The Happiness Project

A chronicle of my attempts to test-drive every tip, principle and scientific study that promotes happiness.

by Gretchen Rubin

How Fun Is Your Workplace?

In "The Levity Effect: Why it Pays to Lighten Up," Adrian Gostick and Scott Christopher make an interesting argument that “levity” is an extremely effective tool for helping people to work better. An atmosphere of light-heartedness, it turns out, helps people pay attention, eases tensions, and enhances a feeling of connection. Read More

Do You Have the "Quality of Keeping People Together"?

The "quality of keeping people together" seems an important and rare attribute, and although it doesn't come naturally to me, I'm trying to do a better job of it myself, and also to appreciate more the work of the Apollinaire-ish types whose efforts benefit me. Read More

A Secret to More Happiness and Energy? Give Yourself a Bedtime

As a result of my happiness project, I've become a sleep zealot. It's just so obvious to me—from reading the research and from personal experience—that getting enough sleep is a key to a happier life. Read More

There's Nothing Like the Comfort of My Bed to Restore Happiness

Through a mutual friend, I e-met Agapi Stassinopoulos. She has a new book that's just hitting the bookstores, Unbinding the Heart. She grapples with the question of how we can "unbind our hearts" better to experience playfulness, connection, self-expression, and joy. Read More

11 Brilliant Writing Commandments From Henry Miller

Cruising around Pinterest (my new toy), I came across this list of Henry Miller's eleven work commandments, posted by Sadie Skeels. Read More

Would You Want a "Permanent Smell Collection" Like Andy Warhol's?

I've become transfixed with the power of the sense of smell, and I've also been on an Andy Warhol bender lately—not looking at his art, which I don't particularly admire, but reading his writing and his interviews. Read More

Self-Acceptance: Are You an "Alchemist" or a "Leopard?"

As a student of human nature, one of my favorite exercises is to try to divide people into two camps. For instance, I've managed to identify splits like abstainers vs. moderators and under-buyers vs. over-buyers. Read More

Everyone Shines, Given the Right Lighting

I'm so excited for my friend Susan Cain. Her terrific new book, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking, just came out two days ago, and already it has been the subject of a huge amount of buzz, discussion, and debate. Read More

Having Trouble Getting Yourself To Write? 9 Tips

The most challenging aspect of being a writer? Writing. When I find myself struggling to be productive or creative, I remind myself of these nine tips. Read More

Fun Gets Pushed to the End of My To-Do List

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! Read More

Novelty And Challenge Bring Happiness—Right?

It's very true that novelty and challenge bring happiness. It's also very true that novelty and challenge often bring feelings of anxiety, frustration, anger, boredom, and insecurity. Learning to do new things, or to face new situations, isn't always fun. Read More

Happiness: You Bring Your Own Weather to the Picnic

How did I first make the acquaintance of Harlan Coben? His brother and I went to college together, somehow Harlan and I struck up a conversation by email...it's lost in the sands of time. Read More

Daily To Do List for Happiness and Health

I've just started trying to come up with a list of the bare minimum of things we should do every day to be happy and healthy. Read More

I Feel Discouraged By My Messy House

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 in a video, my friend Maria poses a question about some Pigeon of Discontent raised by a blog reader. Read More

Want To Feel Happier? Enjoy Childish Pleasures

My children make me happy for many reasons, of course. But it strikes me that one reason that they make me happy is that they encourage me to engage more deeply with the physical world. Read More

"My Focus? The Overlap Between Things I Can Control and Things That Matter"

I initially got to know Carl Richards's work because he and I share the same literary agent, which creates a fellow-feeling akin to having gone to the the same high school. Read More

9 Common Myths about Clearing Clutter

One of my key realizations about happiness, and a point oddly under-emphasized by positive psychologists, given its emphasis in popular culture, is that Outer order contributes to inner calm. More than it should. Read More

How Can I Stop Being Overwhelmed by Big Projects?

What an Ethan Hawke Movie Reminded Me About Happiness

It has been years since I saw the movie Before Sunrise, but I often find myself thinking about a snippet of conversation from the movie. I finally went back to look up the exact words. Read More

Declare Something "Finished"

As a writer, I've learned that one of the most important things I do is to declare a project "finished." This resolution sounds easy, but I find it very, very difficult to do. Read More

"Volunteering Made Me So Happy That I Altered the Course of My Life"

I met Conor Grennan at a book event in Canada—he was there for his book, Little Princes: One Man's Promise to Bring Home the Lost Children of Nepal, and I was there for The Happiness Project. Read More

Trying to Eat Better? Ask Yourself This Important Question

In honor of many people's New Year's resolutions—"Eat more healthfully," "Cut out sweets," "Lose weight," and the like—I'm re-posting this quiz, to help you determine whether you're a moderator or an abstainer. Read More

How Can I Make Myself Exercise?

The 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! Read More

Happiness Challenge: Saying the Right Thing

I get a tremendous intellectual and emotional satisfaction when I hear someone give exactly the right answer to a difficult question. I was trying to remember some of my favorite examples of this kind of response, because just thinking about them makes me happy. Read More

"My New Mantra: Do One Thing at a Time"

Happiness interview: Rachel Bertsche. Read More

Making New Year's Resolutions? Ask Yourself 6 Questions.

Forty-four percent of Americans make New Year’s resolutions, and I know I always do. I’m more inclined to make resolutions than ever, in fact, because if my happiness project has convinced me of anything, it has convinced me that resolutions—made right—can make a huge difference in boosting happiness. Read More

A Key to Happiness: First Things First

2011 Happiness Challenge: For those of you following the 2011 Happiness Project Challenge, to make 2011 a happier year -- and even if you haven’t officially signed up for the challenge -- welcome for this last week of 2011. Read More

Respond To the Spirit of a Gift

December is the month of gift-giving, and my birthday falls in December, so I get practically all my gifts during this month. Read More

Warning: Blatant Self-Promotion (I'm Warning You!)

Have I suggested that The Happiness Project might make a good holiday gift? I have? Oh right, maybe I have. Read More

Does Waiting In Line Drive You Crazy? 8 Reasons Why.

It's holiday time, and that means waiting in line: at the grocery store, at the airport, at shops, everywhere. I'm an impatient person, and standing in a slow-moving line is one of those very small, maddening aspects of life that drives me crazy. Read More