Update
Due to the enthusiasm for my new “Habits for Happiness” quiz, I’m offering a workshop on how to put your new habit into place. Join on February 29 to spend part of your Leap Day figuring out how to boost your happiness in 2024.
Try This at Home
Treat yourself like a professor — the next in our series, along with treat yourself like a toddler, treat yourself like a puppy, and treat yourself like a teenager.
Happiness Hack
The opposite of a profound truth is also true.
It’s a happiness-booster to unsubscribe to newsletters, and it’s a happiness-booster to subscribe to newsletters.
The “Write” Way
We share tips, resources, and ideas from listeners who are joining in the 2024 annual challenge of “Write 24 in 24.”
Read more about “Write 24 in ’24” here.
Listen to us discuss the challenge in episode 461.
In the segment, we mention…
- the TimeHop app
- Embrace Your Weird by Felicia Day (Amazon, Bookshop)
- Don’t Break the Chain Habit Tracker
- One-Sentence Journal
- Five-Senses Journal
- Journal app for iPhone
- The Book of Delights by Ross Gay (Amazon, Bookshop)— we interviewed Ross Gay in episode 223
- Own It: The Secret to Life by Diane von Furstenberg (Amazon, Bookshop)
- Love, Loss, and What I Wore by Ilene Beckerman (Amazon, Bookshop)
- The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron (Amazon, Bookshop)
- The “Four Tendencies” quiz: Learn whether you’re an Upholder, Questioner, Obliger or Rebel
Listener Answer
Take the “Habits for Happiness” quiz to get a personalized answer to the question: “What’s the next new habit that will make me happier?”
After you take the quiz, I’d love to know whether your answer rings true for you, and what you’re doing, once you get your answer. Let me know!
Demerits & Gold Stars
Gretchen’s Demerit: I wasn’t dressing warmly enough for the winter weather.
Elizabeth’s Gold Star: Elizabeth gives a gold star to her husband Adam, who realized that they could donate most of their son Jack’s art supplies, and in that way, free up much-needed cabinet space.
Resource
Check out the Aims Workshop. Spend your Leap Day thinking about how to tackle a habit that will boost your happiness in 2024.
What We’re Reading
*This transcript is unedited*
[467]
[music]
Gretchen
Hello and welcome to a happier A podcast where we talk about ideas, strategies, hacks and tips for building happier habits into our everyday lives. This week we’ll talk about why you might treat yourself like a professor, and we’ll share lots of insights, resources and hacks from listeners who are doing hashtag write 24 and 24.
Elizabeth
Our annual challenge this year.
Elizabeth
I’m Gretchen Rubin, a writer who studies happiness, good habits, The Five Senses, Human Nature. I’m in my little home office here in New York City. And joining me today from L.A. is my sister, Elizabeth Craft, who I will treat like a professor. Professor Craft.
Gretchen
That’s me, Elizabeth Craft, a TV writer and producer living in L.A. And I’m happy to report I have been writing every day in my one sentence journal for right. 24 and 24.
Elizabeth
It’s happening.
Gretchen
Yes.
Elizabeth
Before we launch in, people are loving the Habits for Happiness Quiz, which you can take, of course, at Gretchen Rubicam slash quiz. But because there is so much enthusiasm and so many people have been taking it and I’ve been hearing about what habits people are starting and what challenges they’re facing. And, you know, are there ideas for how to stick to these new habits?
Elizabeth
I am going to offer a workshop on these themes on February 29th. That’s sleep day. So it’s fun to do something on Leap Day thinking about the next thing you’ll want to do in 2024 so you can enroll at happier cars.com. Slash workshop. I am loving hearing everybody’s responses to this quiz. So take the quiz. Come join the workshop.
Elizabeth
It’s going to be really interesting.
Gretchen
Yes, you are looking for something to do on Leap.
Elizabeth
I love a lovely day.
