Happier with Gretchen Rubin

By Gretchen Rubin / The Onward Project

Education

What's Happier with Gretchen Rubin about?

Gretchen Rubin is HAPPIER, and she wants you to be happier too. The #1 bestselling author of The Happiness Project and Better Than Before gets more personal than ever as she brings her practical, manageable advice about happiness and good habits to this lively, thought-provoking podcast. Gretchen’s cohost and guinea pig is her younger sister, Elizabeth Craft, a TV writer and producer living in Los Angeles, who (lovingly) refers to Gretchen as her happiness bully. Part of the Cadence13 Network.

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Happier - Ep. 397: Stop “Ph...

09.28.2022

We talk about why we should stop “phubbing” (phone snubbing) people during conversations. We also share suggestions from listeners about simple ways to get more organized, clear clutter, and take medication consistently. Get in touch: @gretchenrubin; @elizabethcraft; [email protected] Get in ...

Happier with Gretchen Rubin episodes:

09.28.2022 Happier - Ep. 397: Stop “Phubbing” People, Plus Hacks to Get Organized, Clear Clutter, and Take Medications We talk about why we should stop “phubbing” (phone snubbing) people during conversations. We also share suggestions from listeners about simple ways to get more organized, clear clutter, and take medication consistently. Get in touch: @gretchenrubin; @elizabethcraft; [email protected] Get in ...
09.26.2022 Little Happier: Does Love Make You Think, “I Must Be at My Very Best?” Fashion icon Diana Vreeland said of her husband, “I can remember always pulling myself up, thinking, ‘I must be at my very best.’” Her observation points to a tension within love: love is unconditional, and love is demanding. Get in ...
09.21.2022 Happier - Ep. 396: Observe the Birthday of a Spiritual Teacher, Plus the “Arrival Fallacy” and Happiness Bullies We talk about why we observe the birthday of our spiritual teachers, discuss the challenge of the “arrival fallacy,” share a hack about creating more kitchen counter space, and tackle a listener question about being a happiness bully. Get in ...
09.19.2022 Little Happier: A Story from the Ancient World Reminds Me to Be Grateful for Literature A story from ancient Greece reminded me how much we humans value literature in all its forms. Get in touch: @gretchenrubin; @elizabethcraft; [email protected] Get in touch on Instagram: @GretchenRubin & @LizCraft Get the podcast show notes by email every week ...
09.17.2022 More Happier - The Value of Childhood Friends and Road Trips, and the Joy of Being Back in a Routine We talk about the special quality of childhood friendships, why it’s nice to be back in a routine after the summer, and ask the question, “Do we have a mall in our life?” Get in touch: @gretchenrubin; @elizabethcraft; [email protected] Get ...
09.14.2022 Happier - Ep. 395: Stay Aware of STUFF, How to Make Time to Rest, & What to Say If You’re at a Loss for Words We talk about why we should stay aware of STUFF, and also how to nudge ourselves to rest even when it’s hard to stop away from the to-do list. We also discuss a terrific conversational hack discussed on a comedy ...
09.12.2022 Little Happier: More Good Advice from My Mother When I became editor-in-chief of the law review at Yale Law School, my mother made a helpful observation about the nature of success. Get in touch: @gretchenrubin; @elizabethcraft; [email protected] Get in touch on Instagram: @GretchenRubin & @LizCraft Get the podcast ...
09.07.2022 Happier - Ep. 394: Fifth Anniversary of “The Four Tendencies!” We Discuss This Personality Framework, Hacks & Insights It’s the fifth anniversary of my book “The Four Tendencies,” so we discuss the “Four Tendencies,” along with hacks, insights, stories, reflections, and free tools about the personality framework. Whether you’re an Obliger, Questioner, Rebel, or Upholder, we talk about ...
09.05.2022 Little Happier: Reframing “I Have to Do It” to “I Get to Do It” Mindy Kaling and I both give examples from our lives of when we reframed “I have to do it” into “I get to do it.” Get in touch: @gretchenrubin; @elizabethcraft; [email protected] Get in touch on Instagram: @GretchenRubin & @LizCraft Get ...
09.03.2022 More Happier - House of the Dragon, Summer of Health—and What Makes a Great Sequel or Prequel? We talk about watching the new TV show “House of the Dragon,” the question of what makes a good sequel, and we celebrate a big anniversary. Get in touch: @gretchenrubin; @elizabethcraft; [email protected] Get in touch on Instagram: @GretchenRubin & @LizCraft ...
