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Gretchen Rubin is the author of many books, including the New York Times bestsellers Happier at Home and The Happiness Project. Her books have sold more than a million copies worldwide, in more than thirty languages, and on her popular daily blog, gretchenrubin.com, she reports on her adventures in pursuit of habits and happiness. Rubin started her career in law, and was clerking for Justice Sandra Day O'Connor when she realized she wanted to be a writer.

She’s joining us to talk about her new book, which comes out today, called Better Than Before: Mastering the Habits of Our Everyday Lives.

I'd been reading and writing and talking to people about happiness, and I realized that often when people faced a big happiness challenge, it was because of some HABIT that they couldn't make or break. They knew they'd be happier if they got more sleep, stopped procrastinating, etc., but somehow they just weren't able to put that knowledge into action. So I became very interested (obsessed?) with how people CAN change habits.

Yes, if you know your Tendency, you'll have much better insight into how to form your habits in a way that sticks. For instance, Questioners need reasons, justifications--they hate anything arbitrary or irrational, they love information--they won't stick to a habit unless they really believe it's worthwhile. For Obligers, the key is EXTERNAL ACCOUNTABILITY. This is huge! So many Obligers have told me that this piece of information, as simple as it is, has helped them tremendously.

For instance, an Obliger might not be able to get to the gym on her own, but if she works out with a friend who'll be annoyed if she doesn't show; or a trainer who charges anyway; or takes a class where the teacher notices if she's absent; or goes running with a dog who's dying to go outside, that Obliger will have no trouble at all.

So the key for Obligers, if there's a habit they struggle with, is to create forms of external accountability. But for an Upholder like me, external accountability isn't essential--it might be helpful, but it's not essential.

The 21 strategies are the ones I identified. I have to say, I expected to find 6 or 8! But as I kept researching, I kept identifying more, until every pattern I saw had been accounted for. 21 may seem like a lot -- people may feel overwhelmed at the thought of apply 21 -- but actually it's GOOD. There's a big variety from which to choose, so you can pick the ones that suit your nature and circumstances. I think for many people, seeing the strategies laid out makes them feel more hopeful; they think, "well, I've never tried this before, and it sounds promising!" I made Checklist for Habit Change, a sheet where you can enter the habit you want to change, and brainstorm how you might use the strategies to tackle it. It's a really useful tool, but probably you'd need to read the book to be able to use it.

You're right: there are good distractions and bad distractions. Using distraction as a strategy involves mindfully turning our attention away from something. Say you don't want to pour yourself another glass of wine; or you don't want to turn on the TV. Instead of using your will-power to fight the impulse, you turn your attention to something else. Then you forget the temptation. People often assume that cravings intensify with time, but after 15 minutes, most fade. So if you can hold out for 15 minutes, you're making good progress.

Also, when we're agitated about something -- worked up, but not taking constructive action -- distractions helps to calm us, give us a sense of perspective, a sense of relief. If you're furious about something that happened at work that day, you might decide, "I'm going to watch an episode of The Office, to take my mind off it." You'd get relief. But you're right to point out that distraction needs to be deployed wisely!

Gretchen wrote about four more strategies in this Fast Company article

We have a reader who wants to know: Is it possible to drop a bad habit and start a good habit at that same time?

You mentioned knowing someone else’s tendency if you want to help them change their habits, what about how people can influence you when you are trying to change your habits –what can you do about those outside influences?

Something that you mention in the book, The Strategy of Scheduling is something we write about a lot – can you explain what it is and why it’s important?