Gretchen
And then, Gretch, This comes from Julie. She said I was listening to episode 462 about stating your preference, and it reminded me of a strategy my friend taught me when she and her husband are brainstorming ideas about what to do over the weekend, they each rank their ideas 1 to 10 if they really want to do something, they give it a ten.
Gretchen
If they really don’t, they give it a one. If they both give us something a high or low ranking, it’s an easy decision. They do it or skip it. If they’re a mismatch, say one of them is a nine, but the other is a three. The one who is a nine asks, What would it take to get you to a six?
Gretchen
For example, leaving an event early, going to a cheaper restaurant, etc.. I love this strategy and use it with my partner. When we are both decision fatigued, we are both questioners and have a one year old. So that happens a lot. Well, this is great.
Elizabeth
I love this idea. It’s very.
Gretchen
Game of.
Elizabeth
Yeah, gamify it and sort of objectifies it too. So you’re like, okay, let’s give it a number. Excellent suggestion. And ah, try this at home. Tip this week is to treat yourself like a professor. Maybe it’s more like consider yourself as a professor, but treat yourself like a professor.
Gretchen
And Gretchen, we have a series of these. Treat yourself like a toddler. Treat yourself like a puppy. Treat yourself like a teenager. So now a professor.
Elizabeth
Yes. And these are valuable strategies because research shows that often when we think of ourselves in the third person, we get a different perspective. And it is well established that we are much better at dealing with other people’s lives and problems than our own. You can give great advice, extremely useful and insightful advice to someone else, but when it comes to thinking and acting on that advice for ourselves, it can be more of a challenge so that when we find ways to distance ourselves from our own situation, we’re often much better at making good decisions, getting insights into what changes might be helpful.
Elizabeth
And in my observation, this process sometimes works even better when we identify ourselves in the context of someone else, like a toddler. How would you treat a toddler? How would you treat a puppy? What would you expect a professor to be able to do? What would your life be like as a professor? And so it is just a new way to give a different framework to our behavior and our decisions.
Gretchen
So what are ways that we might treat ourselves like a professor right.
Elizabeth
Right. Neither one of us has other ever been a professor. I like to just talk classes, but neither one of us has been a professor. But we have ideas.
Gretchen
About what? Yes, we do. We’ve had professors.
Elizabeth
We’ve had professors.
Gretchen
So one thing you could do, Gretch, I was thinking is give yourself office hours. This comes up for me and I think for you as well. If you’re someone that people often ask for advice, career advice or informational interviews. Yeah, career favors for me. You know, reading a script, going to coffee, that kind of thing. Right. I’ve decided what I can do is pick a time when I’m available for that.
Gretchen
So and I think as listener suggested this some time ago, so you can say these are my office hours, so suddenly contacts you. I do that from 11 to 1 on Tuesdays. Right. And slot them in to that time. Because what I find is one of the sort of most difficult parts of giving someone advice is just scheduling it.
Gretchen
Yes. Because they’re always like, well, whatever works for you. And, you know, it just is such a hassle. Yes. What if you say, here is a time that I know works for me, and then if you’ve already filled that slot this week, you give them the next week or the next month or however often you have it set for yourself.
Gretchen
So that’s my office hours.
Elizabeth
I think that’s great. It keeps it manageable. There’s no decision fatigue. It’s like if the slots are full, then you know you’re not going to be doing it 6 hours in one week. So it solves a lot of problems. So that’s great. Office hours. Okay, so my friend is like a student and had accountability issues and I said, well, one thing you might do is go work in a coffee shop, don’t work in your apartment.
Elizabeth
Go work, because I find that if you’re just there with your laptop and you’re like, okay, I’m here for 2 hours, there’s nothing else to do, especially if you like. Don’t let yourself go on the Internet or do your emails. And so you work just because out of sheer boredom, you’re like, I’m here. What am I going to do?
Elizabeth
So it’s a good way to get yourself to work regularly if you’re having trouble. And so he decided to give himself a grant. He said, you know what? I gave myself a $500 grant for coffee and pastries so I can go work in a coffee shop. I buy myself a lovely coffee by myself, a pastry. And then they’ll let me sit in this coffee shop for a reasonable amount of time.
