We can accept ourselves and also expect more from ourselves.
In my work, I investigate unexpected truths about everyday life—and identify ways we can take happiness from the transcendent to the concrete.
“Every man makes his own summer.”
ROBERTSON DAVIES
DESIGN YOUR YEAR
Happiness Hack:
Design Your Summer
Summer passes in a flash. Here’s how to design your Summer 2026 with intention—a theme, a list, a focus, and room for play.
HAPPIER WITH GRETCHEN RUBIN
Gretchen and Elizabeth reveal their Summer Plans
The Happier hosts discuss how they’re designing their Summer 2026, including Gretchen’s ambitious reading plans and the difficult habit Elizabeth is trying to break this summer.
DESIGN YOUR YEAR
Design Your Summer with the Happier™ App
The Happier™ app offers a variety of tools that make designing your summer practical, fun, and concrete. If you’re not sure where to start, choose a prompt that resonates with you and build from there.
"One of the best ways to make yourself happy is to make others happy. One of the best ways to make others happy is to be happy yourself."
GRETCHEN RUBIN
HAPPINESS
How to Figure Out What’s Fun for You
In a new Substack series, Gretchen explores how self-knowledge can help us identify the activities we truly enjoy, beginning with her lifelong love of children’s literature.
HAPPINESS
Gifts for the Class of 2026
Choosing a graduation gift is a small, happy problem to have. Here are Gretchen’s favorite picks for the grad in your life.
HAPPINESS
A Journal for Someone You Love
The “I Want You to Know” Journal helps you turn memories, gratitude, and affection into a keepsake someone can return to for years.
HAPPIER WITH GRETCHEN RUBIN
Tips to Embrace Elder Care without Losing Yourself
Gretchen discusses the challenges and satisfactions of caregiving with actress Yvette Nicole Brown, author Courtney Martin, and AARP’s senior director of caregiving Rita Choula.
"Outer order can contribute to inner calm."
GRETCHEN RUBIN
ORGANIZATION
Does Getting Organized Feel Better than Vacation?
New research reveals the surprisingly powerful connection between organization, mood, and everyday happiness.
ORGANIZATION
We Transformed This Cluttered Home in 2 Days
Gretchen teamed up with Clutterbug to completely transform a small New York City apartment—creating outer order that’s designed to last.
ORGANIZATION
How to Get Started: Spring Cleaning
Use the shift into spring to reset your space with clutter-clearing ideas that are simple, practical, and even a little fun.
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Tap in to the power of your five senses as a path to a happier, more mindful life.
Unexpected insights and concrete suggestions about how to create a happier life.
Helpful tips, tools, and strategies for building (and breaking) habits.
Understand yourself and others with Gretchen Rubin’s personality framework.
ABOUT GRETCHEN
About Gretchen
Hi, I’m Gretchen Rubin. For more than a decade, I’ve been studying human nature—the science of the soul. My happiness project is to understand myself, the people around me, and how we can move from good intentions to concrete actions to build happier lives.