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 making your bed

is a surprisingly effective and easy way to make yourself happier and why free food can act as a

happiness stumbling block. I'm Gretchen Ruben, a writer who studies happiness, good habits,

and human nature. I'm a New York City and with me is my sister the sage, Elizabeth Kraft,

who's my happiness guinea pig and questioner. That's me, Elizabeth Kraft, a TV writer and producer

living in LA and Gretchen makes me happier, whether I want her to or not. We're going to begin with

the suggestion you can try at home, something small and manageable that actually makes a big difference

about how you feel each day. And our try this at home tip this week is make your bed. And I know

that sounds kind of silly, it seems very trivial. And yet, I've been talking to people about

happiness and habits for years. And the crazy thing is that everything that people talk about,

they try this, they try that, all this thing. The number one thing that people most

often mention is something that actually boosts their happiness every day is to make their bed.

Ah, well, so my question to you is, do you make your bed?

I actually don't often make my bed. I know you always talk about this and it just never strikes me,

is particularly important that I make my bed. So here's my question, do you love not making your bed?

Some people love not making their bed. That's what makes them happy. Do you love not making your bed?

Are you just sort of like you're indifferent to the whole bed thing? I feel pretty indifferent to

the whole bed thing, to be honest with you. The one thing I will say is I think Adam likes it if I

make the bed. So it's like as an act of love, you know, if I'm trying to remind myself to be a good

wife, I'll think, oh, I should make the bed. Pick a few, appreciate the. I don't know if he

appreciates it. He doesn't say he does, but I think that he does. But also, at some level, he notices.

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