Elizabeth
And that’s how I’d like made the significant progress. And I thought this was so great. That can receiving it as a grant because it’s like this is money that I am spending in order to reach my aims for myself. It’s not. I thought it was just a very skillful way to make it acknowledge that this is an investment in myself.
Elizabeth
It’s something that, if it works, is going to be really worth it. And so you could afford that. So I thought that was very clever.
Gretchen
Or I mean, you could give yourself a $50 grant. Absolutely. Whatever works in your life, right? Another thing you could do is teach what you want to learn or do.
Elizabeth
Yeah, I have many friends who are professors who will decide to teach a class, like a specific seminar or something because there’s something that they want to learn and they’re like, okay, you have to learn this if I’m going to have to teach it. I think there’s even a proverb that the best way to learn is to teach.
Elizabeth
This is an accountability strategy that I’ve heard about from obliges. Like I remember hearing from an obliging who wanted to learn how to do genealogical research. So he signed up to give a class at his local library on it because he’s like, Well, we have to figure out how to do it because I’m going to teach it my husband Jamie, is teaching like a law school seminar, and there’s all this reading that he’s always been really wanting to do, and now he’s like, Yeah, I got to do this reading because it’ll give me all this greater context because he’s talking about things that he knows well.
Elizabeth
But of course there’s always more background legal history. And so because he’s teaching it, he’s learning it, and that’s been great for him.
Gretchen
Yeah, I know when I try to teach people mahjong, it helps me remember it better.
Elizabeth
Yes, it’s just a great strategy generally. And then I have a friend, a writer who had been working at like a very intense pace and needed to give herself a break. And I saw her and she’s like, yeah, I gave myself a sabbatical, a reading sabbatical, and she’s like, I’m doing all I’m doing is reading. I thought that, Wow, that sounds delightful.
Elizabeth
So it was like, I think it was like a month long sabbatical. And then I saw her a while later and I was like, how is your sabbatical? And she goes, you know what? I got an extension.
Gretchen
no, no.
Elizabeth
I mean, as if somebody had awarded her an extension. Anyway, again, I thought that was funny. And it was also it felt like, it’s not like I’m just playing hooky from my writing life. It’s like, this is a reading sabbatical. So it’s still.
Gretchen
Enriching thing to do for my career. Exactly. Self Yeah, but it’s a respite.
Elizabeth
Yes. And she wanted to write a historical fiction, so she was reading all about this period that she needed to know about. So it was very targeted and yet it was also super fun.
Gretchen
Well, it’s a great know yourself better question. If you could take a six month sabbatical, what would you do with that time? Yes.
Elizabeth
Yes. I would love to know people’s answers. And also, some workplaces do offer sabbaticals, not even just academics.
Gretchen
Yes.
Elizabeth
Have you taken a sabbatical? What did you do with your sabbatical and have you taken it? Because I’ve talked to people who can take a sabbatical but just never have. So it’s sort of like, Well, maybe you want to think about that if you’re fortunate enough to be in that position.
Gretchen
Yeah, great. Someone who was at our Happier in Hollywood retreat was on a sabbatical from work.
Elizabeth
interesting facts. yes. There you go. There’s all sorts of things you could do with that time, so let us know if you do try this at home and how treating yourself like a professor works for you. How do you conceive of that? How do you treat yourself like a professor? Let us know on Instagram threads Tik-tok Facebook Drop us an email a podcast at Gretchen Rubin dot com Or as always, you can go to the show notes this is have your cars.com slash 467 for everything related to this episode.
Gretchen
Coming up we’ve got a happiness hack that embraces the idea that the opposite of a truth is also true. But first, this break.
[music]
Gretchen
Okay Gretch we’re back with this week’s Happiness hack.
