Lose things that hold you back

How can I declutter my life and environment? This page provides practical tips on eliminating excess, distractions, and unhelpful relationships to achieve a clearer mind.

This an excerpt from a summary of Benjamin Hardy's book 'Willpower Doesn't Work.' You can access the full book summary via the link icon.

All you have in life is time and energy. Most of us spend a lot on these resources on mental and physical overhead. E.g., going through piles of clothes to find an outfit or deciding what to eat each day. We all carry emotions with us, and relationships that keep us in our current environment.

In line with Newton’s third law, we need a lot of energy to overpower all this force keeping us in place. Willpower can help us wiggle around a little bit but won’t propel us out of our current state. 

When you remove all the excess energy demanded by your environment, you have a chance to get out. Doing so requires a bit of effort in the beginning, but through its savings will be very worthwhile. You’ll want to return to your present environment, as it has brought you comfort and an identity of sorts.

Eliminate stuff

Before you can have a clear mind, you need to have a clear environment. To start any change, you need to remove everything that you do not use on a regular basis. When you’re done, think of an upper limit: how many shirts do you want to own? How many emails can be in your mailbox at once? If you have a cluttered environment, you’ll have a messy mind. Everything is baggage that requires carrying. Two book recommendations in this domain:

  • Marie Kondo’s The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing
  • Greg McKeown’s Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less

Eliminate distractions

Every environment is optimized for something. Most people’s environment is laden with triggers for unconscious dopamine seeking. The more dopamine-triggers in your environment, the more your brain will depend on it.

The best place to start is (probably) your phone. Remove all the apps that do not help you become better at what you are trying to do. When you do not need it, put it away, in a place where you cannot feel or see it at all.

Eliminate options

Options lead to indecision, dissatisfaction with the choices you’ve made and lack of commitment. Eliminating choices from your life requires that you know what you want. Success means taking twenty steps in one direction, instead of one step in twenty directions. Once you commit to a goal, decisions become easier.

At first it may seem difficult to limit the choices in your life. We all want to experience everything and not miss out. You’ll find however, that limiting your choices makes your life feel richer and more meaningful. By discharging the ‘bit of everything else’ the things you do become more rewarding. You’ll be surprised how peaceful life becomes when you are in an environment aligned with your highest values and aspirations.

Eliminate people

Similar to our environment, we adapt our behaviour to the people with which we directly interact. By keeping certain relationships, we lock ourselves into our current state. 

Surround yourself with people who remind you more of your future than your past.

Dan Sullivan

This doesn’t mean that you should banish people from your life. It is about establishing boundaries that prevent you from adapting negatively.

Eliminate working memory

Keeping things is your short-term memory is incredibly exhausting. Because you’re working to hold ideas and thoughts in your head, you can’t let your mind wander and get new insights.

This problem is easily solved. All you must do is record (written, digitally, voice memo) the things that come up that you (might) need later. You outsource your thinking to your environment.

Furthermore, if the thought involves an action, live by the following rule: if it takes two minutes or less, do it immediately. This is particularly beneficial for communicating things in relationships with other people.

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