Better's Blinkist

The illusion of explanatory depth causes us to think we know more than we actually do.

Well, you might be surprised. Here’s the thing: people have a habit of overestimating how much they know about how things work, even when they don’t know much at all. This gap between assumed understanding and actual knowledge is called the illusion of explanatory depth, or IoED, for short.

26 January, 2020 06:46 Share

This led the students to an uncomfortable realization: they were unable to articulate knowledge that they’d been sure they possessed, and their understanding was in fact quite shallow. That’s the IoED in a nutshell. How a bicycle works is just one of many things that people, when put to the test, have difficulty explaining. Other tests have revealed that people overestimate their knowledge of all sorts of everyday objects, from zippers to toilets to wristwatches. Indeed, people tend to overestimate their knowledge of everything.

26 January, 2020 06:47 Share

The human brain didn’t evolve to store information and the world is extremely complex.

His methods were ingenious. For instance, he calculated how many bytes would be required to store the average adult’s vocabulary. From this number, he extrapolated the approximate size of an average adult’s entire store of knowledge. He carried out many other, similar calculations – but each estimate of how many bytes our knowledge base would require was essentially the same: roughly one gigabyte. Now, even if this number were ten times larger, it’d still be laughably small. This proves an important point: our brains, unlike computers, are not designed to function primarily as repositories of knowledge.

26 January, 2020 06:49 Share

The human brain evolved for action, and diagnostic reasoning may be what differentiates us from other animals.

Well, one of them is capable of action, and the other is not. This difference is profound, because the ability of organisms to act on and interact with their environment is what led to the evolution of the brain.

26 January, 2020 06:50 Share

hapless

26 January, 2020 06:50 Share

Jellyfish possess about 800 neurons (Venus flytraps have none), and though this hardly constitutes a brain, it does enable the blobby invertebrates to take actions. While the bug-consuming plant must wait around for hapless insects, the jellyfish is capable of, among other primitive actions, snatching prey with its tentacles and moving that prey to its mouth.

26 January, 2020 06:50 Share

Humans possess billions of neurons. We can travel to space and compose concertos. But we evolved such complex brains for the same reason that jellyfish evolved their rudimentary system of neurons: to enable effective action. So if all brains evolved to assist action, what (besides billions more neurons) differentiates humans from other, less neuronally endowed animals? Well, one answer might be our ability to engage in causal reasoning.

26 January, 2020 06:51 Share

This is called diagnostic reasoning, and although we’re by no means perfect at it, our ability to do it is arguably what sets us apart from other sentient creatures.

26 January, 2020 06:51 Share

It’s hard to reason from effect to cause, so we use storytelling to help us make causal sense of the world.

This droll parable has a few causal lessons to teach, but the most pertinent relates to the difficulty of diagnostic reasoning. As the tale demonstrates, we’re not exactly adept at reasoning backward, from effect to cause. When the vandals get confused about what’s causing their actions (bigotry? money?), spray-painting the storefront no longer seems worth it. Reasoning from effect to cause is simply harder than reasoning from cause to effect. For instance, it’s much easier to predict that someone with a stomach ulcer will experience pain than it is to determine that someone experiencing pain has a stomach ulcer.

26 January, 2020 06:52 Share

Stories make it easier for us to envision counterfactual events, and thus to consider possible alternatives to current actions. If people couldn’t do this, democracy would never have arisen from monarchy and no human would have ever set foot on the moon.

26 January, 2020 06:53 Share

We reason in two different ways: intuitively and deliberatively.

Well, to arrive at an answer, let’s start by explaining how humans think. When trying to answer a question or solve a problem, people engage in one of two kinds of reasoning. Either they use intuition, or they use deliberation. Intuition is what helped you answer "elephant!" with such lightning speed. It’s also what makes people fall victim to the illusion of explanatory depth.

26 January, 2020 06:54 Share

Well, to arrive at an answer, let’s start by explaining how humans think. When trying to answer a question or solve a problem, people engage in one of two kinds of reasoning. Either they use intuition, or they use deliberation.

26 January, 2020 06:54 Share

We use intuition all the time because it’s sufficient for day-to-day purposes. But when things get more complicated – when we have to draw a bicycle rather than just ride it, for example – intuition breaks down.

26 January, 2020 06:55 Share

Intuitions are subjective – they are yours alone. Deliberations, on the other hand, require engagement with a community of fellow knowledge possessors. Even if you deliberate in solitude, you’ll converse with yourself as though talking to someone else. As will become clear in the next blink, this is just one of the many ways that we externalize internal thought processes to assist cognition.

26 January, 2020 06:56 Share

We think with our bodies and the world around us.

We also use our bodies and physical actions to aid thought. This is called embodiment, and its proponents assert that thought is not an entirely abstract process that plays out inside your head. For example, children learning to count almost always use their fingers. And adults almost always find it easier to do math problems and spell words with the help of pen and paper.

26 January, 2020 06:58 Share

Our success as a species is the result of collective intelligence and the ability to collaborate.

It essentially argues that big brains are the result of communal living. Living with one another and collaborating on certain projects (such as hunting mammoths) exerted new mental demands on our ancestors – demands that they then evolved to meet. As these demands became more complex – as we, say, began divvying up mammoth meat among tribe members – our brains also grew in complexity. This, in turn, made us better at communal living, which made it possible for us to form even larger communities. Navigating these complex social systems had a profound effect on our cognitive abilities

26 January, 2020 07:00 Share

When Homo sapiens first emerged, their brains were already quite complex; living in groups, however, made us expert collaborators. And it was this collaborative ability that led to the development of another crucial skill: the division of cognitive labor. If we were unable to parcel out cognitive work, modern life would be impossible

26 January, 2020 07:00 Share

The division of cognitive labor makes it possible to take one skill (building houses) and divide it into subskills, like plumbing and building walls. What’s more, it makes it possible for wall builders, even if they know little about plumbing, to construct walls that plumbers can put pipes in. They can do this because of shared intentionality. Each worker can collaborate with all the others because everyone shares the same intention: building a house. Humanity’s greatest accomplishments, from smartphones to space exploration, are the result of these two abilities: the division of cognitive labor and shared intentionality.

26 January, 2020 07:01 Share

Machines can’t share intentionality and it’s unlikely that a superintelligence will emerge.

Indeed, it’s so complex that it seems lifelike; our phones talk to us and our laptops automatically install mysterious updates. And technology’s lifelike quality fools us into thinking that it, like other people, can share our intentions. But, of course, it can’t. Just because it can help you arrive at your destination doesn’t mean it wants you to get there. It’s easy to forget this, however, and so, when the GPS system tells us to turn left, we turn left – and end up in the lake.