Elizabeth
Yes this is a hack. So we often say unsubscribe to newsletters that you don’t need. It’s very common advice. It’s very useful advice. All of us get these newsletters. We don’t even know why we’re getting them. And so, yeah, clean out your inbox and clarify your mind by unsubscribing. As you say, the opposite of a profound truth is also true, and I have found great happiness in subscribing to newsletters specifically.
Elizabeth
Okay, so last year I did my 30 Days of Culture, which I loved, and one of the things I realized there were all these things happening that I didn’t know about and why didn’t I know that they were happening? Because how would I know? And so for places like the 92nd Street Y Symphony Space, other places like that, to do a lot of cultural events like McNally Jackson, which is a really big indie bookstore here that does lots and lots of book events.
Elizabeth
I signed up for the newsletters, and so I just take 10 seconds in this, scroll through it quickly to see if there’s anything that catches my eye. And usually there’s not. But every once in a while there’s something that I’m super interested in, and the way that I find out is through newsletters. And so it’s one of these things where think about, well, are there things maybe there’s a museum that I love?
Elizabeth
That’s another newsletter that I got. I get the Met newsletter because then you just puts you in touch with things that make you happier or tie you to your city or tie you to your values. It’s just a great way to get information. And so as much as we talk about not subscribing to them, they’re also very valuable.
Gretchen
Yes. Or I like to subscribe to some of my favorite writers. And then, you know, it’s just a touchpoint. You just feel like you’re getting to know them better.
Elizabeth
Speaking of writers and writing, our next segment is our news segment. Elizabeth the Right Way. This is your idea. Explain the idea for this.
Gretchen
The w r i t e way. This is a segment for our challenge this year, right 24 and 24. There’s so much discussion about writing 24 and 24, so many ideas, tips, hacks. We wanted to have a segment about it. So this is our news segment the right way.
Elizabeth
Yes, because this is said, we always say there’s no one right way, but there is the right way. So little visual pun there. So if you want to read more about write 24 and 24, I’ll post a link to like a big article that I wrote about that in the show notes. I’ll link to that in the show notes, or you can listen to episode 461 where we talk about it, but now we’re going to launch in to share suggestions and ideas and observations from listeners about how they are using their time to write 24 and 24.
Elizabeth
Because remember, you can either do 2 to 4 minutes of writing, which is what you and I are doing. Elizabeth Or you can do 24 minutes of writing. So people are writing about how they are using that writing time.
Gretchen
Yes, Cindy says, I have decided to use Gretchen’s time hop app Hack for my hashtag write 24 and 20 for each day. I have been spending 2 to 4 minutes sharing a photo from the app with a loved one or friend who features in the photo or might enjoy seeing it. I initially started the challenge by writing in a one sentence journal, but soon switched to this idea as I found I can do it from my phone at any time and any location strategy of convenience.
Gretchen
Yeah, this way I am not only remembering beautiful memories, but more importantly am connecting with special people in my life on a regular basis, which is one of my resolutions for the year.
Elizabeth
Wonderful, Patricia said. My spouse and I implemented right 24 and 24. This way we created a designated journal and decorated it with appropriate stickers. Every morning I’m a lark. I write a sentence in the evening. She’s an owl. She writes a sentence that in some way jumps off from mine. Then my next sentence jumps off from hers. In the first 13 days, we have already begun to create a narrative.
Elizabeth
Can’t wait to see what emerges as the year of writing continues. Thanks for the prompt that spawned this creative interaction. So fun.
Gretchen
So fun, Marcy says. This month I am reading and doing the writing exercises in Felicia Day’s Embrace Your weird book Love Felicia Day, which I got as a holiday gift to myself after listening to a Happier and Hollywood episode. It has been 2 to 10 minutes of writing for each exercise, and I usually do one, sometimes two, Karen said.
Elizabeth
I’ve purchased a special journal that I use first thing in the morning with my first cup of coffee when the house is quiet. One side is just about what’s going on in my life, while the other side I list three things. I’m thankful for what I’m currently reading and what I’m working toward on my 24 424 list. I’ve been doing this for about three years now.
