One of my favorite happiness-project resolutions is to “Celebrate minor holidays,” and one of my favorite minor holidays is April Fools’ Day. I always try to prank members of my family—in an easy, fun, gentle way. Nothing too upsetting—and nothing very taxing for me to set up. I’ve turned a carton of milk bright green with food dye, frozen a bowl of cereal, and posted a giant photo of swimming fish inside my daughter’s toilet bowl. As I write about in my new book Life in Five Senses, last year I used “Gelling Joke” to turn my daughter Eleanor’s beverage into (non-toxic) sludge. Even I was sta ..read more

These days, it’s all too easy to feel stuck in your head or trapped behind a screen. You might feel disconnected from your body or the world around you, or as though time is slipping away. One cure? Tap in to your five senses. There are many easy, quick steps you can take to enhance your senses—and by strengthening your awareness and appreciation of your senses, you’ll make your life happier and richer. Boosting your senses will help you to… stay focused and productive connect more deeply with other people evoke and create strong, vivid memories spark creativity have fun feel calmer, less st ..read more

Introducing my new quiz: The Five-Senses Quiz: What’s Your Neglected Sense? We’re all familiar with the five senses—what could be called the Aristotelian Senses or the Kindergarten Senses: seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, and touching. In recent times, researchers have identified many additional senses, such as proprioception, equilibrioception, and interoception. While every sense contributes to our experience, and is fascinating in its own right, these more subtle senses run in the background. Typically we notice them only when they break down. We pay a lot of attention, however, to the ..read more

When I started writing my book Life in Five Senses, I knew that, for me, one of my neglected senses was my sense of hearing. I wanted to learn more to tune in to my hearing—and to do that, music seemed like the obvious place to begin. All human societies have music, and music plays an important role in activities as varied as dancing, physical work, military exercises, and religious observances. Music can help us stay calm, manage pain, stay focused, and feel energized. It can make exertion seem less strenuous—which is why so many people listen to music when they exercise. Despite t ..read more

Visiting a museum to look at art can be an intimidating or overwhelming experience. Most of us aren’t experts, and we might think that we’re not looking at the art in the “right” way. But there’s no one right way to look at art! When I was writing my new book Life in Five Senses, I decided to challenge myself to visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art every day for a year. (I’m extremely fortunate to live within walking distance of the Met.) That year is over, and now I’m on my third year of going to the Met every day. I love these visits! One nice thing: because I go every day, and I’ve joined ..read more

We hear a lot of talk about creativity—but what is creativity, and why do we want it? Though some people may dismiss creativity as something that concerns only artists, many aspects of everyday life allow us to use our creativity. What is creativity? Creativity is the ability to generate new, original ideas. It allows us to spot fresh solutions to problems, think outside the box, imagine new possibilities, and dream up new stories and new experiences to share. Being creative means living in an atmosphere of growth, which is one of the key elements of a happy life. We’re happier when we’r ..read more

For the past few years, on the Happier with Gretchen Rubin podcast, my co-host and sister Elizabeth and I have set an annual challenge for ourselves and readers. This year, it’s “Go Outside 23 in 23“—that is, go outside for 23 minutes each day in 2023. Great things happen when we go outside! Many people—and this is certainly true for me—like to read a book to evoke a certain frame of mind. Also, some people are doing their reading outside as part of their daily outdoor time. So we asked listeners for books they’d suggest for getting in an outdoor mood. They suggested many terrific books ..read more

I’m thrilled to announce the tour for my new book, Life in Five Senses: How Exploring the Senses Got Me Out of My Head and Into the World. What a joy it was to write this book! Now that it’s written, and I’ve stopped my endless editing, I’m really looking forward to going on the road. The book tour will be a fun sensory adventure in itself, plus I love the opportunity to visit bookstores and libraries and to talk to bookish people. Visit the book tour page to find events in your area, buy tickets, and check for updates.  The post Announcing the “Life in Five Senses” Book Tour ..read more

Are you searching for ways to boost your focus and productivity at work? I find that while tips for time management and task prioritization are helpful—”Batch your work!” “Make a to-do list!”—often they ignore the external factors that make it harder to get work done. While researching my book about the five senses, I discovered that to a great degree, it’s often our surroundings, our screens, and other people that hijack our attention. Surroundings: whether we’re working in an office or from home, elements of our environment often grab our attention Screens: whether in the form of a smartpho ..read more

On the Happier with Gretchen Rubin podcast, Elizabeth and I challenged ourselves and listeners to “Go Outside 23 in ‘23”—go outside for 23 minutes a day in 2023. That time outside can include any activity, from hiking up a mountain, to walking across a parking lot, to sitting on your front stoop. Great things happen when we go outside! Going outside boosts our physical and psychological health, gives us more time in nature, and helps us mindfully appreciate the moment and our senses. But weather conditions can make it tough to go outside when it’s too cold, rainy, windy, or hot, or if air c ..read more