better, while asking the question could make both of you feel more connected.

This impulse is already bubbling up online. Nonna-maxxing has filled social-media feeds with slow mornings, Sunday dinners, homemade pasta, gardening, knitting, and other routines associated with Italian grandmothers. Hana Ben-Shabat, a generational researcher and founder of Gen Z Planet, believes it’s resonating partly because it offers a reprieve from the algorithms, constant stimulation, and pressure to optimize nearly every aspect of modern life.