You can just not do things
You should do the following everyday: journal, meditate, workout, do spaced repetition, track your sleep, apply retinol, apply sunscreen, take Vitamin D, foam roll, cultivate an online following, do the Huberman morning routine, floss, etc. Apparently, you can just do things.[1] Can't do all these things? Seems like a skill issue. But the thing is: you can just not do many more things than you can do things. It's really good to not do things, because 10 mins ≈ 1% of your waking hours. And, if you do not do something for 1 min per day, that's 6h a year or a full EU work day. And so, if there's something you can not do, don't do it. In fact, you should do almost nothing. You should do much less than 0.1% of what people tell you to do or you'll go insane.
Related laws:
- Parkinson's Law: the more time allotted to a task, the more important and complex it seems
- Hofstadter's Law: It always takes longer than you expect, even if you take into account Hofstadter's Law.
Letting go: The mental movement you need to cultivate is the one of letting go: you need to stop clinging to the idea that reality should conform how you want it to be.[2] For mental movements to work in the first place, you need to meditate and develop interoceptive meta-awareness, a cognitive process whereby you monitor the thoughts arising in your mind. When a thought arises saying you should do the Huberman morning routine, you need to gently learn to let go of this, because you can't do everything. Notice before you spend time on something, whether something is really worth doing. This is another aspect of mindfulness. Clear understanding what and why you're doing something. Stop the completionism: Letting go of the idea that you can do everything or have it all. Add it to the fuck-it bucket. Be ok with unresolved problems. The goal in life is not to be without problems or have perfect knowledge. Let go of that fantasy. Pain, uncertainty and constant work are the three constants of reality.
Some special cases of letting go are:
- Stop wasting time on bullshit: faux emergencies, drama, pointless errands, gossip, others' approval, and self-doubt. Let go.
- Work less: Workaholics use brute force, not intellect, resulting in inelegant fixes. The solution isn't more hours, but less bullshit' Stop doing too many things; be selective. Focus relentlessly on a few key things to maximize productivity. Ask: How can I make this easy? Be deliberate with your time.
- Putting Logarithmic-Quality Scales On Time. You have enough time. Just use it right and prioritize.
- 1 in 1 out policy: Restrict your to-do list to three items. New demands must wait until a slot is freed by completing an item or abandoning a non-viable project. This prevents accumulating a backlog of unfinished tasks.
- Focus on one thing at a time. Avoid jumping between projects and tasks. If you chase two rabbits, you will not catch either one.
- Unsubscribe from everything. Unsubscribe from all podcasts and newsletters. Delete all your social media profiles. Let go. It's too much noise. You can't read everything. If it's important, someone will tell you. The Deep Work guy says that people justify having social media because they have gotten some benefit from it at some point, but they neglect the costs. Delete your written bucket list. Stop the digital hoarding: Delete files and photos.
- If you're reading an article is bad→let go. stop reading it
- If a movie is bad→let go, stop watching, leave the cinema
- If you're full→let go. stop eating
- If someone asks you to do something→ Just say no. No 'yes.' Either 'HELL YEAH!' or 'no.' If you broaden the definition as to how you apply no, it's the only productivity hack (as you ultimately say no to any distraction to be productive).' Remember Hopper's axiom, 'It is better to ask forgiveness than permission,'
- Generally, if you're indecisive↔ask 'Fuck yes or no'?
- Cut choices for the 'joy of missing out': A meaningful choice requires renouncing alternatives. Taking feared or delayed actions (like resigning, having a child, addressing a family issue, or buying a house) reduces anxiety. Once commitment is made, anxiety dissipates as the only path is forward into the choice's consequences.
- Conclude bad experiences ASAP
- Fire and forget actions: those are good.