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That's lls.org/students. Hello,

1:57

we're here for more Happier, a podcast

1:59

where we get get more happier. Every

2:01

other Saturday, join us for some

2:04

weekend listening as we kick back

2:06

and get more happier. It's observations

2:08

and reflections and ideas about how

2:10

to be happier with a loose

2:12

survive. Hey, Elizabeth. Hi,

2:14

Grudge. So this is a super

2:17

fun episode, but before we launch

2:19

in, here is a reminder. Yes.

2:22

Remember to send in questions

2:25

for Ask Us Anything. We're

2:27

doing an upcoming episode where

2:29

you can ask us anything

2:31

about writing, happiness, good habits,

2:33

our childhood in Kansas City,

2:36

whatever it is, feel free to

2:38

ask it. Whether Elizabeth uses

2:41

the ped egg herself or she only gives

2:43

it to others for holiday gifts, all

2:46

will be revealed. Okay,

2:48

so this episode, Elizabeth, we

2:50

loved you so much. So back

2:52

in episode 443, we did our

2:55

Clear the Decks episode, which was

2:57

strange. I think the happier ladies

2:59

said it was a strange episode

3:02

where we would list things for people

3:04

to do and then ring a

3:06

bell and then it's like, okay,

3:09

stop, go do that thing and then come

3:11

back. People enjoyed that so much that then

3:14

we did Deck the Halls for Clear the

3:16

Decks episode. We're going deep into the deck

3:18

theme. So we'd Clear the Decks,

3:20

which is our first one. Then we had Deck the

3:22

Halls that was specific for holidays and

3:25

this time we're doing it again.

3:28

Yes. For summer Gretchen, we are

3:30

doing Sweep the Deck as in

3:33

sweep the back deck and get

3:35

ready for outside fun. Yeah, well,

3:37

it's time to get ready for

3:39

summer. It's coming. Okay, so as a

3:42

reminder, as you listen, pause

3:45

the show and do the manageable,

3:47

quick, one minute-ish summer prep task

3:49

that we will suggest. And the

3:52

idea is if you do that,

3:55

by the time you finish listening, you will have accomplished

3:57

a lot. You will have done a lot to get

3:59

ready for summer. you'll have all those

4:01

little nagging tasks done. These

4:04

things, they weigh us down. They loom in the

4:07

imagination, or they're kind of like back there, like,

4:09

oh, I gotta remember to do this, I gotta

4:11

remember to do that, and this is weigh us

4:13

down. So this is just like, let's just blast

4:15

through it. Plus, it's a mindset. By

4:17

doing these tasks to get ready for summer,

4:20

you make yourself mentally ready for summer. And

4:22

that will hopefully put you in a good

4:24

mood. Yes, and it's all about approaching it

4:26

with right mindset. Now, of course, if you

4:29

are listening to this while you are driving,

4:31

or you are otherwise occupied doing something important,

4:33

you will have to wait and listen until

4:36

the time that you can join in, but

4:38

that's okay. We will be here. Whenever

4:40

you're ready, we will be ready for

4:43

you. That's right, you could even listen

4:45

and then go back and listen again and actually

4:47

do the tasks. Yes, exactly, which we've heard from

4:49

listeners that many people actually do it that way,

4:51

which is fine. There is no right way or

4:54

wrong way to do a clear the decks exercise.

4:57

And Gretch, because it's 2024, and

5:00

we love a 24 for 2024 list, we

5:03

have selected 24 items for

5:05

the Sweep the Decks episode.

5:07

Yes, exactly, okay, Sweep the

5:09

Deck number one. Check

5:12

your supplies of sunblock and

5:14

bug spray. We all

5:16

use these up, and you got to make sure

5:19

that you're ready for the summer. Yes,

5:21

very important. Okay, number two, make

5:27

a list of three outdoor activities that

5:32

you want to do this summer. So

5:34

examples would be trying a new hike,

5:36

going to the zoo, going on a

5:39

bike ride, maybe even going on a

5:41

camping trip. Yeah, it's what do

5:43

you want to do to enjoy the outdoors? Okay,

5:46

number three,

5:49

make a list of three indoor activities because

5:54

maybe there's bad weather, maybe it's too

5:56

hot, maybe you feel like doing something

5:58

different. So you might plan something. like

6:00

going to an escape room. Elizabeth, you and

6:02

I, we have become big fans of the

6:04

escape room. I love escape rooms. It's fun

6:07

for adults. It's fun for children. It's a

6:09

really good activity. It's very fun to do.