26 January, 2020 07:02 Share

However, this is probably an idle fear. Machines, unlike humans, can’t share intentionality. They may seem smart but, actually, they simply have access to vast stores of information that they can process very quickly. They can only do what they’ve been programmed to do. The exponential growth of the human brain was caused by collaborative instincts and an ability to share intentions – we have no idea how to program those skills. So the birth of an evil superintelligence probably isn’t imminent. More worrisome is our overreliance on machines that, though sophisticated, aren’t actually very bright.

26 January, 2020 07:03 Share

We can avoid groupthink by thinking causally and politicians simplify matters by appealing to sacred values.

Well, one reason is groupthink, a term used by the social psychologist Irving Janis. Groupthink is the tendency of communities (or a sufficient majority of their members) to uncritically arrive at a consensus on a particular issue. When everyone around you believes the same thing, it’s difficult to believe something else. This is what happened in Soviet Russia, Nazi Germany and Communist China – and, clearly, its effects can be catastrophic.

26 January, 2020 07:07 Share

Consider an experiment conducted by the authors. They asked participants to rate, from one to seven, their opposition to or support of particular political policies, such as whether unilateral sanctions should be imposed on Iran. They then asked them to explain, in causal terms, the effects that such policies would have. Unsurprisingly, most participants had difficulty doing this.

26 January, 2020 07:08 Share

Next, the authors asked them to again rate the strength of their opposition or support. Interestingly, after struggling to give a causal explanation, radical participants (those who’d initially strongly opposed or strongly supported a particular policy) rated themselves as much more moderate.

26 January, 2020 07:08 Share

Take abortion. Pro-lifers don’t really consider the effects of antiabortion laws. They simply believe that killing a human fetus is wrong. With similar intractableness, pro-choicers believe that women should have the final say in what happens to their bodies. Such beliefs are based on sacred values, which are all but impossible to alter. There’s nothing wrong with that, but beware: politicians often use the language of sacred values to promote policies that deserve closer scrutiny.

26 January, 2020 07:09 Share

We need to redefine smart and reassess education.

But here’s what often goes unmentioned: neither man worked alone. Each benefited from a rich network of collaborators. And each stood on the shoulders of the hard-working individuals who’d come before. We forget this because the whole story is far too complex for most of us to remember in great detail. Their names function as a sort of shorthand. This leads to a problem, however. Most of us begin to believe the simplified story – that a small cohort of individual geniuses are responsible for history’s great deeds and discoveries.

26 January, 2020 07:09 Share

A new definition of smart would take these abilities into account. So, rather than merely measuring a person’s IQ, we ought to assess her ability to contribute to group tasks.

26 January, 2020 07:10 Share

The purpose of education isn’t only to pass on knowledge; it’s also to remind people of their ignorance. After all, once you’re aware of how little you know, you’ll be much more likely to seek help from the community of knowledge possessors that you’re a part of.

26 January, 2020 07:10 Share

That’s not only an invaluable skill. It also shows that you understand something we should all keep in mind: we never think alone.

26 January, 2020 07:11 Share

What’s in it for me? Learn the principles for building a successful business.

Understanding what’s most important in your company is, of course, a very personal matter that you have to figure out for yourself. But from a business standpoint, there are some values that just make sense, like being honest with your staff in order to create an environment of trust and transparency that will keep problems from festering. So let’s dive in and learn more of Ray Dalio’s secrets to success!

25 January, 2020 11:42 Share

Look to nature and evolution in order to keep your eye on the big picture.

This is why having a concrete set of guiding principles in your life is crucial. Like having a compass in a blizzard, being equipped with such principles means you’ll always know exactly where you’re headed and which choices will keep you on that path, no matter the circumstances. In short: having principles will provide you with fundamental truths that can be applied to any situation, allowing you to move toward your goals and the life you want to live.

25 January, 2020 11:44 Share

Think of nature. It’s sad to see a beautiful gazelle get eaten by a pack of vicious hyenas. But this is just a natural fact of life – part of the balanced ecosystem that has evolved over time. If you were to deny this reality and try to intervene, it would have dangerous repercussions. So remember that things will go wrong sometimes. And keep in mind that failure often provides a valuable chance to learn, adapt and evolve.

25 January, 2020 11:45 Share

Any business that’s been around for a long time has had to adapt to change and bounce back from hard times, which is what you’ll eventually have to do, too. Take the hard times in stride, and always keep learning and improving.

25 January, 2020 11:45 Share

It’s important to choose the right goal and to keep learning and improving.

Nearly anything is possible in life, but you can’t have it all. A common mistake is to reach for too many goals, all at once. But the truth is, whenever you choose one goal, you’re automatically ruling out a number of other goals in the process. So the smart thing is to choose wisely by looking within and identifying what you desire most.

25 January, 2020 11:46 Share

Once your goal is in place, the next step is to methodically examine the situation and identify any challenges or obstacles that are in your way. This is where being realistic is key. Don’t ignore problems because they’re too personal and don’t underestimate a potential issue by being overly optimistic.

25 January, 2020 11:47 Share

Radical truth and transparency are key to meaningful and long-lasting relationships at work.

Radical truth is about making sure that important issues don’t remain hidden, which means creating an environment where employees feel free to speak their mind. This kind of transparency is a safeguard against poor decisions, since coworkers will constantly be exchanging criticisms, making improvements and catching mistakes before they happen.

25 January, 2020 11:49 Share

Radical transparency is similar to radical truth. It means being open about the kind of behavior and work that management expects from employees, and vice versa. Managers and employees should treat one another as they would a partner in a long-term relationship. This means showing mutual respect, looking out for what’s in the other’s best interest and being crystal clear about who’s responsible for what.

25 January, 2020 11:49 Share

You’ll find that a workplace is at its best when employees show more consideration for their colleagues than they expect to be shown. Yes, this is a radical approach since most people might be used to cutthroat workplaces where everyone is only looking out for him- or herself. But you’ll find that productivity and quality will improve when employees drop the selfish behavior and start developing strong relationships based on generosity, cooperation and honest transparency.

25 January, 2020 11:50 Share

Radical truth extends to performance evaluations as well.

Being dishonest isn’t always a malicious act. Indeed, people are often most dishonest when attempting to be kind. Once, the author was considering promoting an employee to Department Head. He knew that many of this employee’s coworkers felt he deserved the job. However, when the author looked at the company’s performance tracking system, which contained hundreds of pieces of data on every employee, the evidence told a different story – the employee being considered for promotion simply didn’t have the right qualities for the job.

25 January, 2020 11:51 Share

And the truth is, you’ll be doing everyone a disservice by ignoring the evidence that the employee isn’t ready for the promotion. As most people overestimate their capabilities and the amount of work they do, performing accurate evaluations is essential to preventing problems

25 January, 2020 11:51 Share

But accuracy and honesty are not only good for the overall business; they’re also good for each employee. Psychologists believe the biggest motivator for personal improvement is the pain you feel after making a mistake. When you feel so terrible about having done something wrong that you never want to feel that way again, it’s called "hitting bottom" – and it’s often what a person needs to finally change his or her ways.

