Blog Posts by Gretchen Rubin

Lehrer

Happiness interview: Jonah Lehrer.

I'm a huge fan of Jonah Lehrer's work-and there's a lot of it, because he's insanely prolific-and I'm tremendously interested in the subjects he covers both in his books and in his writings for periodicals like the Wall Street Journal. I rushed out to read How We Decide and Proust Was a Neuroscientist, and I just got my hands on his brand-new book, Imagine: How Creativity Works (an instant New York Times bestseller).

His writing often touches on the issue of happiness, so I wanted to hear what he had to say.

Gretchen: What's a simple activity that consistently makes you happier?
Jonah: I'm a walker. When I feel stuck or stumped or stressed, I go for a stroll, the longer the better. The actual location doesn't really matter. I can derive equal satisfaction from the crush of pedestrians in Manhattan and the desolate landscape of the California desert. I like the beach and the hills, the cities and exurbs.

One of the pleasures of

2012 Happiness Challenge: For those of you following the 2012 Happiness Project Challenge, to make 2012 a happier year-and even if you haven't officially signed up for the challenge-welcome! 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 don't know how I want my home I look."

I Don't Know How I Want My Home To Look.

If you want to read more about this resolution, check out…
7 books that changed the way I see the world.
Quiz: Is your workspace driving you crazy?
How to make yourself happier through "growth."

How about you? Have you found ways to figure out how you want your home to look, if you're not a person who naturally has a strong sense of that?

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

Bunnytoy

Yesterday, I scored a rare victory: I hit on a solution that allowed me to satisfy several resolutions, all meant to make my home more homey, in one stroke. I was able to:

• Clear clutter
• Make life more festive, and
• Make it more festive without giving myself much more work

I laid the groundwork for this solution last year, and yesterday, I saw it pay off.

Last Easter, I had a brilliant idea. I realized that, of the dozens of stuffed animals that cram our shelves, many were bunnies. I went around the apartment and gathered up all the bunnies I could find, stuck them into a bag, and put them away with the Easter decorations. (We have enough stuffed animals that my daughters didn't notice the mass bunny disappearance.)

This year, when I was filling in for the Easter Bunny on Saturday night, I unpacked the several bunnies and sat them around the room (which took five minutes). I was impressed; it was an easy task, yet the bunnies' color and whimsy added

Macaroni-cheese1

One common happiness question is: How do you give yourself a boost? If you're feeling anxious, blue, angry, scared, what can you do to soothe yourself?

Recently, I posted 5 myths for fighting the blues. Okay, those don't work very well. So what does?

One suggestion: find a "comfort food" for your mind. Know what you can do with your brain that will give yourself a comforting break from your worries, at least for a little while. By doing so, you'll re-charge your battery, find it easier to stay calm and cheerful, find it easier to take action to remedy your situation-and you'll sleep better. But this is easier said than done.

We all suffer from "negativity bias," that is, we react to the bad more strongly and persistently than to the comparable good. (What do you remember better, a compliment or a criticism?) Research shows one consequence of negativity bias is that when people's thoughts wander, they tend to begin to brood. Anxious or angry thoughts capture our

Unitednations

*** Aargh! I just realized that I forgot to post this. Well, here it is, a few days late. ***

I spent part of my day over at the United Nations, at a conference on "Wellbeing and Happiness: Defining a New Economic Paradigm" hosted by Bhutan, the country which has championed the idea of using "Gross National Happiness" in place of "Gross National Product" to measure national progress. There's a growing emphasis, throughout the world, in considering new ways for governments to measure and foster the well-being of citizens.

(I got a kick from seeing that the March 28 New York Times article about the conference had the headline The U.N. Happiness Project. Yes, happiness projects for all!)

Because I spend most of my time thinking about how individuals can boost their happiness, I found it very interesting to hear discussion focusing on the role of government, and to think about what indicators should be considered. How do you gauge the happiness and well-being of a country?

Blues Brothers

We all have a few tricks for beating the blues-things we do when we're feeling down. It turns out, however, that several popular strategies don't actually work very well in the long term. Beware if you're tempted to try any of the following (all of which I often, and unsuccessfully, have tried):

1. Comforting yourself with a "treat." Often, the things we choose as "treats" aren't good for us. The pleasure lasts a minute, but then feelings of guilt, loss of control, and other negative consequences just deepen the lousiness of the day. So when you find yourself thinking, "I'll feel better after I have a few beers…a pint of ice cream…a cigarette…a new pair of jeans," ask yourself-will it really make you feel better? It might make you feel worse. In particular, beware of…

2. Letting yourself off the hook. I've found that I sometimes get a real happiness boost from giving something up, quitting something, or breaking a bad habit. When you're feeling down, you might be tempted to

2012 Happiness Challenge: For those of you following the 2012 Happiness Project Challenge, to make 2012 a happier year-and even if you haven't officially signed up for the challenge-welcome! 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: "How can I make my morning easier?"

Download How Can I Make My Mornings Easier

If you want to read more about this resolution, check out…
10 tips to beat clutter...in less than 5 minutes.
7 tips for keeping school-day mornings calm and cheerful.
9 helpful yet realistic tips for personal productivity.

How about you? Have you found any good ways to make your mornings run smoothly? We can all use all the suggestions we can get!

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

Carmirror

Good-bye! I'm off for a week's vacation. Do you ever feel as if it's more work to take a holiday than it would be just to stay home in your usual routine? I'm in that stage right now, but I know I'll be happy once vacation starts.

As I'm getting ready to leave, I'm reminding myself of my Secrets of Adulthood, family vacation pack:

• Less is more.
• Start early if possible.
• When packing an item that might leak, put it in a plastic bag.
• Don't let anyone get too hungry. Especially me.
• Cheerfulness is contagious, and crabbiness is even more contagious.
• Wear sunscreen.
• Carry tissues.
• Remind kids to visit the bathroom-don't wait for the thought to occur to them.
• Never choose the buffet option.
• Get plenty of sleep.
• There's joy in routine, but an occasional disruption makes routine all the sweeter.
• Make it easy to do right, and hard to go wrong.
• Quit while we're ahead.
• Make each of my children helpless with laughter at least