6:11

You want to go bowling, maybe go to

6:13

an IMAX. I don't remember if there's any

6:15

big movies that are coming out in IMAX,

6:18

but IMAX is super fun. An

6:20

arcade. You might think of a museum

6:22

exhibit that you really want to see.

6:24

Make sure that you don't miss it

6:26

before it leaves. Planetarium.

6:29

These are things you do

6:31

indoors. Aquarium. Lots of fun indoor activities

6:33

to do that still have a summary

6:35

vibe. Number

6:41

four, sign up your kids

6:43

or yourself for lessons, camp,

6:45

teams, etc. Okay, admittedly

6:48

Gretchen, this might take longer than

6:50

one minute. Yes. We kind of

6:52

cheated here by baking the task

6:55

to sign up because the signing

6:57

up takes but a minute. But

7:00

the figuring out, now

7:02

that's the hard part. Yes, that can take

7:04

quite a while, but you can take an

7:06

hour to do this if you like. But

7:08

sign up those kids and yourself for lessons,

7:11

camps, teams, etc. Number

7:17

five, get a library card for

7:19

print, audio, and digital books. Plus,

7:21

and here's the thing that's really summary

7:24

about it, Elizabeth, is that one

7:26

thing that has really surprised me is

7:28

now libraries often offer many,

7:30

many things for people to borrow. They

7:32

have books, which of course we both love,

7:34

but they also have things like board games,

7:37

bikes, kids, science kits. That

7:39

can be a really fun summer activity. Color

7:41

blindness classes. This is something that I read

7:43

about when I was writing Life in Five

7:45

Senses. For certain kinds of

7:47

color blindness, especially a kind of

7:49

red-green color blindness, there are these

7:51

glasses that allow people who are

7:53

color blind to perceive color, but

7:55

they're pretty expensive. Maybe you would

7:57

really like to try that. maybe

8:00

your library would let you check them out.

8:02

But so it's really worth exploring whether your

8:04

local library, maybe they have puzzles, maybe they

8:07

have other things that would make your summer

8:09

super fun or Instapot. There's

8:11

all kinds of things that they offer

8:13

that could be fun to use

8:16

for a little while, but then you wouldn't have

8:18

to actually decide that you wanted to invest in

8:20

buying them. And Gretch, I

8:22

say it all the time, my

8:24

Libby membership, my digital library card

8:26

has changed my life. Well,

8:29

the thing about the library card is this is a

8:31

good example of something that you can do at any

8:33

time, often gets done at no time. This is something

8:35

that can really add so much benefit to your life.

8:37

So if you don't have a library card, go

8:40

ahead and sign up, you will be glad you did. This

8:42

is something you can do in less than a minute. You

8:44

can do it. Number

8:50

six, evaluate your

8:52

bathing suit. We

8:54

all know those bathing suits can

8:57

get very saggy. They can rip,

9:00

they can get into very bad shape. You

9:02

gotta make sure you have your bathing suit

9:04

for the summer. I am sad to say

9:06

that I put off getting a new bathing

9:08

suit for like eight years. And then there's

9:10

literally a bathing suit store down like at

9:12

the end of my block. I mean, I

9:15

could not live closer to a bathing suit.

9:17

It's all bathing suits. It's literally like, this

9:19

is a bathing suit store. I went in,

9:21

it took me 10 minutes and I am so excited to

9:24

have this new bathing suit. It's just made my summer. I

9:26

mean, it's sad how much it has added to

9:29

my enjoyment of the summer to have my better

9:31

bathing suit. So evaluate your bathing suit. You don't

9:34

have to go buy the bathing suit right now.

9:36

Just decide where you stand

9:38

with your bathing suit. Number

9:44

seven, evaluate your sunglasses. Maybe

9:46

you still love your sunglasses.

9:49

Maybe your sunglasses need to

9:51

be tightened. Maybe you don't

9:53

like your sunglasses as much. You're gonna make them your

9:56

backup sunglasses and you wanna get a new pair of

9:58

sunglasses. Like, how do you feel about your sunglasses? sunglasses

10:00

because when summer comes we're pulling

10:02

those out even more than ever.