25 January, 2020 11:52 Share

sorting out an employee’s shortcomings is very time-consuming, so it should be given priority over celebrating success. When dealing with strengths, it’s a relatively simple matter of encouraging an employee to keep up the good work. For problems, the cause needs to be identified and solutions need to be worked out, all of which can take much more time and resources.

25 January, 2020 11:54 Share

Flowcharts and metrics are great tools for enhanced performance.

goal. For the author, his goal was to provide clients with the best possible return on their investments, and he often felt like a mechanic, popping open the hood to improve the engine of his Bridgewater machine. This analogy, of manager as mechanic and company as machine, is a great way to keep your mind focused on the responsibilities of the job and what needs to be repaired.

25 January, 2020 11:55 Share

Another great tool to check your machine for possible maintenance needs are metrics, or performance measurements. When you have a system in place to accurately measure performance, it’s like having a dashboard for your machine, complete with flashing lights to alert you the moment something goes wrong.

25 January, 2020 11:55 Share

With an accurate view of exactly what employees are doing, and how well they’re doing it, you’ll find that the job of supervision almost takes care of itself!

25 January, 2020 11:55 Share

Build organizations from the top down and keep an eye on manager-to-employee ratios.

As you move toward your goals, it’s only a matter of time before problems arise. But there’s no reason to panic or be deterred by these bumps in the road. Developing solutions for problems is how many companies improve. In other words, most problems will end up providing fuel for your machine. However, if you hope to turn problems into advantages, you need to design your business so that problems get noticed and solutions get implemented as quickly as possible.

25 January, 2020 11:56 Share

Every manager should be trustworthy and have high standards. If this isn’t the case, their weaknesses and poor performance will eventually spread to their staff. On the other hand, managers who show their appreciation for excellent work, and have strong oversight and strict quality control, will lead teams of employees who rise to their level of great performance.

25 January, 2020 11:56 Share

The ideal ratio is closer to five employees for every manager, as this will give your managers the best chance of having meaningful relationships and mutual understanding with each employee. But rather than setting strict rules on team sizes, you’ll get the best results by assessing each manager's capabilities and proceeding accordingly

25 January, 2020 11:57 Share

What’s in it for me? Find out how to really succeed professionally and socially.

Success is more about breaking rules than following them. About doing what you’re passionate about rather than what society dictates. Of course, confidence and hard work are also important, but meaningless unless you have long-term goals to which to couple them. By looking at some examples of real-life success, the following blinks will uncover what it really takes to get ahead of the pack and help you accomplish your life goals

25 January, 2020 11:20 Share

Playing by the rules will only get you so far; creativity is the real engine of success.

The problem is, an ability to succeed in an environment governed by rules, like a high school, won’t prepare a student to rise to the top of the real world.

25 January, 2020 11:21 Share

Those who are obsessed; the unruly creatives who can adapt to every aspect of the outside world. These creatives are driven by passion rather than external rules, and commit themselves to their passion projects with almost religious virtuosity – a clear recipe for excellence

25 January, 2020 11:22 Share

Nice guys are highly likely to finish first and last.

It may seem odd, but it also makes intuitive sense; everybody knows a martyr who tries his best to help others only to be used by takers. And we also all know helpful people who rise because others are indebted to them. To put it simply, it’s not always bad to be nice. And by the way, bad people don’t get away with everything. That serial killer, Michael Swango, was caught and sentenced to three consecutive life terms in prison in 2000.

25 January, 2020 11:23 Share

Persevere through tough times thanks to the stories you tell yourself.

Today, Alfredo Quinones-Hinojosa, also known as Dr. Q, is one of the top brain surgeons in the world. He runs his own lab at America’s best hospital, Johns Hopkins in Baltimore. However, his life started out in absolute poverty; as an illegal migrant farmworker, he had to demonstrate true grit, sticking with difficult work throughout his life and never giving up.

25 January, 2020 11:24 Share

In observing this phenomenon, Frankl found that what was keeping these survivors going was the meaning they saw in their lives, even during times of tremendous suffering; the people who made it were those who told themselves that they had a purpose beyond themselves. Frankl himself had such a purpose, wanting to survive for his wife. He had imaginary conversations with her all the time.

25 January, 2020 11:25 Share

In other words, optimism keeps people going, but true grit is more than positive thinking. It often also depends on the stories people tell themselves about the meaning of their lives.

25 January, 2020 11:25 Share

Extroverts make the most money, but introverts make the best experts.

Why? We know that becoming an expert, regardless of the field, requires 10,000 hours of practice. Simply put, holding together a vast social network doesn’t leave extroverts with the time they need to do the hard, lonely work necessary to acquire such expertise. Meanwhile, introverts don’t have to worry about other people bothering them, and have plenty of time to hone their skills.

25 January, 2020 11:26 Share

if research is any guide, the scales certainly tip in favor of outgoing and popular people. Extroverted workers are much more likely to succeed than their peers, both in financial terms and in career progress.

25 January, 2020 11:26 Share

Confidence is key to success, but too much of it can make you hurt others.

Research has even shown that overly confident people have better chances of receiving a promotion than their less confident colleagues, even if the latter are more accomplished. According to other studies, confidence increases productivity and causes people to take on more challenging tasks, thereby making them stand out as shining stars in the workplace.

25 January, 2020 11:27 Share

In other words, confidence can predict success and often results in increased power, both on the job and in daily life. However, there’s also a downside; too much confidence and power can destroy a person’s character.

25 January, 2020 11:28 Share

And finally, research has also found that feeling powerful makes people more selfish and better at lying. That’s because power and confidence reduce a person’s concern that he’ll hurt others, and therefore lower his remorse when telling a fib. This could explain why increased feelings of power positively correlate with the odds of cheating on a spouse.

25 January, 2020 11:29 Share

The key to success is working long hours and always pushing yourself to do better.

The number of hours you spend working will make all the difference between the decent and the incredible. While intelligence will certainly help, once your IQ stretches beyond 120, adding additional points has basically no effect on success. That’s why the smart people who succeed are those that work the hardest.

25 January, 2020 11:29 Share

that work the hardest. Just take a Harvard study which found that the most successful managers in a number of industries commonly worked over 60 hours per week. The study clearly indicates that a person’s success depends on her productivity, and productivity depends on putting in time. Research has even found that in every complex, professional job, the top 10 percent of employees – those who make the most game-changing contributions – are 80 percent more productive than the average and 700 percent more productive than the employees in the bottom 10 percent.

