Blog Posts by Gretchen Rubin

crayons-21I've read a lot of advice about how to spark creativity. Everyone's creativity takes a different form, however, so the advice that works varies from person to person.

For example, I put a lot of pressure on myself to be efficient and productive. One of my struggles, therefore, is to allow myself to spend time on activities that don't pay off in some direct way. Creativity often involves play, digression, exploration, experimentation, and failed attempts; it doesn't always look productive.

As ludicrous as it may sound, I have to force myself to wander, and schedule time for goofing off.

Here are some creativity-boosting strategies that work for me:

1. Take notes. I have a compulsion to take notes as I read. I write down quotations and bits of information that catch my interest. In fact, all my book projects have really been ways to justify taking the notes that I most wanted to take.

I used to fight the urge to take notes that weren't related to a specific

Each week, I post a video about some Pigeon of Discontent raised by a reader. Because, as much as we try to find the Bluebird of Happiness, we're also plagued by the Pigeons of Discontent.

This week's Pigeon of Discontent, suggested by a reader, is: "I want to make time for fun."

If you want to read more about this resolution, check out…

Have fun that's actually fun-for you.

Quiz: How fun is your workplace? Your home?

5 myths about fighting the blues.

How about you? Have you found any strategies for making sure that you make time for fun, for leisure, for goofing off? It's important, I think; otherwise we start to feel depleted and harassed.

You can post your own Pigeon of Discontent at any time; also, from time to time, I'll make a special call for suggestions.

You can check out the archives of videos here.

Also ...

• I enjoy the site Pinterest, which allows you to pin the images that interest you onto a board (get it? "pinterest").

steve_martin_B1Last week, I read Steve Martin's memoir of his time learning and doing stand-up comedy, Born Standing Up: A Comic's Life. I loved it.

It's a terrific example of one of my favorite kinds of books: someone coming into his or her vocation. I love reading about why people become interested in particular subjects or skills, and how they master them.

Just in the last year, I've read several outstanding books of this type, such as E. O. Wilson's Naturalist, Bob Dylan's Chronicles: Volume One, Rosanne Cash's Composed, Patti Smith's Just Kids, and Eugene Delacroix's Journal.

Do you have any suggestions? I just can't get enough of this kind of thing. Perhaps surprisingly, it doesn't matter if I'm interested in the underlying subject. I'm not much interested in music, for example, but I loved reading about the experiences of these musicians. And I'm definitely not much interested in ants.

Odd sidenote: you never know when you're going to get an insight into yourself and your

unmade-bedWhen people tell me they've done their own happiness projects, I always ask, "What resolutions did you try? What worked for you?"

One answer comes up more than any other. I'm not saying that this is the most significant thing you could do to boost your happiness, but it does seem to be a thing that people actually do-and that boosts their happiness.

This most popular resolution? To make your bed.

Now, it's true that some people thrive on a little chaos. They find a disorderly room to be comfy and casual. When one of my friends was growing up, her mother made such a big deal of keeping the house clean that now my friend has gone far in the opposite direction. Very far. Most people, however, even if they may find it tough to keep things tidy, prefer to live in orderly surroundings.

It's a Secret of Adulthood: for most people, outer order contributes to inner calm.

If you love a calm environment, making the bed is one of the quickest, easiest steps to cultivate a sense

silverwareOne thing is true about happiness: there are very few new truths out there. The greatest minds in history have turned their attention to the subject, so while it's often challenging to put that wisdom into actual practice, it's pretty clear what kinds of actions are likely to yield a happier life.

Likewise, "tips lists" have been around for a long time. I get a big kick out of uncovering tips lists from the past: Sydney Smith's tips for cheering yourself up from 1820, Francis Bacon's tips for how to be happy from 1625, Lord Chesterfield's tips for pleasing in society from 1774.

In De Civilitate Morum Puerilium Libellus: A Handbook on Good Manners for Children, Erasmus gave seven tips about how to behave yourself around other people. He wrote this list around 1500 A.D., and his advice has a long shelf life.

According to Erasmus, you should not…
1. gossip
2. tell unkind stories
3. boast
4. indulge in self-display
5. seek to defeat others in

gone-fishingRecently, I posted a question: What are the small treats you give yourself?

I was very interested to see the range of "treats" people identified in the comments, and I got some good ideas for myself.

I do think it's important to take time for treats, because treats help us to feel energized, restored, and light-hearted. Without them, we can start to feel resentful, depleted, and irritable. My younger daughter has "Choice Time" every day in first grade, and I think we adults need some "Choice Time" ourselves, at least occasionally.

However, in identifying treats, I wonder if other people face the same challenge that I often face: making time for those treats.

People listed treats like rollerblading, making bread, and a hot bath-all great treats, for the right person, but they take some time and energy to set up.

In my case, one of my favorite treats is reading children's and young-adult literature. Right now my stack includes Diana Wynne Jones's Dogsbody, Robin

hughmacleodHappiness interview: Hugh MacLeod.

Hugh is a cartoonist with a wildly popular blog, gapingvoid. He is the master of capturing a large idea in a single drawing, and a great deal of his work focuses on happiness: how to find happiness in work; how to have the courage to be yourself, do what you love, and take risks; how to build a life around your own values, interests, and temperament.

He has a new book, Freedom Is Blogging in Your Underwear, where he explores how blogging, and the intellectual and creative freedom it gives him, changed his life.

Having a blog isn't the right route to happiness for everyone, of course. But zoikes, it's a thrilling tool. And his book is really about how to think big for yourself and the possibilities that the internet offers.

Gretchen: What's a simple activity that consistently makes you happier?
Hugh: Besides being with my loved ones, the most important and happiest part of my daily routine is finding that quiet, solitary one- or

Each week, I post a video about some Pigeon of Discontent raised by a reader. Because, as much as we try to find the Bluebird of Happiness, we're also plagued by the Pigeons of Discontent.

This week's Pigeon of Discontent, suggested by a reader, is: "I say 'yes'; I want to say 'no'."

I Say Yes; I Want To Say No.

If you want to read more about this resolution, check out…

Why you shouldn't let that dreaded call go to voicemail.

Looking for a way to make your emails more efficient?

Why Gilda Radner, Gene Wilder, and the fundamental attribution error are relevant to happiness.

How about you? Have you found ways to keep yourself from getting over-committed or agreeing to do things that, in the end, you realize that you don't want to be doing? One good personal commandment is "Just say yes"'; another good personal commandment is "Just say no."