08.31.2022 Happier - Ep. 393: Celebrate Labor Day with #HappierLaborDay, an Easy Hack to Delegate Tasks--and Are You Drifting? We suggest using the Labor Day holiday as a catalyst for reflection on our work lives, and also suggest questions to help identify useful changes at work. We also share a simple hack that makes it easier to delegate tasks, ...
08.29.2022 Little Happier: A Free Throw in Basketball Shows the Power of Words Even though players tend to have much better success with the underhanded free throw, few are willing to use this approach, for fear that people will make fun of them for it. Even in the intensely competitive world of professional ...
08.24.2022 Happier - Ep. 392: When Do People Know You’ve Stopped Listening? Plus a Moving Hack and a Way to Put Down Your Phone We talk about why it’s helpful to ask people, “How do you know when I’ve stopped listening?” Plus we discuss a hack that makes moving easier, as well as a hack for putting down our smartphones. Get in touch: @gretchenrubin; ...
08.22.2022 Little Happier: How Refusing to Give Compliments Can Be Re-Framed as an Act of Love Two people give two different interpretations of a family member’s failure to compliment their appearance—one was hurt; one chose to see it as evidence of love and care. Get in touch: @gretchenrubin; @elizabethcraft; [email protected] Get in touch on Instagram: @GretchenRubin ...
08.20.2022 More Happier - Happiness of Easy Shopping Returns, Great Interviews of Interesting People, and Dogs We talk about why we get such a happiness boost from the fact that it’s become easier to return purchases, from reading collections of interviews of fascinating people, and from dogs. Get in touch: @gretchenrubin; @elizabethcraft; [email protected] Get in touch ...
08.17.2022 Happier - Ep. 391: Give Your Memory a Break, a Rebel Talks to His Boss, and What Kind of Procrastinator Are You? We discuss why it’s helpful to give your memory a break, how you can improve your experiences by re-considering the time of day in which you do them, and how a Rebel can talk to his boss. Plus we ask: ...
08.15.2022 Little Happier: Why I Remind Myself, “Get a Hold of Yourself, Meredith.” I’ve always remembered a story that I heard fourth hand—from my roommate’s friend’s sister—and use it to remind myself to buck up. “Get a hold of yourself, Meredith!” Get in touch: @gretchenrubin; @elizabethcraft; [email protected] Get in touch on Instagram: @GretchenRubin ...
08.10.2022 Happier - Ep. 390: Very Special Episode: Tips, Hacks, and Resources for a #HappierLaborDay In honor of upcoming #HappierLaborDay, we discuss different tips, hacks, and resources that have worked for listeners--and for us--to make work life happier, healthier, more productive, and more creative. Get in touch: @gretchenrubin; @elizabethcraft; [email protected] Get in touch on Instagram: ...
08.08.2022 Little Happier: Why My Father Decided to Pay the Tourist Tax When we went on a big family trip, my father told us, “We need to be willing to pay the tourist tax.” That is, by being willing sometimes to pay a bit too much for things, we could have more ...
08.06.2022 More Happier - A Suitcase Returns, Dogs Go on a Trip, and Iconic Singer Joni Mitchell Performs Live We talk about what’s making us happier: my missing suitcase showed up after a week, Elizabeth took her two corgis on the road, and we talked about Joni Mitchell’s already-legendary live performance. Get in touch: @gretchenrubin; @elizabethcraft; [email protected] Get in ...
08.03.2022 Happier - Ep. 389: Take Time to Do What You Do Best, a Hack to Avoid Muscle Injury, and Are You Drinking Enough Water? We talk about an effective way to lower stress: take time to do what you do best. We also discuss how to avoid injury during exercise, and we tackle the common happiness stumbling block of trying to drink enough water. ...
08.01.2022 Little Happier: I Am Traffic, I am Nature When I complain about traffic, I remember that I am traffic. When I admire nature, I remember that I am nature. Get in touch: @gretchenrubin; @elizabethcraft; [email protected] Get in touch on Instagram: @GretchenRubin & @LizCraft Get the podcast show notes ...
07.27.2022 Happier - Ep. 388: Reclaim a Dormant Activity, Share a Podcast Episode, and What Kind of Collector Are You? We talk about why you might try to reclaim a dormant activity and ask the question “What kind of collector are you?” And we point out that it’s very easy to share a particular podcast episode to someone who might ...
07.25.2022 Little Happier: One Way that TV Can Make Us Happier For some people, TV can offer a kind of company that gives them comfort when they’re feeling alone or frightened. Get in touch: @gretchenrubin; @elizabethcraft; [email protected] Get in touch on Instagram: @GretchenRubin & @LizCraft Get the podcast show notes by ...