25 January, 2020 11:29 Share

For example, research has found that doctors and nurses don’t tend to get better at their jobs over time. Another classic study by Benjamin Bloom considered leading scientists, artists and athletes. It found that one of the greatest benefits of mentorship in these fields was not insider knowledge or emotional support, but the presence of a figure whose expectations would push the mentee beyond their limits.

25 January, 2020 11:30 Share

The ego is your inner narrator, or your sense of "I." It’s the voice that tells you what to do.

To most, the ego is the source of behavior that is self-serving or unconcerned with the well-being of others. To Freud, the ego represents a psychological mechanism that mediates between our morality and our base desires. But these definitions of ego still don’t get to the heart of the matter. We can talk about deep desire or fiery pride, but we still can’t explain what’s going on in our heads when we do strange things like open the fridge without actually being hungry. A better way to think of your ego – and certainly one that offers you the most insight into your behavior – is as the voice in your head.

24 January, 2020 08:31 Share

Your ego comments on your actions and behavior from the moment you open your eyes in the morning until you drift off to sleep at night, telling you what to do and what not to do.

24 January, 2020 08:32 Share

As you’ll see, the ego is responsible for a great deal of what you do. Luckily, taking steps to rein your ego in can make us happier and healthier.

24 January, 2020 08:33 Share

Your ego’s ravenous hunger for more can never be satiated. It will always push you further.

The ego is never satisfied. It will always want, it will never be content and it will never be perfectly happy. By design, the ego will always want more than it already has. When the ego is "fed" a new thing, this simply resets the baseline for desire; and immediately, the ego begins reaching for something more.

24 January, 2020 08:34 Share

It doesn’t matter how many material possessions you have, nor does it matter how much money you’ve spent acquiring them – even if you don’t need it, you still yearn for the newest sports car or that hot new gadget. The best meals are not satisfying, even when prepared by the best chefs. Soon you’ll become hungry and yearn for a meal that is even tastier than the last. In essence, no matter how many times you try to satiate your ego’s desires, your ego will only want more.

24 January, 2020 08:35 Share

The ego loves especially to dwell in the past and thrives on drama by keeping old wounds open. It’s the reason that you complain to your spouse about a work problem at dinner, and it’s what causes you to lament being jilted by your first love at 17, despite being happily married today. Your ego constantly assesses your worth against the appearance, wealth and social status of others, but will always find you failing. No matter how smart, beautiful or wealthy you may be, according to your ego, there’s always someone smarter, more beautiful or wealthier.

24 January, 2020 08:35 Share

No. The ego is never happy. Just think of all the rich, famous or fortunate people who have committed suicide, become addicted to drugs or otherwise ruined their lives.

24 January, 2020 08:37 Share

Control your ego by practicing mindfulness and becoming more compassionate toward others.

Mindfulness is the ability to respond – and not react – to our surroundings as well as our impulses. Meditation increases our mindfulness by instructing us to immerse ourselves fully in the present moment, and not to be overwhelmed with life’s stressors.

24 January, 2020 08:38 Share

Mindfulness doesn’t just improve our decision making; it also changes our biology. A Harvard MRI study observed that people who had taken an eight-week mindfulness course through meditation had developed thicker gray matter in the areas of the brain associated with self-awareness and compassion. Likewise, mindfulness training appeared to shrink the regions in the brain associated with stress. This increase in compassionate behavior, that is, practicing concern for your own well-being and the well-being of others, is not something to be overlooked.

24 January, 2020 08:39 Share

Demonstrating compassion toward yourself improves your decision making by allowing you to forgive yourself for mistakes and accept your flaws. In fact, studies have demonstrated that people trained in self-compassion meditation are more likely to demonstrate healthy behavior, such as quitting smoking or eating healthier. Likewise, being compassionate toward others actually helps you to become a more fulfilled person.

24 January, 2020 08:39 Share

You don’t need to lose your edge or become a pushover when you tame your ego.

In fact, according to professor Jon Kabat-Zinn, practicing mindfulness actually makes you more creative and more productive, as it clears your mind of unhelpful assumptions and routines, thus making space for new ideas and thoughts.

24 January, 2020 08:41 Share

During a ten-day meditation retreat, the author was flooded with ideas with which he filled entire notebooks. He was more productive in this time of peace and mindfulness than normally, when his mind is cluttered and chaotic. Interestingly, one of the most important discoveries that the author made on his journey to tame his ego was that high levels of stress or the need for competition weren’t necessary to fuel his drive.

24 January, 2020 08:41 Share

Meditation is a simple way to increase mindfulness and compassion in everyday life.

Mindfulness gives us a fourth option: we observe without judgment. Your first experience with mindfulness during meditation often happens when you experience some sort of uncomfortable situation, like an itchy nose or sore legs. In these cases, you simply observe the pain with impartiality and without reacting or moving. Eventually, you’ll be able to apply mindfulness to more complex discomforts: your thoughts and emotions.

24 January, 2020 08:43 Share

Meditation does a body good, helping curb the effects of stress and even disease.

Finally, meditation allows you to sculpt the one tool you have for perceiving and experiencing the world: your brain. Indeed, studies have shown that training your brain through meditation can improve your resilience, impulse control and your overall level of well-being.

24 January, 2020 08:44 Share

Accept your negative emotions, then separate yourself from them through non-identification.

Psychotherapist and Buddhist teacher Tara Brach suggests that you simply acknowledge your negative feelings – that is, admit that you’re experiencing them, rather than deny them. The Buddhists teach that we should "let go," but what they really mean, is "let it be." Instead of denying "ugly" characteristics or negative feelings, just let them be without judging yourself for having them. Another Buddhist saying is that "the only way out is through." Imagine those negative feelings as a immense wave coming right toward you. The best way not to drown is to dive into the wave, thus causing it to lose its power.

24 January, 2020 08:44 Share

The author practiced this when he was concerned about a promotion. First, he recognized that he was worried. Next, he convinced himself that it was okay to be worried. Then he investigated how his body was handling the worry; he felt a buzzing in his chest. And finally, he practiced non-identification, telling himself that he is bigger than his momentary concerns and that the moment would pass.

24 January, 2020 08:45 Share

What’s in it for me? Learn the secrets to startup success from one of the world’s most prominent venture capitalists.

• why monopolies are actually good for innovation; • why your startup needs to go from "0 to 1," not "from 1 to n"; and • why it’s not that uncommon for a startup founder to have experience building bombs.

24 January, 2020 08:10 Share

To imagine what progress the future will bring, you must be able to view the present differently.

As you can imagine, vertical progress is hard to predict because you have to imagine something that doesn’t exist yet. That’s why you can only predict future progress if you’re able to see the present differently.