Elizabeth
It’s a great way to start my day. Excellent.
Gretchen
And Jacqueline says, My best friend and I decided we were going to be each other’s pen pals for this year of right 24 and 24 Challenge We are lovers and hoarders of beautiful stationery, pens, washi tape stickers and more. So what better way to pair using these items and writing letters back and forth? We are both happier by spending time writing to each other, but using beautiful stationery with great texture and colorful fun artwork.
Gretchen
Although we talk on the phone to each other multiple times a week, writing time has become a sacred ritual.
Elizabeth
And also the things these are keepsakes. You know, this is something that you’ll keep. In addition to having the phone call, Pam says, I write a letter to my mother, who has dementia every day, even though she lives only 45 minutes away. And I see her every week. I also write in three one sentence journals, my 24 and 24 journal where I have tabbed my 24 aspirations, a journal I write about my day in and my don’t break the chain journal.
Gretchen
Actually said I’m using the new journal app that Apple added with the latest iPhone update. It’s helping so much because it’s right there in my phone and it’s super user friendly. I can add a few pictures and recap the day, which is what I’ve been doing, but it also has journaling prompts.
Elizabeth
Yet several listeners mentioned this. This app can be downloaded from the App Store. It’s just called Journal or if you’ve updated your phone to the iOS 17.2, you’ll get it just pop up on your screen. People are having a lot of fun with this. A lot of people mentioned that they were using this as part of their right 24 and 24.
Gretchen
I saw it pop up on my phone.
Elizabeth
I know my using it for. Yeah, it looks like pages that also look like a butterfly. Kind of. Yeah. Yeah. It’s interesting. Check it out. It’s interesting. Well, speaking of doing it on your phone, Erica writes, I have maintained a handwritten gratitude journal for over a decade each night, noting five things for which I am grateful that day.
Elizabeth
This year, after reading Ross Gay, the Book of Delights, and having the new Journal app installed on my phone automatically during an Apple update, I decided to do a daily electronic record of what delighted me during the day, including at least one picture of the delight so far. I am really enjoying this new approach. We interviewed Ross Gay back in episode 223, right when that book, The Book of Delights, had hit the shelves.
Elizabeth
So that was a really fun conversation.
Gretchen
Yes, Barb said. I paired it with one of my 24 for 24 goals practicing my handwriting, which deteriorated significantly following a mini stroke a few years ago. I have set up a few prompts when I don’t feel inspired what I accomplished that day Gratitude, short term goals. I start each entry with a couple of lines of the alphabet to work on my form.
Elizabeth
Excellent. Lisa. Writing is a very big part of my life. I am writing my dissertation for an English Ph.D. but often it turns into a chore instead of a creative endeavor. I really admire how both of you have made writing a part of your creative lives and careers to emphasize creativity and playfulness with writing. I started a mini memoir project that reads like a dictionary in ABC Order.
Elizabeth
I have been writing short essays or stories that redefine a word in the context of my life. The entries are short but are fun, inspiring and playful. I even write most of them on a Google doc on my phone to replace late night scrolling. We mentioned different books that might give people ideas for how they would use their time.
Elizabeth
So I will mention that if you’re interested in like a dictionary format, Diane von Furstenberg, the famous designer, wrote a book along these lines called Own It The Secret to Life, which is also in the A-Z Dictionary format, so that if you want to look at an example of somebody having fun with that, that’s great. I think that’s a really fun approach.
Gretchen
She is so fabulous. Yes, Darcy said. I’ve been making lists in a certain category, like all the dogs I have known and picked one to write about each day. I love that.
Elizabeth
Yeah, well, that reminds me of other books. There’s a book called Love Loss and What I Wore, which does the same thing. You pick a category and then you use it as a way of self-reflection and, you know, to evoke memories. I love that that approach and that road I incorporate writing into my life by keeping a commonplace journal.