07.23.2022 More Happier - An Airport Epiphany, a Mystery Solved, and the Happiness of More Storage We talk about a realization that Elizabeth had while waiting to board an airplane, and how a visit to the Met satisfied a longtime curiosity. Plus, the special satisfaction of getting more storage space. Get in touch: @gretchenrubin; @elizabethcraft; [email protected] ...
07.20.2022 Happier - Ep. 387: Create a Five-Senses Portrait, Protect Bicyclists, and Ideas for Designing Your Summer We talk about why creating a five-senses portrait of someone you love can help you appreciate their outer and inner presence. We also highlight an easy hack to protect bicyclists and share a listener’s question about how to use a ...
07.18.2022 Little Happier: Nothing Makes Me Happier Than a Great Twist in a Story It makes me so happy to watch the video of the actors of “The Good Place” learning about the big twist in the Season One finale—to see the surprise and delight in their faces. Get in touch: @gretchenrubin; @elizabethcraft; [email protected] ...
07.13.2022 Happier - Ep. 386: Find the Right Metaphor, Chop Your Salad, and Why That Line Seems to Move So Slowly We discuss why choosing the right metaphor can help us better to reframe a situation, why understanding the psychology of waiting in line can make waiting more bearable, and offer a salad-related hack. Get in touch: @gretchenrubin; @elizabethcraft; [email protected] Get ...
07.11.2022 Little Happier: Have You Ever Wanted Something Just Because Someone Else Wanted It? Oscar Wilde and Andy Warhol made the same observation: Sometimes, we want something or do something just because we know that someone else might want it. Get in touch: @gretchenrubin; @elizabethcraft; [email protected] Get in touch on Instagram: @GretchenRubin & @LizCraft ...
07.09.2022 More Happier - The Fun of Family Travel, Challenges of TV Casting, and How to Be Happier at Home We talk about summer travels, discuss a question about casting a TV show, and recommend yet more great material from Paul McCartney. Get in touch: @gretchenrubin; @elizabethcraft; [email protected] Get in touch on Instagram: @GretchenRubin & @LizCraft Get the podcast show ...
07.06.2022 Happier - Ep. 385: Keep a Commonplace Book, Hacks for Headache and Parents, and Preventing Interruptions We talk about the value of keeping a commonplace book (which I’ve done since I was ten years old), and we offer a hack for keeping perspective as a parent—plus a bonus hack for headaches. Plus a listener asks, “How ...
07.04.2022 Little Happier: Do You Know Any “Help-Rejecting Complainers?” Knowing the phrase “help-rejecting complainer” may make it easier to identify, and therefore address, a challenging pattern of behavior. Get in touch: @gretchenrubin; @elizabethcraft; [email protected] Get in touch on Instagram: @GretchenRubin & @LizCraft Get the podcast show notes by email ...
06.29.2022 Happier - Ep. 384: We Use Halfway Day to Review Our “22 for 22” Lists and #Rest22in22 (We’ve Made Some Progress) July 2 is Halfway Day, and we use that date as a catalyst to review how we’re doing on our “22 for 22” lists as well as how we’re doing with #Rest22in22. Get in touch: @gretchenrubin; @elizabethcraft; [email protected] Get in ...
06.27.2022 Little Happier: The Positive Value of Negative Emotions People sometimes assume that “a happy life” is a life without negative emotions, but in fact, negative emotions have a crucial role to play in helping us to create good lives. Get in touch: @gretchenrubin; @elizabethcraft; [email protected] Get in touch ...
06.25.2022 More Happier - The Happiness of a Paul McCartney Concert, the Joy of Aphorisms, and the Delights of Audiobooks We talk about the adventure of going to a Paul McCartney concert, the joy of writing and collecting aphorisms, and the new delight of listening to an audiobook. Get in touch: @gretchenrubin; @elizabethcraft; [email protected] Get in touch on Instagram: @GretchenRubin ...
06.22.2022 Happier - Ep. 383: Reflect on Your One-Word Theme, Talk to a Rebel Who Wants to Switch Jobs, and a “Cool” Hack Because the year is almost half over, we review our one-word themes for 2022 to see how we’re doing. We also discuss an inexpensive item that’s useful to keep around the house (or to give as a gift) as well ...
06.20.2022 Little Happier: The Value of the “Quality of Keeping People Together.” Gertrude Stein wrote that the poet Guillaume Apollinaire had the “quality of keeping people together.” This is a rare and important gift. Get in touch: @gretchenrubin; @elizabethcraft; [email protected] Get in touch on Instagram: @GretchenRubin & @LizCraft Get the podcast show ...