24 January, 2020 08:09 Share

After all, the future is by definition different from the present, so to imagine it you can’t just focus on the status quo. If you want to imagine what the future holds, you must be able to view the present critically. The author believes that this is such a crucial ability that, in job interviews, he asks candidates, "What important truth do very few people agree with you on?" Why? Because only a person who can think outside established conventions can see and change the future

24 January, 2020 08:09 Share

The author believes that this is such a crucial ability that, in job interviews, he asks candidates, "What important truth do very few people agree with you on?" Why? Because only a person who can think outside established conventions can see and change the future.

24 January, 2020 08:10 Share

Be the architect of your own future and make a focused effort to attain it.

success is the product of focus, dedication and determination. Fate and luck have little to do with it. After all, if success were nothing but a product of luck, we wouldn’t see serial successes like Steve Jobs or the author, who founded several prosperous businesses.

24 January, 2020 08:06 Share

Start-ups only have one best future – and attaining it demands a concerted effort. Why only one? Because a start-up will only be successful under very specific conditions: there’s only one best market for the company’s product, only one best time to launch it, and so on. In order to strike when the conditions are just right, you must make a conscious choice to pursue the future in question.

24 January, 2020 08:06 Share

Building a successful, profitable company takes years of work.

This is especially true when it comes to profits: it can take years for a start-up to become profitable. But even if the company doesn’t initially make profits, it can still have value, because value is determined by the profits it will make over its entire lifespan. PayPal is a case in point: in 2001, it wasn’t making any profits, and when the author calculated the value of the company back then, he found that most of it came from profits that were expected to come in more than ten years later!

24 January, 2020 08:11 Share

So how can you make your start-up a profitable monopoly? You need to start small and then expand bit by bit. First, understand that you don’t need to be the very best in every business, just your business. So it’s important to define your market as narrowly and specifically as possible. That’ll make it easier for you to become its dominant player

24 January, 2020 08:11 Share

Start-ups need a solid foundation: the right people and culture, and balanced owner interests.

The first key component in this foundation is finding the right people. Typically, start-ups are so small that every single person on the team plays an important role. That’s why, before making an investment in a company, the author not only makes it a point to analyze the skills and vision of the people involved but also their personal connections. He’s seen firsthand what weak personal ties can do to a team. Before co-founding PayPal with Luke Nosek, the author had invested in a company that Nosek had started with someone he barely knew. Eventually, their personal differences took the whole venture down, along with the author’s investment.

24 January, 2020 08:12 Share

Your products will never sell themselves: your team needs to do that.

For example, the author co-founded the data analytics company Palantir, where a single closed sale usually brings in several million dollars. Here, the CEO has to personally do the selling, because clients spending such sums expect a certain amount of personal involvement from the seller’s executives.

24 January, 2020 08:13 Share

But in business, sales is a vital necessity. Many people, especially those enthusiastic about technology, would prefer to focus on product innovation, but innovative products are worthless unless they’re sold. And there’s no product on earth that people will buy without you selling it.

24 January, 2020 08:13 Share

Many cleantech companies failed because they did not consider the seven critical questions every business must answer.

Innovative companies like Tesla typically have answers to almost all of these key questions, whereas most cleantech companies had zero. This is why they failed.

24 January, 2020 08:14 Share

1. The Engineering question: Can you create a true technological breakthrough? Cleantech companies didn’t understand that to prevail over established energy companies, they needed technology ten times better than theirs, not just slightly better. 2. The Timing question: Is this the right time to start your business? Some cleantech companies believed the industry was on the cusp of a period of rapid, exponential advances in, for example, solar-panel technology, and that this would allow them to flourish. But in fact clean

24 January, 2020 08:14 Share

1. The Engineering question: Can you create a true technological breakthrough? Cleantech companies didn’t understand that to prevail over established energy companies, they needed technology ten times better than theirs, not just slightly better. 2. The Timing question: Is this the right time to start your business? Some cleantech companies believed the industry was on the cusp of a period of rapid, exponential advances in, for example, solar-panel technology, and that this would allow them to flourish. But in fact clean technology has advanced slowly and linearly

24 January, 2020 08:15 Share

4. The People question: Can your team pursue this opportunity? Cleantech companies were often run by non-technical executives who had no idea how to build great products.

24 January, 2020 08:15 Share

7. The Secret question: Do you see a unique opportunity that others have missed? At the time, everyone agreed cleantech was going to be huge. But truly successful companies have secrets: they spot opportunities not everyone can see.

24 January, 2020 08:15 Share

Founders tend to be oddballs, but their vision is crucial for any company.

Consider Paypal’s founding team: almost every member was a bit of an oddball. In fact, as teenagers, four of them even had the unusual hobby of building bombs! This kind of originality is important because founders do far more than just start a company: they give it a vision. And this contribution is indispensable; no matter how refined a company’s management strategies are, it must have a vision to pursue.

24 January, 2020 08:15 Share

As this success story shows, even a strong company, if it wants to perform at the highest level, needs the originality and vision of its founder.

24 January, 2020 08:16 Share

What’s in it for me? Discover why less is sometimes actually more.

We can’t be an expert in every field, we can’t have every toy, nor can we have every possible experience. Not only that, but having and doing everything won’t necessarily make us more happy. In fact, we’ll find our closets cluttered with junk we never use and our schedules filled with tasks we can’t complete, at least not well. Instead, we should be focusing on what we should do, thinking instead about what is essential to our happiness and well-being.

18 January, 2020 12:40 Share

You’ll learn:why you should probably go ahead and throw away that stupid, howling-wolf shirt in your closet;what happens when airlines try to have it all andwhat sleep-deprived overachievers and drunks have in common.

24 March, 2020 01:31 Share

In order to avoid drowning in unnecessary work, you need to adopt the principle of essentialism.

Do less, but do it better. The cornerstone of essentialism is the never-ending task of identifying the less important things in your life to cut out, and doing what’s left over to a higher standard.

18 January, 2020 12:41 Share

Do less, but do it better.

18 January, 2020 12:42 Share

Reject the notion that we should accomplish everything,

18 January, 2020 12:42 Share

Constantly question yourself and update your plans accordingly. The process of deciding what’s worth doing and what should be let go is ongoing

18 January, 2020 12:42 Share

Finally, once those few vital tasks have been distilled from the trivial many, the essentialist wastes no time in ensuring that the changes are put in place.

18 January, 2020 12:43 Share

Constantly question yourself and update your plans accordingly. The process of deciding what’s worth doing and what should be let go is ongoing. The essentialist is always deciding whether what she is doing is actually worth her time or if she should invest her time and energy in a more productive area.

24 March, 2020 01:32 Share

Do less, but do it better

24 March, 2020 01:32 Share

Reject the notion that we should accomplish everything, and choose instead specific directions in which you can excel

24 March, 2020 01:32 Share

Constantly question yourself and update your plans accordingly. The process of deciding what’s worth doing and what should be let go is ongoing.