Elizabeth
I used to journal a lot in the more general sense, but I found that I already talk about my feelings and issues a lot out loud. I’m a therapist and so is my partner. So journaling served more as a place to spiral and it wasn’t helpful. So instead I keep a commonplace journal. I essentially scrapbook and write captions, take notes on things I learn, do little sketches, plan by weeks and months via bullet journaling, and keep a reading journal where I do collages and reviews of the books I read and she included some pictures and they’re really beautiful.
Elizabeth
A very, very artistic, very thought provoking. So there’s a lot of writing, but there’s also a lot of visual elements to it as well, Richard said.
Gretchen
For many years I’ve written three pages when I get up in the morning, and that is from the morning pages routine from Julia Cameron’s The Artist Way. I know a lot of people love that book.
Elizabeth
absolutely. That’s very popular, Brandy said. I’m in the process of learning Spanish and thought this would be a great way to be consistent in learning. I set a 24 minute timer and right in my notebook I choose a theme to try and expand my vocabulary or sometimes just write about my day After I completed a snap, a photo of it, and text it to a friend who so graciously corrects my errors.
Elizabeth
Typically, I write with coffee and quiet before the day distracts me, knowing I have someone who is waiting to help keeps me even more accountable. that’s good. That’s a little bit of exercise. Accountability. Yeah.
Gretchen
We’re to teachers of another language.
Elizabeth
Yeah, it’s impressive.
Gretchen
Mary Beth said. I have several journals that I write in, depending on what is going on in my life, but my favorite journal is the one I’m keeping for my grandchildren. I write about fun things we have done together and usually print out a picture or draw a picture. I find that my best entries are the ones I write.
Gretchen
After we have been together, I usually write in one of my journals every day. After breakfast. I also write in my happiness one sentence each day journaling at night. I am starting year six.
Elizabeth
Process, Rosie said. At this point I am committing to 2 to 4 minutes a day and I’m giving myself three options. Number one, a health journal. I am recovering from serious health issues and started it during the worst of it. I write any relevant health info of the day and write what? Three things I’ll focus that day to tend myself in my health.
Elizabeth
Number two, a new book journal. It has tracking spaces, but also other items like favorite books and why books I want to read How certain ones inspire me. Quotation ends, etc. And number three, an open journal. I may change this one to a one sentence journal. good range.
Gretchen
Finally, Reese says, I intentionally block out time in the evening and make it an enjoyable task. Tea and biscuits with dim light. I think making it into a discipline or tricking yourself isn’t the way forward. You need to actually want to do it. Something to look forward to at the end of the day goes a very long way, not only in terms of productivity, but also general happiness.
Elizabeth
Well, I have to say that sounds like a rebel approach to me. I feel.
Gretchen
Yeah, totally.
Elizabeth
So here are some observations. This is so fascinating to hear, and I find some of these things surprising. I don’t like people taking this in directions that I hadn’t expected, and one of them was that people have found ways to use this to enforce other aims. So they’re using writing in writing, but they’re doing it to learn language, working on physical writing, sticking with health goals, appreciating the day in the process, strengthening relationships.
Gretchen
Connecting with other people. Yes.
Elizabeth
Right. And so this is something where it’s writing is writing, but then it’s also writing as a tool to strengthen what you’re doing in another direction, which I thought was fascinating. I have to say, I hadn’t really thought about it that way.
Gretchen
No. As always, we learned so much from everybody telling us what they’re doing.
Elizabeth
Well, And I thought another thing that people were doing that was interesting and I stumbled on this myself is having a choice. Like people saying like, I guess because I’m such an upholder, I’m like, You have to pick one way and stick to it. But people having like three journals and being like, Well, I’ll just pick among these three.
Elizabeth
I’ll do whatever makes sense given whatever it is that I want to write about. But I have to say that for me I was like, Which 1 a.m. I going to do? My one house journal or my five senses journal and it really took me a while to realize, Hey, I could do both. Yes. And I did do both.
Elizabeth
So it is this idea that you don’t necessarily have to lock into just one or do everything every single day. As long as you’re doing your daily writing, you could move among different practices. I thought that was a really good thing to think about.
