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Gretchen Rubin
Healthy LivingWhy I’ve Grown Wary of Accepting Anything That’s Free
Because I’m focused on clutter-busting, I’m now very wary of anything that’s free.
- Healthy Living
Do You Have Any Toys from Childhood that Are Still Important to You?
I have my Hambugins (my name for my ancient, decrepit doll which was a “Baby Huggums”) and Cocoa, my stuffed bear.
- Healthy Living
A Key to Good Habits? Don’t Allow Ourselves to Feel Deprived
Do you find that deprivation makes you feel justified in indulging or breaking a good habit?
- Author Blog Posts
Are You Chronically Late? 8 Tips for Showing Up on Time
Many people have the habit of constantly running late — and they drive themselves, and other people, crazy.
- Healthy Living
The Danger of the Finish Line
Also, once we decide that we’ve achieved success, we tend to stop moving forward.
- Healthy Living
Has a “Clean Slate” Ever Led to a Major Habit Change for You?
One effective strategy is the Clean Slate.
- Healthy Living
How Do You Feel About the Need to Pay — or Something for Free?
Also, for many people, paying for something makes them more likely to do it.
- Healthy Living
Lost Your Keys Again? 8 Tips for Finding Misplaced Objects
Keeping track of my stuff. Not being able to find something is a minor challenge to happiness, of course — but it’s one of those minor things that can make me crazy.
- Healthy Living
Why Can’t You Exercise Regularly? One Reason: Convenience
We can use this tendency to help strengthen our habits.
- Healthy Living
Further Secrets of Adulthood — for Habits
Many of my latest Secrets of Adulthood relate to habits:
- Healthy Living
Can You Add to This List of Famous Upholders, Questioners, Rebels, and Obligers?
I want to provide examples of the Rubin Tendencies from well-known movies, TV shows, and literature, or from memoirs, autobiographies, or biographies.
- Healthy Living
What Are Your Treats? Do You Have Any that Don’t Look like Treats?
What exactly counts as a “treat?” A treat is different from a reward, which must be justified or earned. A treat is a small pleasure or indulgence that we give to ourselves just because we want it.
- Healthy Living
Do You Find it Hard to Turn Off the Light, Even when You Need the Sleep?
For me, sleep is a self-reinforcing habit; I feel so much better when I get enough sleep that I find it fairly easy to respect my bedtime.
- Healthy Living
Want to Read About Writing? Here Are My Five Favorite Books About Writing
How about you? What are your favorite books about writing?
- Healthy Living
Want to Know Yourself Better, to Shape Your Habits Better? Take This Quiz
If we want to foster habits successfully, we must know ourselves.
- Healthy Living
My New Habit for Tackling Nagging Tasks: Power Hour
But how could I form a single habit to cover a bunch of non-recurring, highly diverse tasks?
- Healthy Living
The Habits We Most Want to Foster, Or, the “Essential Seven.”
It was my interest in happiness that led me to the subject of habits, and of course, the study of habits is really the study of happiness.
- Healthy Living
What Habit Would Add the Most to Your Happiness? Does it Fall in These Five Categories?
When I talk to people about their happiness challenges, they often point to hurdles related to a habit they want to make or break.
- Author Blog Posts
Did You See the Movie “Enough Said”? and Some Thoughts on Shared Work
There are seven rules of shared work, and the movie highlights three of them:
- Healthy Living
Strategy of Loophole-Spotting #1: The False Choice Loophole
falsechoiceI have a split life right now. Part of the time I’m focused on my new paperback Happier at Home (about how to be happier at home), and part of the time I’m focused on writing the forthcoming Before and After (about habit-formation).