10:04

Gretchen, I just got a new nose piece

10:06

on my sunglasses. Oh I'm ahead of the

10:09

game on this one. Okay that's right so

10:11

it's the sunglasses and all the maintenance of

10:13

the sunglasses. What do you need

10:15

to do with your sunglasses? All

10:22

right coming up we'll be back with

10:24

more Sweep the Decks at first. When

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10:52

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10:54

maybe the most important thing and LinkedIn

10:56

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10:59

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11:01

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11:03

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11:05

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11:07

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11:09

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apply. The

11:47

weather's getting warmer so it's time to

11:49

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11:51

hello to shorts and tees. I wanted

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Alright, Gretchen, we're back

12:53

with our Sweep the Deck for

12:55

summer episode. We're back with number

12:58

eight. Check and

13:00

organize your outdoor clothing and

13:02

shoes. Hiking boots, sun hats,

13:04

snorkel, goggles, etc. Yeah,

13:06

whatever it is that you like to do outdoors, just

13:09

check to see do you have the things that you

13:11

need so that you can be aware of any

13:13

pulls you need to fill. Number

13:18

nine, schedule maintenance for your air

13:20

conditioning because you're using air conditioning

13:22

you want to be in good

13:24

shape. Number

13:30

ten, this is my

13:32

favorite, Gretchen, recommend the happier

13:34

podcast to three people or rate

13:36

and review it. Now I guess

13:38

we should say this isn't strictly

13:40

a summer item and perhaps it's

13:42

a bit self-serving. It's a year-round

13:44

item. Yeah. But we

13:46

couldn't help but put it on the list and

13:49

since we had the ability to put that on

13:51

the list we decided we must. Yes, and because

13:53

I love a rhyming one and I'm challenging myself

13:55

to rhyme this, if you

13:58

like this show tell people you know. Nice.

14:05

Number 11, make a summer reading list. Oh, this is

14:07

so fun. I

14:09

like to have a summer theme, but a lot of people

14:12

like to have beach reads. It's, you know, a lot of

14:14

times one of the pleasures of summer is we have more

14:16

time to read. And many

14:18

people say that they're more likely to get more

14:20

reading done if they know what they want to

14:22

read, if they have a stack ready

14:24

to go. Liz, if you make a summer reading list

14:27

every year, don't you? Well,

14:29

I keep an eye out for what the

14:31

big summer reads are, yes, and make a

14:33

note, because I like to read the big

14:36

summer books. Yeah. That

14:38

is something that I enjoy. So, yes, I keep

14:40

track. Number

14:45

12, budget for

14:47

summer expenses. Not

14:50

the most fun item on the list, but very

14:52

necessary. Yeah, because a lot of times you've got

14:54

unexpected travel or maybe a big activity that you're

14:57

going to do, and you just

14:59

need to figure out how to account for

15:01

that if it's coming up. Not so fun,

15:03

but very, very helpful to do. Number

15:09

13, clean your grill and check for

15:11

needed repairs or fuel. A lot

15:14

of people love to grill in the summer. Jamie

15:16

loves to grill. That's one of

15:18

his favorite summer activities. So make sure you're

15:20

ready to fire it up. Very wise.

15:22

The thing you don't want to do is

15:24

get those burgers all ready to go and

15:26

then not have any fuel for the grill.

15:28

Now, I think people will say, hey, Gretchen

15:30

and Elizabeth, you can't clean your grill in

15:32

a minute. And I think that's true. So

15:35

maybe we should amend that to be

15:37

check your grill and see if you

15:39

need to clean it. But if as you're checking

15:42

your grill and seeing that it needs to be

15:44

cleaned, if you are inspired at that moment to

15:46

clean your grill, you can go ahead and do

15:48

it for extra gold stars. But you can just

15:50

evaluate the condition of your grill for the purposes

15:53

of this exercise. Yes. 14

16:01

set a time to talk to

16:03

your partner family or friends to

16:05

figure out summer plans and travel.

16:08

Now some people have already done this

16:11

but if you haven't thought about it

16:13

yet now is the time everybody get

16:15

those plans underway. Well and listen we've

16:17

experienced this cuz you and i really

16:19

don't like doing things like making airplane

16:22

tickets and stuff it just gets harder

16:24

your options become more limited. Things

16:26

get scheduled that then you can't move like

16:28

if you do it earlier you make

16:31

life easier yes can i tell you what

16:33

i did to give myself a big pat

16:35

on the back oh yes so we find

16:37

jack up for a summer trip this year

16:39

and i did really try to get on

16:41

top of it and do it early. Add

16:44

i went to the website to check and

16:47

saw that all three dates for the trip

16:49

are completely sold out so i might not

16:51

done that he would not be on the

16:53

trip i was. I felt a

16:56

big oh my gosh no and after he

16:58

got his mind set on it to wow

17:01

okay i was like see if when you do

17:03

these things you get to do what you want

17:05

so that was good for me. Yeah

17:08

yeah we've all learned that lesson the hard

17:10

way so that's a good reminder. Number

17:16

fifteen find five items of unwanted

17:18

summer clothes to donate or discard

17:21

maybe it's it is that bathing

17:23

suit or it's the t-shirts that.