Gretchen
Yeah, when the same goes for the time, you could do 2 to 4 minutes one day and 24 minutes another day. Yeah, doesn’t have to be the same.
Elizabeth
And then also people are tapping into their tendencies. I mean, a lot of people mentioned their tendencies, but even people who didn’t explicitly mention their tendencies, I’m like, this is a blazer. I’m going to text what I wrote to my friend. And that’s accountability. It’s like, okay, that’s great friend, a blogger or people who are like, I do it exactly the same way every day.
Elizabeth
I’m like that also kind of maybe that’s Upholder vibe. So I do think that always thinking about your tendency is helpful because it just makes it easy to set ourselves up for consistent progress if we’re leaning into the strengths of our tendency instead of trying to knuckle through maybe things that are harder for our tendency. And again, if you don’t know what we’re talking about, if you’ve no idea if you’re an upholder, a question, or obliger or rebel, take the quiz.
Elizabeth
Gretchen Rubicon slash quiz and it will give you suggestions about how to set yourself up to be consistent with this.
Gretchen
So keep these coming because we’re going to have the right way throughout the year. So we want to hear more of what you’re doing for 20, right? 24 and 24.
Elizabeth
Absolutely. And speaking of listener answers, because we love listener answers, okay, here is the answer that we want also. So I mentioned the quiz, the Habits for Happiness Quiz. Take the quiz and let us know what answer did you get? So what this quiz will tell you is for you, this is not a general answer. This is the answer for you.
Elizabeth
What’s the next new habit that will make you happier? So what I’m curious is, is like when you get your answer, did it ring true for you? Because whenever a person creates a quiz and I love a quiz, there’s always a thing. It’s like, does this resonate with people? So that’s my first question. And my second question is, once you get that answer, what are you doing?
Elizabeth
Because I’m so curious what people’s actions are because, you know, just having a good intent doesn’t get you very far. You really need to put it into action. So what are people how are people putting this into practice? I am fascinated.
Gretchen
Yeah, it’s been interesting, Gretch. So many people have taken it so fast. This is something we all want to focus in on, clearly.
Elizabeth
Yeah, well, because people ask me that all the time, like, where should I start? So this tells you where to start. But you know what’s interesting about this quiz, and I may have said this before, is with the four tendencies, I really think like you’re probably you are what you are. That doesn’t change over time. But I think this could change very rapidly because as your life changes, as your interest change, as you develop one habit or like maybe something goes wrong or does your schedule changes, I think that people will end up taking this quiz many, many times because we change our lives change.
Elizabeth
So your answer will change. So I think that’s going to be really interesting also to see as time evolves, do you keep getting the same answer and over and over? Does it change anyway? I just find it fascinating to see what results people are getting.
Gretchen
Me, too. All right. Coming up, Gretchen gives herself a winter related demerit. But first, this break.
[music]
Gretchen
All right, Gretch, we are back with demerits and gold stars. You’re up this week with a happiness to merit.
Elizabeth
This is just. Come on. I really should not have to give myself this to married, but I do. Okay, so New York City went through a real cold spell, and it was 19 degrees, 15 degrees. And I was so cold all the time. And then it occurred to me, Hey, I’m not dressing warmly enough. I’m wearing my regular yoga pants, I’m wearing cotton socks, I’m wearing just like a regular sweater.
Elizabeth
And then I’m like, you know what? Identify the problem. You are too cold. So I started wearing long underwear. My fleecy I have yoga pants that are kind of like fleecy My mother in law for my birthday a couple of years ago gave me I don’t know how to describe it. It’s like a long shirt. It’s like a sweater shirt that I just put on over my clothes that just gives me another layer.
Elizabeth
I made sure I didn’t go any time without my fingerless gloves. And you know what? I was a lot more comfortable because it turns out that when we talked about this with Go outside 23 and 23, like dress for.
