Ep. 593: Ditch Your Storage Unit, Plus How to Start a New Tradition

Happier with Gretchen Rubin

Lemonada Media

Health & Fitness, Self-improvement, Education

4.7 • 13.2K Ratings

🗓️ 1 July 2026

⏱️ 41 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Stop renting space for stuff you've forgotten. Plus a simple framework for starting a new tradition. Try This at Home: Make a new tradition — Why creating a deliberate, recurring ritual can strengthen relationships and make scheduling easier. [03:24] Happiness Hack: Treat yourself like your own daughter — The latest in the “treat yourself like a___” series. [11:41] Happiness Stumbling Block: Your storage unit is costing you more than you think. [12:52] Listener Question: How do you set aside worry for a whole season? [20:15] Demerits & Gold Stars: Gretchen's demerit: ongoing battle with foot exercises; Elizabeth's gold star: using the Design Your Summer tool in the Happier app. [28:30] Mentioned in This Episode: Design Your Summer tool Atlas Obscura app Habits for Happiness quiz The Wreck of the Mentor by Eric J. Dolin (Amazon, Bookshop) The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes (Amazon, Bookshop) Connect with Us: Email: podcast@gretchenrubin.com Website: gretchenrubin.com Instagram: @gretchenrubin | @lizcraft Learn more about Gretchen's Four Tendencies framework and take the free quiz. Enjoyed this episode? Leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or rate us on Spotify — it helps other listeners find the show! Find the transcript for this episode on the episode details page in the Apple Podcasts app. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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1:07.8	Hello and welcome to Happier, a podcast where we talk about ways to be happier. Today we'll talk about why you might make a new tradition, oxymoron alert, and we will return to a happiness stumbling block that we have discussed before, but as a happiness bully, I return to it. I'm Gretchen Rubin, a writer who studies happiness,
1:28.7	good habits, and human nature. I'm in New York City. And joining me today from Los Angeles is
1:33.1	my sister Elizabeth Kraft. And Elizabeth, happy almost 4th of July and almost happy 250th to the
1:40.5	United States. That's me, Elizabeth Kraft, a TV writer and producer living in L.A.
1:45.5	And Gratch, I have to add happy birthday to our mom's birthday is on the 4th of July.
1:51.1	Which is an excellent day to have as your birthday, I would say. It's a very celebratory day to
1:56.2	have as your birthday. Yes. Before we jump into this week's episode, we have a few updates. Leah said, I always enjoy
2:04.6	your travel hacks and I wanted to share one of my own. A few years ago, a friend introduced me to the
2:09.8	Atlas Obscura app. You can put in your location when you're traveling and it will show you strange
2:15.3	off the beaten path things to see in the area.
	...

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