17:26

Have seen one too many summers or something

17:28

that doesn't fit so now is the time

17:30

to figure out if it's time to move

17:32

those things out of the closet. Sixteen

17:40

create a summer play list.

17:43

That's a fun one and it's also one

17:45

grudge that can evolve over the summer you

17:48

can start a summer playlist and then as

17:50

the summer goes on keep adding to it. Yeah

17:53

exactly and i've been there sort of a

17:55

song of the summer that emerges as like

17:57

the quintessential song of that summer so. It

18:00

could be fun to put that on your playlist. This is sort

18:02

of a memento. Number

18:07

17, clear out your fridge and freezer. This

18:09

is something that's always useful to do, but

18:11

when there's a new season, I always feel

18:13

like it feels good to clean it out

18:15

and get it ready for, you know, like let's say you're

18:17

gonna get a big watermelon that's gonna take up a bunch

18:20

of space. You wanna get everything that

18:22

you don't need in there out so you

18:24

can have plenty of room for the things you

18:26

wanna put in. Like big thing of strawberries, maybe.

18:32

18, get your car ready for summers. So

18:36

make sure you have sunscreen, a

18:38

sun hat, sunglasses, maybe a lawn

18:40

chair and a beach towel in

18:42

the trunk for spontaneous stops and

18:44

clear out the items that need

18:46

to go. Yeah, so check out your car.

18:53

Number 19, set a goal for

18:55

three things you wanna achieve by the end of the

18:57

summer. These could be little things. These

18:59

could be big things, but just think about

19:01

when Labor Day comes, what

19:03

are three things that your future self

19:05

will be really, really happy that you

19:08

manage to achieve over the summer? And

19:10

we should say these don't have, these can be

19:12

fun things. They don't have to be dreary things.

19:16

Of course, of course. 20,

19:23

check your bicycles, helmets, reflective

19:25

clothing for any maintenance.

19:28

Yeah, if you're gonna be riding your bike, you wanna be ready

19:30

for that. Number

19:35

21, check your supplies

19:37

of summer first aid

19:39

items such as band-aids,

19:41

allergy medication, antibiotic cream,

19:44

lotion for sunburn or bug bites,

19:47

tweezers for ticks and splinters. I don't know

19:49

if you have a tick problem so much

19:51

where you are, Elizabeth, but where I live,

19:53

ticks are a big, big thing. We're constantly

19:55

checking for ticks. And if you find a

19:57

tick, you want your tweezers right there. have

20:01

the tweezers.

20:04

22. Add dates

20:07

of a local summer festivals and events

20:09

to your calendars. So that would be

20:11

a state fair or strawberry picking or

20:14

other things that only happen in the

20:16

summer. I think that's such

20:18

a fun idea, Gretsch, because these things can

20:20

just slide by and you don't realize they

20:22

even happen. But if you take a minute

20:25

and look it up and put it in

20:27

the calendar then it will happen. And I

20:29

have to say, Elizabeth, from our childhood we

20:31

went to the Missouri State Fair twice and

20:34

I have to say those are some of my most vivid

20:36

and happiest memories of being a little kid. Do you

20:38

remember that? Like the pineapple soft ice

20:40

cream and oh and the nachos, the

20:42

funnel cakes, we saw Willie Nelson, we

20:44

saw the Beach Boys, we got it

20:46

we got like a six-foot high stuffed

20:48

dog that was bright pink which we

20:50

named Cotton Candy, which then our poor

20:53

father had to lug around for the

20:55

rest of the evening and which we

20:57

had for like 10 years. Oh

20:59

I think we had it more like 30 years.

21:02

Yeah I wish we had a pic, I don't think we have

21:04

a picture of Cotton Candy. But anyway it's like one of

21:07

our parents had just like oh too

21:09

bad we forgot about the Missouri State Fair because

21:11

it wasn't close it was a long drive it

21:13

was it was an adventure for sure and it

21:15

was a highlight of our childhood. 23.