Gretchen
Treat yourself like a toddler. Gretch, you wouldn’t have your toddler going around in cotton yoga pants. Yeah, 19 degrees.
Elizabeth
Well, and it’s funny because I remember I really got kind of my happiness boys self came out with my father in law because my father in law also really runs cold. He and I are always together in the family. We’re always the one thing like, it’s too cold in here. But like I was thinking of him in the middle of winter, he was wearing like, cotton khaki pants.
Elizabeth
And he said, But you’ve got to wear something that’s warmer. So here I am telling him this, but I need to dress more warmly too. So yes, dress for the weather and it will make a difference. But let’s just take us up. What is your gold star?
Gretchen
All right, Gretch, I am giving a gold star to Adam because he realized how we didn’t realize this before. I don’t know. But it occurred to him that we had a bunch of shelves that we could consolidate and clear out and give ourselves a lot more space because we had all these shelves dedicated to sort of jacks markers and crayons and construction paper and stamps and ink pads from when he was younger that he really doesn’t use anymore.
Gretchen
Yes, he still needs some markers, some crayons. Yeah, but not like shelves worth of art supplies. Yes. So it’s now been consolidated and I was able to move around a bunch of kitchen stuff that makes it much easier to get to and therefore right will make me use it. So it’s just joyous.
Elizabeth
Yes. Right. And now all those art supplies, like you gave them away to somebody who could use them. So it’s like they’ve gone and lived their, like, happy lives as art supplies. And it’s true. It’s like when it’s easy to put things away and take them out, that we just use them more. And so then they’re not languishing either.
Elizabeth
So I get a vicarious thrill from this.
Gretchen
It’s too bad you weren’t here for that.
Elizabeth
That’s exactly my favorite kind of thing. Like cleaning up art supplies and like.
Gretchen
Yes.
Elizabeth
Yes. Maybe you could use your biscuit tin.
Gretchen
Yes. you know, that’s right.
Elizabeth
Colored paper envelopes in your fancy biscuit tin. Yeah. Yeah. Stay tuned for people’s thoughts on stuff that’s neither trash nor trash Joy.
Gretchen
Great. I love it. So I’m getting an education. And how do you use Altoid tins? This is a whole subculture.
Elizabeth
my gosh. Yes, clearly. Where have we been? Stay tuned for. That’s the research for this week. The resource for this week is check out the Ames Workshop. This is coming up on Leap Day 229. You can enroll at Happy Your Cars.com slash workshop. It’s going to be really, really fun to use that to give us a shot of energy as we head into the rest of 2024.
Elizabeth
And Elizabeth, what are we reading? What are you reading?
Gretchen
I’m reading The Big Short by Michael Lewis.
Elizabeth
And I am reading Humanize: A Makers Guide to Designing Our Cities by Thomas Heatherwick. And that’s it for this episode of Happier. Remember to try this at home. Treat yourself like a professor. Let us know if you tried it and if it works for you.
Gretchen
Thank you to our executive producer Chuck Reed and everyone at Cadence 13. get in touch questions on Instagram and threads and Tik Tok at Gretchen Rubin. I’m on threads and Instagram at Liz Craft. Our email address is podcast at Gretchen Rubin dot com.
Elizabeth
And if you like the show, please be sure to tell a friend and follow us wherever you listen to your podcast. That is how most people discover our show.
Gretchen
Until next week, I’m Elizabeth Craft.
Elizabeth
And I’m Gretchen Rubin. Thanks for joining us. Onward and upward.
Elizabeth
So listen, you know, I am just wishing that I had got my hands. The art supply cupboard. How have you never revealed it to me before? That’s that would be so delightful to tackle.
Gretchen
I know, Gretch, it’s one of those things where it just seemed like it was what it was and always would be. Yes. Never crossed my mind. It could be anything different. Yes. And it’s a revelation.
Elizabeth
It’s funny how that is with clutter. You’re just like, it’s just they’re like, of course we need it there. Of course it has to be. They’re just endlessly fascinated by clutter. Yep.
[music]
From the onward project.