24 March, 2020 01:32 Share

Finally, once those few vital tasks have been distilled from the trivial many, the essentialist wastes no time in ensuring that the changes are put in place.

24 March, 2020 01:33 Share

If we become overwhelmed by our tasks, then we lose our ability to make choices for ourselves.

The term learned helplessness originates from experiments on dogs. In the experiments, the dogs were given electric shocks. Some of them were given a lever that would stop the shocks, others received a similar lever which had no effect and the last group received no shocks at all. Later, the dogs from all groups were put together in a huge box divided in two: one half administered shocks and the other emitted none. All the dogs from the earlier experiment who had the chance to stop the shock or had experienced no shock at all ran to the shock-free side. The ones whose levers were powerless, however, stayed in the shock zone and did not adapt.

18 January, 2020 12:47 Share

If we surrender our power to choose, we essentially give others permission to choose for us. When people think that their efforts are futile, they tend to respond in two ways: They either give up completely or become overly active, accepting every opportunity presented to them. At first, their activity might indicate that they have not developed learned helplessness. However, these people aren’t actually exercising their power to choose the opportunity which is best for them. They simply do everything

18 January, 2020 12:49 Share

The term learned helplessness originates from experiments on dogs. In the experiments, the dogs were given electric shocks. Some of them were given a lever that would stop the shocks, others received a similar lever which had no effect and the last group received no shocks at all.Later, the dogs from all groups were put together in a huge box divided in two: one half administered shocks and the other emitted none. All the dogs from the earlier experiment who had the chance to stop the shock or had experienced no shock at all ran to the shock-free side. The ones whose levers were powerless, however, stayed in the shock zone and did not adapt.

24 March, 2020 01:35 Share

If we surrender our power to choose, we essentially give others permission to choose for us. When people think that their efforts are futile, they tend to respond in two ways:They either give up completely or become overly active, accepting every opportunity presented to them. At first, their activity might indicate that they have not developed learned helplessness. However, these people aren’t actually exercising their power to choose the opportunity which is best for them. They simply do everything.The ones who offer the possible choices, on the other hand, are the ones who hold the real power.

24 March, 2020 01:35 Share

Embrace the idea of "less but better" and accept trade-offs as an inherent part of life.

In fact, Southwest Airlines displayed a remarkable level of success for a period by concentrating on one of the key tenets of essentialism: doing only a few vital things very well. Rather than offering their customers lots of choices, such as first class seating, meals and seat reservations, Southwest concentrated on one thing: flying people from point A to point B, and that’s it – no frills necessary.

18 January, 2020 12:51 Share

However, the operational inefficiencies caused by pursuing both strategies meant that Continental Lite wasn’t price competitive. In the end, because they couldn’t sacrifice the nonessential and focus on what was vital, they lost millions.

18 January, 2020 12:53 Share

They realized that if they tried to do everything, they would undoubtedly fail. However, by concentrating on doing a few things very well, like getting travellers to their destinations, then they could be successful

18 January, 2020 12:53 Share

Rather than offering their customers lots of choices, such as first class seating, meals and seat reservations, Southwest concentrated on one thing: flying people from point A to point B, and that’s it – no frills necessary.They realized that if they tried to do everything, they would undoubtedly fail. However, by concentrating on doing a few things very well, like getting travellers to their destinations, then they could be successful.

24 March, 2020 01:43 Share

Adopting this approach means being willing and able to make trade-offs, which can prove to be difficult. While it might seem simple enough to cut out unimportant tasks and leave only the most vital, in practice, we just end up becoming convinced that we can do it all.For example, when the success of Southwest became apparent, Continental Airlines decided to imitate their strategy. However, instead of cutting back to a few vital essentials, Continental erroneously decided that they could do it all. Their solution was to carry on with their traditional airline and create the separate brand, Continental Lite, to offer the budget service.

24 March, 2020 01:43 Share

Adopting this approach means being willing and able to make trade-offs, which can prove to be difficult. While it might seem simple enough to cut out unimportant tasks and leave only the most vital, in practice, we just end up becoming convinced that we can do it all.

24 March, 2020 01:44 Share

For example, when the success of Southwest became apparent, Continental Airlines decided to imitate their strategy. However, instead of cutting back to a few vital essentials, Continental erroneously decided that they could do it all. Their solution was to carry on with their traditional airline and create the separate brand, Continental Lite, to offer the budget service.However, the operational inefficiencies caused by pursuing both strategies meant that Continental Lite wasn’t price competitive. In the end, because they couldn’t sacrifice the nonessential and focus on what was vital, they lost millions.

24 March, 2020 01:44 Share

Giving yourself space to escape and seeing the bigger picture will help you pick out the vital from the trivial.

boredom can actually be good for you. A period of time in which you have nothing to do can give you an opportunity to think clearly about what needs to be done. In order to ensure that you have that time, clear a break in your schedule every day to give yourself time to escape: to think. Creating a space in your schedule just to think about your life – what options, problems or challenges you face – will help you assess which are vital and which aren’t.

18 January, 2020 12:55 Share

People often get so lost in the small, day-to-day tasks that they lose track of the reason they are doing those things in the first place. In order to maintain focus on what’s important, essentialism teaches us to always concentrate on the bigger picture. One way to do so is by keeping a journal, but instead of writing down everything you experience, force yourself to write as little as possible. This will require you to think through everything you’ve done and sift out only what you consider essential. And as you read back through your journal entries you will see the big picture emerge.

18 January, 2020 12:55 Share

However, boredom can actually be good for you. A period of time in which you have nothing to do can give you an opportunity to think clearly about what needs to be done.In order to ensure that you have that time, clear a break in your schedule every day to give yourself time to escape: to think.Creating a space in your schedule just to think about your life – what options, problems or challenges you face – will help you assess which are vital and which aren’t.

24 March, 2020 01:44 Share

In fact, some of humanity’s greatest minds, such as Newton and Einstein, used this technique. Both of them confined themselves in solitude in order to escape, thus allowing themselves time to think about their groundbreaking theories.

24 March, 2020 01:44 Share

Many of today’s most successful CEOs do the same, scheduling a few hours of "blank space" in their calendar every day in order to do some thinking.However, escaping isn’t just a way to isolate vital tasks from the rest; you can also use it to ensure that you remain focused on the big picture.

24 March, 2020 01:44 Share

One way to do so is by keeping a journal, but instead of writing down everything you experience, force yourself to write as little as possible. This will require you to think through everything you’ve done and sift out only what you consider essential. And as you read back through your journal entries you will see the big picture emerge.

24 March, 2020 01:45 Share

In order to maintain focus on what’s important, essentialism teaches us to always concentrate on the bigger picture.

24 March, 2020 01:45 Share

Get your creative juices flowing by playing – just don’t forget to give yourself time to rest.

