For our 10th anniversary, we’re revisiting our very first episode of Happier. We discuss how the “one-minute rule” contributes to outer order and inner calm, the difference between a satisficer and a maximizer, and the one-coin loophole. Plus, for the first time, we give ourselves Demerits and Gold Stars.

Resources & Links Related to this episode:

• One Minute Rule
• Are you a satisficer or a maximizer?
• Better than Before

Get in touch: podcast@gretchenrubin.com

Visit Gretchen's website to learn more about Gretchen's best-selling books, products from The Happiness Project Collection, and the Happier app.

Find the transcript for this episode on the episode details page in the Apple Podcasts app.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The inscription on an ancient Greek grave marker illustrates the purpose of preserving art across millennia. A grandmother's words about holding her beloved grandchild, both in life and death, bridge more than two thousand years.

Get in touch: podcast@gretchenrubin.com

Visit Gretchen's website to learn more about Gretchen's best-selling books, products from The Happiness Project Collection, and the Happier app.

Find the transcript for this episode on the episode details page in the Apple Podcasts app.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We review the great debate among listeners about whether our ungrammatical jokes about “More Happier” are fun—or annoying. We also discuss whether, as creative people, we expect our friends and family to read, watch, or listen to what we create. Plus we explore a silly question about whether we’d start to eat an item before we’d pay for it.

Resources and links related to this episode:

• 5 Things Making Me Happy Newsletter
• The Secret Life of Groceries by Benjamin Lorr (Amazon, Bookshop)
• Heads in Beds by Jacob Tomsky (Amazon, Bookshop)
• After Hours with Jamie Rubin podcast
• Eliza Starting at 16 podcast
• People My Age podcast

Get in touch: podcast@gretchenrubin.com

Visit Gretchen's website to learn more about Gretchen's best-selling books, products from The Happiness Project Collection, and the Happier app.

Find the transcript for this episode on the episode details page in the Apple Podcasts app.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For this Very Special Episode, we answer questions from listeners about our relationships, happiness, watercolor, celebrities, our reading habits, and more.

Resources and links related to this episode:

• Bookshop
• Quiz: Fall In Love With Your Next Novel
• Happier in Hollywood Substack
• Simon Haisell's slow read of War and Peace
• Five-Senses Journal
• Dabble Writer
• Elizabeth is reading: Fruit of the Dead by Rachel Lyon (Amazon, Bookshop)
• Gretchen is reading: The Many Lives of Anne Frank by Ruth Franklin (Amazon, Bookshop)

Get in touch: podcast@gretchenrubin.com

Visit Gretchen's website to learn more about Gretchen's best-selling books, products from The Happiness Project Collection, and the Happier app.

Find the transcript for this episode on the episode details page in the Apple Podcasts app.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Three distinct voices—Leonard Woolf, Gerald Heard, and Thomas Merton—point to the same truth world: The value of right action lies not in the results we achieve for others, but in the rightness of the action itself, and its significance for ourselves.

Get in touch: podcast@gretchenrubin.com

Visit Gretchen's website to learn more about Gretchen's best-selling books, products from The Happiness Project Collection, and the Happier app.

Find the transcript for this episode on the episode details page in the Apple Podcasts app.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We talk about the unexpected lessons Elizabeth learned during her family’s emergency evacuation from their home, from the practical (“know your zone”) to the emotional (dogs can provide comfort in displacement). We discuss how information networks proved crucial, the reality of evacuation traffic, and how different people react in crisis. We also explore how to maintain productivity during disruption and the importance of advance preparation, including the value of a well-planned "go bag" and a pre-made list of irreplaceable items.

Resources & Links Related to this episode:

• Habits for Happiness Quiz

Get in touch: podcast@gretchenrubin.com

Visit Gretchen's website to learn more about Gretchen's best-selling books, products from The Happiness Project Collection, and the Happier app.

Find the transcript for this episode on the episode details page in the Apple Podcasts app.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For this Very Special Episode, we answer questions from listeners about relationships, happiness, habits, reading, writing, and working together as sisters.

Resources and links related to this episode:

• Super-Fan Sign-Up
• Elizabeth is reading: Colored Television by Danzy Senna (Amazon, Bookshop)
• Gretchen is reading: A Stitch in Time by Penelope Lively (Amazon, Bookshop)

Get in touch: podcast@gretchenrubin.com

Visit Gretchen's website to learn more about Gretchen's best-selling books, products from The Happiness Project Collection, and the Happier app.

Find the transcript for this episode on the episode details page in the Apple Podcasts app.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.