21:21

Make a plan for a summer potluck

21:23

or barbecue with friends or neighbors. This

21:25

is a time to like do something

21:28

relaxed and fun but something social to

21:30

take advantage of the beautiful weather. And

21:32

it's a good thing to do to kick off

21:34

the summer I think. Yeah yeah yeah or around

21:36

the 4th of July at the end of the

21:38

summer right yeah there's a lot of kind of reasons to do

21:41

it. And

21:46

the last item on sweep the

21:48

deck number 24 decide whether you

21:50

want to do something ambitious with

21:53

your garden or start an herb

21:55

box. Yeah anything

21:57

plant related like do you want to bring? plants

22:00

up into your life. You have a vision for

22:03

that. You don't have to do it right now.

22:05

Just decide if there's something that you would like

22:07

to do this summer with plants. Yeah,

22:09

shockingly, Adam and I actually have

22:11

a plan to redo this path

22:14

that we have in our yard

22:16

which involves us doing a lot

22:18

of weeding, Gretch. So I actually

22:20

shockingly have a plant-related item on

22:23

my list. That is

22:25

amazing. I cannot wait. I'm picturing

22:27

you with like a big

22:29

hat and overalls with your big gardening

22:31

gloves with a thing of shears next

22:33

to you. Very Beatrix Potter in my

22:36

imagination. Send photos. I will keep you

22:38

posted on how that goes. Coming

22:42

up, we'll be back with a spotlight on

22:44

a tool that first this brick. I

22:53

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25:48

Gretchen, what is our spotlight on a tool

25:51

this week? Okay we've been talking about

25:53

a lot of things you can do to get ready for

25:55

summer and if one of the things you want to do

25:57

is you want to design your summer for fun, this month's

25:59

jump and the Happier app

26:01

gives seven days of ideas for

26:04

incorporating more play into our lives.

26:06

The Jumpstart is free to join.

26:08

It starts Sunday, May 19th. You

26:11

can find it on the home screen of the

26:14

Happier app. So you can download the app at

26:16

thehappierapp.com. It's free. This is

26:18

a super fun Jumpstart. A lot of adults

26:20

say that they wanna get more fun out

26:22

of life and so this gives you a

26:24

lot of suggestions for finding more fun. Yes.

26:28

All right Gretchen, what is our quote this week? Okay,

26:31

we talk every year about Design Your

26:33

Summer and I wanted to give the

26:36

quotation that was the original inspiration for

26:38

the idea of Design Your Summer. This

26:40

comes from an essay called Three Worlds,

26:42

Three Summers by a writer

26:44

I love, Robertson Davies, and he writes,

26:47

every man makes his own summer. The

26:49

season has no character of its own

26:52

unless one is a farmer with a professional

26:54

concern for the weather. Circumstances

26:56

have not allowed me to make a good

26:58

summer for myself this year. My

27:01

summer has been overcast by my own

27:03

heaviness of spirits. I

27:05

have not had any adventures and

27:07

adventures are what make a summer. I

27:11

love that. Yeah. Well,

27:13

we hope that the Sweep the Deck will

27:16

help. You have adventures, fun adventures

27:18

for your summer. Tell

27:20

us, are you feeling more happier? Yes,

27:23

I am feeling more happier and more

27:25

ready for summer. Yeah, bring it

27:27

on. Thanks Chuck. Get in

27:29

touch. Gretchen's on threads, TikTok, Facebook

27:32

and Instagram at Gretchen Rubin and

27:34

I'm on threads and Instagram at

27:36

Liz Craft. Our email

27:39

address is podcast at gretchenrubin.com

27:42

and for everything related to

27:44

this episode, links, photos and

27:46

more, go to happiercast.com. Bye

27:49

Gretch. Bye Elizabeth. The

27:51

best time to start a happiness project is

27:54

20 years ago. The second best

27:56

time is now. Well,

28:09

Elizabeth, one of the things at your house

28:12

is your backyard has just got like every

28:14

year it has gotten better and better and

28:16

better. I wish I had like a photograph

28:19

of it so you could see the evolution

28:21

because it's gorgeous now. And

28:24

so now you're going to do something with the path? Yes.

28:26

Well, the path was really nice

28:28

and it's gotten completely overgrown with

28:30

weeds. So we're restoring the path.

28:33

I love our backyard

28:35

and I'm very excited to spend

28:38

time out there. Excellent.

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