Unfortunately, we adults tend to make a sharp distinction between work and play, having decided that play is something that is trivial and unproductive. It is there purely for entertainment, and doesn’t help us to advance our goals. In other words, it’s a waste of time.The essentialist, however, recognizes that play is a vital tool for inspiration. If you want to discover what’s vital in your life, you can use play to free your mind so that you can approach this subject creatively.

24 March, 2020 01:45 Share

Play can serve this purpose because:it helps us to develop novel connections between ideas that we would have never otherwise considered;it is an antidote to stress, which is one of the key factors in unproductivity andit helps us to prioritize and analyze tasks.

24 March, 2020 01:45 Share

But as important as play is, it should never take priority over rest and sleep. Non-essentialists view sleep the same way they do play – as a luxury, a waste of potentially productive hours.This approach is totally backwards, as sleep increases your ability to think, connect ideas and maximize your productivity during your waking hours. One hour of sleep actually results in several more hours of higher productivity the following day!In fact, studies have shown that going 24 hours without sleep or getting a weekly average of just four to five hours of sleep per night causes a cognitive impairment equivalent to what you would have with a 0.1 percent blood alcohol level – enough to get your driver’s license suspended!

24 March, 2020 01:46 Share

Be ruthless in cutting away things that aren’t essential.

In short, be extreme with your criteria. One way to do so is by adopting the 90-percent rule. Start by considering the most important criterion for the decision you are making. For example, if you’re cleaning the closet, that criteria might be, "Will I ever wear this again?" Then, give it a score between zero and 100.With the 90-percent rule, anything that is less than 90 (even an 89) is a zero. After considering all the options, discard everything that scored less than 90.

24 March, 2020 01:47 Share

Another method is to decide that "if it isn’t a clear yes, then it’s a clear no." A simple way to put this into action is to list the three minimum things that something must have in order to keep it, as well as three ideal criteria that you want it to meet.Then when deciding on what to keep, something must pass the three minimum requirements as well as at least two of the ideal ones.Thinking this way will hopefully allow you to avoid having trivial matters slip through. For example, there is absolutely no way that the howling-wolf shirt in your closet would pass the three minimum requirements: (1) "Is it stylish?" (2) "Would I wear it everyday?" (3) "Will no one laugh at me for wearing it?"

24 March, 2020 01:47 Share

Say "no" to nonessential tasks and plan the essential ones carefully.

We tend to fear saying no, feeling both socially awkward as well as pressured not to disappoint the people around us, and are concerned that saying no might damage our relationships.However, often times we should say no, and reserve yes only for the things that really matter.

24 March, 2020 01:47 Share

Always remember, failing to say no to the things which aren’t vital can lead you to miss out on the opportunities that truly are.Once you’ve gotten used to saying no when it’s in your best interest, you can focus on planning the vital tasks that are left over.

24 March, 2020 01:49 Share

Imagine, for example, that your goal is to end world hunger. Although this goal is certainly inspirational, it’s not at all concrete, and thus fails as your essential intent. Trying to follow an objective of this magnitude will become cumbersome due to its vagueness.Now consider this goal: build 150 affordable, environmentally friendly, storm-resistant homes for families living in the lower ninth ward. Not only is this goal inspirational, but it’s also specific and concrete. In other words, your objective is abundantly clear.One way of checking whether your goal is clear is by asking yourself: How will I know when I’ve reached my goal? If you can reasonably answer this question, then you know you have clarity about what you are doing.

24 March, 2020 01:49 Share

Stop doing unnecessary things by withdrawing from failures and setting boundaries.

Have you ever ended up doing something that you knew was a waste of effort simply because you committed to it? A lot of people fall into this sunk-cost bias.The sunk-cost bias is the tendency to continue investing money, time, effort and/or energy into something we already know is unlikely to succeed. Unfortunately, every little investment makes it harder for us to let go, while simultaneously increasing the amount we are sure to lose.

24 March, 2020 02:23 Share

Although it was an astonishing engineering achievement, the cost made it unprofitable and doomed to commercial failure. Regardless, the French and British governments fell into a sunk-cost bias, and continued investing in it for four decades, fully aware that most of their money would never be recuperated.

24 March, 2020 02:23 Share

You can easily avoid this trap by developing the courage to admit your errors and mistakes and let them go. If it’s clear that something isn’t going to work out, then don’t be afraid to cut your losses and abandon ship.Moreover, you can avoid this entire scenario by setting clear boundaries. While a non-essentialist sees boundaries as unnecessary constraints, boundaries are in fact liberating on a fundamental level.Imagine, for example, a schoolyard on a busy street: at this school, children are only allowed to play in a small part of the yard next to the school buildings, and the teachers have to keep a watchful eye that the children stay within this boundary.But what if a fence was installed that clearly demarcated where the children can safely be? Then the teachers could use their time better, since they wouldn’t have to be so concerned with children being near traffic, and the children could play freely within that space.Boundaries are not there to constrain you, but to make your life easier and more enjoyable. For example, you could consider setting a clear boundary between work and family. If your kids aren’t allowed in the office, then work shouldn’t be allowed in your home.

24 March, 2020 02:24 Share

Keeping on top of what’s important requires that you eliminate what slows you down and that you prepare carefully.

Once you’ve committed to the principles of essentialism, it’s time to grapple with the last step: execution.Becoming an essentialist requires you to identify what’s slowing you down and then eliminate it, rather than simply finding ways to work around it.

24 March, 2020 02:26 Share

Finally, you see the essentialist solution: you take some of the weight out of the slower kids’ backpacks and put it in the fast kids’ backpacks. By thinking with the principles of essentialism, you’ve eliminated the problem!

24 March, 2020 02:27 Share

you can prevent unnecessary obstacles by being prepared. One of our biggest mistakes is assuming that our plans will go as expected. An essentialist, however, does not think this way. Instead, he assumes that things might go wrong and thus makes the right preparations.Whatever you do, whether it’s taking your kids to school or delivering a presentation at work, always give yourself a buffer of 50 percent of the time you expect it to take. This way you can always leave room to correct anything that ends up slowing you down.

24 March, 2020 02:27 Share

An essentialist life centers around yourself, a routine and proceeding step-by-step.

If you’ve ever achieved something in one fell swoop, then you experienced luck first hand. Most of the time, it won’t work out that way. In reality, creating success is all about building upon your previous progress with small, incremental steps

29 January, 2020 01:14 Share

But no matter what your approach, you’ll need to ensure that you stick with it by designing a routine.Routines create a habit, thus making difficult things become easier over time. It’s therefore prudent to create a routine that aligns with your goals.

24 March, 2020 02:28 Share

Small wins create momentum, which gives you the confidence to further succeed. Moreover, they allow you to stay on track by giving you the opportunity to check whether you are heading in the right direction.

