Happier with Gretchen Rubin

Latest Episodes:

Halfway Day Check-In—Plus, How to Adjust Your Habits for Summer Jun 20, 2026

Show notes

We revisit a special audio episode from the “Habits for Happiness” course about adapting your habits for summer. With Halfway Day approaching on 7/2, it's a useful reminder that a small adjustment can help you get more out of the season and the second half of the year.

Resources & links related to this episode:

Check out the new Design Your Summer tool in the Happier app

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.

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Ep. 591: How to Fight Perfectionism—Plus a Simple Happiness Hack That Really Matters Jun 17, 2026

Show notes

We discuss how perfectionism is driven not by high standards but by anxiety—and how embracing imperfection is a great way to overcome it. We also share an important reminder about hearing health and why it matters so much for our happiness and wellbeing.

Resources & links related to this episode:

Cass Aarssen—Clutterbug
Life in Five Senses (Amazon, Bookshop)
Check out the Don't Break the Chain Habit Tracker in The Happiness Project Shop
Elizabeth: Rewilding by Jane Green (Amazon, Bookshop)
Gretchen: The Diary of Virginia Wolfe volume 1 (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.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Little Happier: A Valuable Lesson in Happiness from the 2014 London Tube Strike Jun 15, 2026

Show notes

Studies from commuter patterns after the 2014 London Underground Strike illustrate an important point: even when we resist change, it holds the possibility of making our lives better.

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.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

More Happier: Are People Socializing More? Plus, Things That Have Achieved Perfection Jun 13, 2026

Show notes

We explore familiar objects that have achieved perfection—from blue jeans to the perfume bottle—and which ones resonate with us most. We also explore whether people are socializing more since Covid, or if it's just to Elizabeth.

Resources & Links Related to this episode:

Check out my free newsletter, “5 Things Making Me Happy”
Secrets of Adulthood by Gretchen Rubin (Amazon, Bookshop)
Everybody's Autobiography by Gertrude Stein (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.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ep. 590: Very Special Episode! 20 Practical Strategies for Managing Worry Jun 10, 2026

Show notes

We tackle a big happiness stumbling block: worry. We share 20 practical strategies for managing worry—from scheduling time to worry, to recognizing when a worry isn't “ripe,” to making a list, and more.

Resources & links related to this episode:

Kevin Henkes’s Wemberly Worried (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.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Little Happier: A Skyscraper Crisis Holds a Valuable (and True) Lesson Jun 08, 2026

Show notes

A crisis involving the design of the 59-story Citicorp Center illustrates lessons in creativity and the value of constant reevaluation.

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.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Travel Hacks for a Happier Summer Jun 06, 2026

Show notes

We revisit dozens of excellent hacks from listeners about how to make traveling more convenient and less stressful—plus we include some of our own travel-hack discoveries.

Resources & links related to this episode:

You can start Designing Your Summer on the Tools page of the Happier app, or download the app here

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.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ep. 589: Reflect on a Bittersweet Milestone Moment, Plus a New Addition to Our "Treat Yourself Like" Series Jun 03, 2026

Show notes

We discuss why reflecting on a milestone moment—even a difficult one—can be a meaningful happiness practice. We also add a new suggestion to our "treat yourself like" series, and explore a know-yourself-better question about the patterns we fall into before a big trip or challenge.

Resources & links related to this episode:

Not sure what to purchase this Father’s Day? Take the Gift-Giving Quiz

Elizabeth: Brittney Spears, The Woman in Me (Amazon, Bookshop)

Gretchen: Marking Time by Elizabeth Jane Howard (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.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Little Happier: The Hard Lesson I Learned from My Daughter’s Tattoo Jun 01, 2026

Show notes

My daughter’s tattoo taught me an important lesson in parenthood: nothing can become between me and my daughters and cast a shadow.

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.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

More Happier: Dinner for Breakfast? Plus A Basic Question About Very Basic Questions May 30, 2026

Show notes

We explore a surprisingly divisive question: would you eat dinner for breakfast? We also discuss how people learn the unwritten rules of everyday life. Plus, the pleasure of being able to watch, listen, and read as many times as you like.

Resources & links related to this episode:

Life in Five Senses (Amazon, Bookshop)

Quiz: What's Your Most Neglected Sense?

"Design Your Summer"—download the Happier app

Ann Truitt, Turn: The Journal of an Artist (Amazon)

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.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices