As you know, if you listen to the show, Elizabeth is hard at work shooting the pilot for the fix.

Because of her work on the pilot, she's not recording in her usual place, and you may notice a difference in the sound quality.

Hello and welcome to Happier, a podcast that gives you strategies and tips for how to build happier habits into your daily life.

This week we'll talk about why you should avoid assigning or accepting homework

and discuss a way to make a big birthday into something that you anticipate instead of something you're ready.

I'm Gretchen Rubin, a writer whose studies happiness, good habits, the four tendencies and human nature.

I'm in New York City and with me is my sister, Elizabeth Kraft, and Elizabeth I have to say, you never try to sneak any homework under me.

That's me, Elizabeth Kraft, a TV writer and producer, living in LA.

And Gretchen, I don't have to give you homework because you just do everything right on the spot.

You don't need homework.

It makes it easy.

I wish that were true.

Elizabeth, before we jump in, we got a great update from Sydney on our Try This At Home of Episode 161, which was to embrace the cheese.

Yes, Sydney says, shortly after I started at my job, another coworker and I were named CoVice Chairs of Office Shenanigans.

We plan fun things for our office to do together every so often, usually happy hours or a team lunch.

We recently raised the bar and planned an office dip-off, a potluck lunch where everyone brings a dip to share.

If your dip is deemed the best, you win bragging rights.

When we planned the dip-off, Shenanigan, we were a little bit worried that people would think it was dorky or that they wouldn't want to put forth the effort to make something and drag it into work or that people would feel too busy to participate.

We need not have worried. Everyone really embraced the cheese and took part.

We ate many delicious dips and had a great time together as a team.

I think this is great. First of all, I love the idea that you're in charge of Office Shenanigans. It's an actual title.

This is a great example of it's really fun to do these things, but people need to participate. Gold start for the idea and then also Gold start for everyone for really embracing the cheese and participating because then it is really fun.

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