24 March, 2020 02:28 Share

Final summary

In spite of how it might seem, only a few things are actually vital to our goals and well-being, and everything else is unimportant. By focusing on these few essential things and learning to do better by doing less, we can craft a life that is far more productive and fulfilling.

24 March, 2020 02:29 Share

Be an editor. Rather than constantly adding more and more responsibilities and material possessions to your life, try instead to find ways to cut things out. The more trivial things you can eliminate from your thinking and routine, the better you’ll be at what’s left; the things that truly matter.

24 March, 2020 02:29 Share

What’s in it for me? Discover the secrets to tidying up your house – and your life.

Marie Kondo also spent five years as an attendant at a Shinto shrine, learning what’s really important in our chaotic modern world

11 January, 2020 07:08 Share

When you buy new clothes, remove the packaging and tags right away and welcome them to your home. Treat them as part of your life, not as a product.

11 January, 2020 07:10 Share

The first step to achieving your dream lifestyle is visualizing your dream life in your dream space.

Before you can begin to tidy up, you first need a vision for your ideal life and your living space. Before reading further, take a moment to visualize what that would look like. For example, when one of the author’s clients, a woman in her twenties, did this exercise, she confided that she wanted a more "feminine" lifestyle. So she visualized arriving home to find a room free of clutter – as tidy as a hotel suite – with a pink bedspread and an antique lamp. Before going to bed, she would take a relaxing bath and enjoy the scent of aromatic oils, listen to classical music while doing yoga and drinking herbal tea, and finally fall asleep feeling totally at ease and unhurried.

11 January, 2020 07:11 Share

A tidy environment is one where you can efficiently access the things you need and like, which is why it’s so important to first understand what it is that you want. Your space should be filled with things that you truly love. Don’t, for example, turn the clothes you don’t like into your pajamas. Though it might feel pragmatic, it would be better for you to respect your belongings if they’re going to reflect your vision

11 January, 2020 07:12 Share

Don’t be afraid to discard things. Even if you have to give away a dusty book that you really meant to read but just never found time for, these pangs of regret show you that the book is something you’re truly interested in. Now’s not the right time for the book, but you can always buy it again later.

11 January, 2020 07:13 Share

A tidy home will improve both your body and mind.

The purpose of tidying isn’t just to keep things clean and organized. Rather, your goal is to create a space that improves your body and mind. To do this, you should organize your living space in a way that feels most natural to you. When you’re sorting through your things, for instance, you’re also evaluating their purpose and usefulness to you. Letting go of something that no longer serves a purpose – and welcoming something new in its place – can be deeply therapeutic. As you are sorting, focus on what you want to keep, not what you want to throw out. Arrange your belongings by category, closely examining each one with your eyes and hands. Ask yourself: "Does this make me happy? What is its purpose?"

11 January, 2020 07:15 Share

you can picture tidying your living space as a means of detoxing your body and mind. By discarding and re-organizing your belongings, you will effectively get rid of all the dust that has settled over time, thus bringing fresh air into your house.

11 January, 2020 07:17 Share

Put your past in order and gain clarity about the future you want.

Have you ever gone through your yearly spring clean only to find something which means the world to you, that you’d forgotten you still had? Tidying is more than just keeping a clean house: in the process of tidying, you can use the stuff from your past to help guide you into the future.

11 January, 2020 07:18 Share

When you begin the process of tidying, start with the easiest categories, e.g., clothes, books, documents, miscellaneous items, etc., and end with your sentimental items. Photos are the most difficult because of the sheer volume and emotional value. Be sure to keep the ones you remember taking and relive the excitement of that moment.

11 January, 2020 07:18 Share

Only give them things you think they will enjoy, and when discarding childhood keepsakes, ask your family whether they would rather have it.

11 January, 2020 07:19 Share

Documents, for instance, rarely succeed in doing this. Realistically assess their purpose according to your current needs. Warranties and manuals, for example, have a short-term purpose, and can therefore be discarded once they’ve outlived that use. Old course materials have likewise outlived their usefulness. After all, you didn’t take the course for the materials, but for the experience and the knowledge.

11 January, 2020 07:20 Share

Create a comforting and invigorating environment by surrounding yourself with neatly organized things that make you happy.

Strive for simplicity and visual order when storing and organizing. Consider carefully how you feel whenever you use or look at your belongings in the space you’ve designated for them.

11 January, 2020 13:40 Share

Though it might sound unbelievable, changing the way that you tidy your space can have profound effects, not just on your happiness, but also on your very ability to take action. For many, tidying is the first step toward grasping control of their lives. Strive for simplicity and visual order when storing and organizing. Consider carefully how you feel whenever you use or look at your belongings in the space you’ve designated for them.

11 January, 2020 13:41 Share

Some of the author’s clients believed that they were born messy, something they’d never be able to change if they wanted to keep a tidy house. But the author doesn’t buy it. Instead, she advises them to abandon this negative self-perception, and instead to strive for perfection when visualizing their tidy living space. Once they’ve achieved this vision, they feel like they can do anything if they just put their mind to it!

11 January, 2020 13:42 Share

More practically, tidying makes your decisions around the house straightforward, and thus improves your decisiveness. Efficient and intuitive storage eliminates the stress of having to search through clutter for the things that you need. It allows you to make decisions instead of being stuck searching helplessly for hours.

11 January, 2020 13:42 Share

You only have to tidy once to make a lasting change in your life.

Many people find the idea of maintaining a tidy home daunting. After all, doesn’t it seem like a lifetime of effort? But they’re simply thinking about it the wrong way. Rather, if you organize your space so that it embodies your dream lifestyle, then you only ever have to do a comprehensive tidying once in your life.

12 January, 2020 08:57 Share

You can make this seemingly daunting task easier by turning it into a special event. This breakthrough tidying will serve as a crucial and sudden change in your life – a fresh start on the path to your ideal life. The process of tidying is exhaustive, and you should expect to spend a good deal of time on this endeavor. In fact, it takes the author an average of six months to tidy a client’s house.

12 January, 2020 08:57 Share

While you’re tidying, communicate with your possessions and your space. In doing so, you can clarify your relationship to your belongings, thereby gaining a more intuitive feeling of what is of use to you and what is ready to be discarded. It makes the project smoother and more natural. When the author works in a client’s home, she begins by kneeling on the floor out of respect, and offers the space a silent greeting, as if she were in a shrine. Even her clothes, usually a dress and a blazer, embody the respect that she shows for the space.

12 January, 2020 08:58 Share

Though exhaustive tidying is a one-time project, your day-to-day relationship with your space is likewise important. When the author, for example, takes off her shoes when entering her home, she thanks them for their work. She greets and thanks her house every day, and empties the contents of her bag completely, putting each item in a specific place.

12 January, 2020 08:59 Share