06.15.2022 Happier - Ep. 382: Responsibility-Shifting Questions, Being a Better Manager, and Why You Might Rent a Salad Bowl We discuss why we’re trying to stop asking responsibility-shifting questions (which we both do, often), talk about an easy way to rent little-used items, and talk to legendary Silicon Valley manager Russ Laraway about how to be a better manager. ...
06.13.2022 Little Happier: The Composer Sibelius Had the Right Words to Say about Contralto Marian Anderson When renowned American contralto Marian Anderson visited the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius in his home, he paid her a beautiful tribute. Get in touch: @gretchenrubin; @elizabethcraft; [email protected] Get in touch on Instagram: @GretchenRubin & @LizCraft Get the podcast show notes ...
06.11.2022 More Happier - Why a Necklace and a Dimmer System Made Us Happy. Plus How to Figure Out Someone’s Tendency We talk about why a necklace, a dimmer system, and a TV show made us happier. We also discuss the unintended consequences of watching “Get Back,” the Beatles documentary, as well as a quotation from writer Stephen King. Get in ...
06.08.2022 Happier - Ep. 381: Happier Podcast Book Club: Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey Talk about “The Office” and Being BFFs For the Happier Podcast Book Club, we talk about “The Office BFFs” with Jenna Fischer (Pam) and Angela Kinsey (Angela). We discuss the iconic TV comedy, being best friends, making it in Hollywood, hosting the “Office Ladies” podcast, and more. ...
06.06.2022 Little Happier: Someone Else’s Enthusiasm is a Powerful Teacher Little Happier: Someone Else’s Enthusiasm is a Powerful Teacher Get in touch: @gretchenrubin; @elizabethcraft; [email protected] Get in touch on Instagram: @GretchenRubin & @LizCraft Get the podcast show notes by email every week here: http://gretchenrubin.com/#newsletter Leave a voicemail message on: 774-277-9336 ...
06.01.2022 Happier - Ep. 380: Very Special Episode! Ask Us Anything Every tenth episode is a Very Special Episode, and in this episode we answer questions from listeners about reading, TV-writing, eating habits, the Four Tendencies, whether Elizabeth has written a will yet, and more. Get in touch: @gretchenrubin; @elizabethcraft; [email protected] ...
05.30.2022 Little Happier: Some Brilliant, Short Observations About Human Nature The brilliant aphorisms of writer Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach shed a clear light on human nature. Get in touch: @gretchenrubin; @elizabethcraft; [email protected] Get in touch on Instagram: @GretchenRubin & @LizCraft Get the podcast show notes by email every week here: http://gretchenrubin.com/#newsletter ...
05.28.2022 More Happier - Good News from Fantasy Island, Discovering Books from a Favorite Author, and More Dolly Parton We talk about some exciting news from the world of “Fantasy Island,” discuss the happiness of discovering some new books by a favorite author, and ask, “What would Dolly do?” Get in touch: @gretchenrubin; @elizabethcraft; [email protected] Get in touch on ...
05.25.2022 Happier - Ep. 379: Summer Songs, Family Traditions, and Trouble with a Full Cup of Coffee We talk about why we’re choosing a summer song, take Deep Dive II into wonderful family traditions, and suggest a terrific gift for new graduates. Get in touch: @gretchenrubin; @elizabethcraft; [email protected] Get in touch on Instagram: @GretchenRubin & @LizCraft Get ...
05.23.2022 Little Happier: How a Writer Turned Her Dislike for the Movie “Entourage” into Support for a Cause She Believed In Writer Wendy Molyneux found a way to use her own quirky tastes, and her hilarious writing, to make a contribution in her own way. Get in touch: @gretchenrubin; @elizabethcraft; [email protected] Get in touch on Instagram: @GretchenRubin & @LizCraft Get the ...
05.18.2022 Happier - Ep. 378: Ideas for Family Traditions, an Accountability Hack for Obligers, and We Reveal Our Book Club Choice As we do each year, we make a plan to design our summer, and we do a deep dive into listeners’ ideas for family traditions. A listener suggests an accountability hack for Obligers (or anyone who wants a little accountability). ...
05.16.2022 Little Happier: Agatha Christie Shows How the Games of a Child Can Become the Work as the Adult What we loved to do as a child, for play, we often love to do as an adult, just the way Agatha Christie loved to murmur to The Kittens Get in touch: @gretchenrubin; @elizabethcraft; [email protected] Get in touch on Instagram: ...
05.14.2022 More Happier - The Joy of Watching Movies as a Family, The Power of Music from the Past, and How to Fight Right We talk about how gratifying it is to introduce children to a movie that we love, the fun of listening to music from different times of our lives, and how we can watch TV to learn how to fight right. ...

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