Photo courtesy of ePi.Longo

21 Easy Hacks to Simplify Your Life

“Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity! I say, let your affairs be as two or three, and not a hundred or a thousand instead of a million count half a dozen, and keep your accounts on your thumb-nail.” - Henry David Thoreau

If you’re trying to simplify your life, it’s best to follow the four simple steps I’ve outlined before — it’s just the simplest method.

But sometimes life gets in the way, and you need a workaround, some way to get past your usual obstacles and to trick yourself into keeping things simple.

I use these “hacks” myself (in this case, “hacks” refers to workarounds or tricks to reach your goal), and I’ve found them to be effective in many cases. Please note that you might have read some of these once or twice (or thrice) on this blog before, but I thought it would be a useful resource to gather them all into one post.

Also, don’t try to implement all of them — that would be far from simple. Not all of them will apply to your life anyway. Pick one or two and try them out.

Simple tricks to simplify your life:

Three-box decluttering. If you’re trying to declutter a room, drawer, shelf, desk … use three boxes to quickly sort everything. Just quickly go through each shelf or drawer or flat surface at once, putting things into three separate boxes: Trash, Donate, Maybe. The first two boxes are obvious … the Maybe box is for stuff you’re not too sure about — you can put this in storage for a few months and decide later. Put everything else — the stuff you love and use — back neatly.
Create a no-distractions zone. This is great for when you want to do some focused work — which is just about every day for most of us. Create a zone with no distractions — no phones, no email, no co-workers or kids or spouses, nothing on the walls, no IM or Twitter, no web surfing. Just the tools you need to do your work and nothing else. You could also create a time within your schedule for this distraction-free zone — say 8-10 a.m., for example. No distractions within that block of time. You can do email and phone calls before and after, but not during. I like this hack for when I need to do some writing but have a hard time concentrating.
Create a short-list. This is for the big-picture simplifying. If you’re having a hard time getting your life to something truly simple, create a short list of things you love doing most. This should be 4-5 things. For me, that’s writing, reading, running and spending time with my family. Your short list will be different. Then, try to eliminate everything in your life that’s not on the short list, to make room for the things you love.
Deflect all requests for a week. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, make the decision that you will not say “yes” to any new requests this week. If you get a new request, politely decline. If it’s a request you can’t decline, tell them you’ll get to it next week because you have some projects you need to finish this week. Then pick one or two or even three projects (depending on their sizes) and focus on finishing them this week. You can worry about new stuff next week. Repeat this hack when needed.
Go schedule-less. This works well if you’ve been over-packing your schedule. Try this: set a policy that you won’t schedule any appointments. This won’t work for some people who have mandatory meetings, but if you control your schedule, you can tell people, “I’m sorry, I don’t make appointments anymore. Call me on that day and we’ll see how things are going.” Leave your day wide open. At the beginning of the day, pick a few things to focus on and try to get them done. If you need to meet with someone, call them and meet.
Single-task. This is good for those who tend to be all over the place. I’ve talked about it many times before: don’t allow yourself to switch between tasks. When you’re working on a report or writing an article, don’t do anything else. When you’re processing email, get to empty and do nothing else. One task at a time … finish the task … move on to the next. Try this for one day, focusing on it completely for that day. If it works for you, try it again the next day.
Start your day with peace. I love this one, because it’s so easy to implement and yet it can have such a powerful effect on your day. When you first rise, do something that is calming and peaceful. That might be running or walking, having a quiet cup of coffee with a book, watching the sunrise, meditating or yoga … whatever works well for you. It can be 10 minutes or an hour, but find some peace in the morning and use it to calm you throughout your entire day. Read more.
Eat only 7 things. If you’re trying to be healthful, but are having a hard time navigating complicated diets, try this hack to simplify things. Limit yourself to non-packaged foods. Eat only seven things: fruits, veggies, whole grains, lean protein, lean calcium, beans, nuts, good fats. Nothing from a box. This will require that you cook your food, but it doesn’t have to be complicated. Read more.
Go paperless. This works great for certain types of jobs — mine, for example. It won’t work for other jobs. But if you can do it, you can save time filing, save time searching for stuff, save space, simplify your office, and save a few trees to boot. First, insist that everything be sent via email or through online documents. Then create a filing system that works for you. Personally, I like to keep things online, and just archive and search rather than creating a complicated hierarchy of folders, but you might prefer a more traditional system on your hard drive. Do what works best for you. For those things that can only be sent via paper, scan and toss. Try to limit the scanning, and request that things be sent electronically.
Go media free. If your life is filled with information overload, and you find little time to do the things you love to do, consider eliminating media from your life, at least temporarily. This includes cable TV, DVDs, newspapers and magazines, Internet news and the like. Now, I’m not saying you should eliminate the things you love. For myself, I would never eliminate reading books, for example. You might love a certain TV show — in that case, eliminate everything else. You can go media free for a week to see if it improves your life, and then consider extending it for longer. This hack won’t work for everyone, but I enjoy it.
Limit yourself to 3 tasks. If your to-do list is long and overwhelming, pick three tasks you want to do today — important tasks that aren’t just urgent but actually have a long-lasting impact on your life. Focus on getting these three tasks done before anything else. If you finish early, you can either call it a day or get some bonus tasks done. Read more.
Limit yourself to one project. How many projects are you juggling right now? If there are too many, you might be limiting your effectiveness. Instead, focus on one project right now, and put the others on the back-burner. Try to get that one project done as quickly as possible, and then work on the next one. Read more.
5-sentence emails. This works well if you spend too much time writing emails. I got the idea from Mike Davidson, who advocates limiting each email to five sentences or fewer. This forces you to keep your emails brief and to the point. It limits the amount of time you use doing email. And it forces you to decide what’s important in each email. I generally follow this rule (though I break it from time to time) … and if you get short emails from me, you now understand why.
30-day rule. This is a fantastic hack for those (like me) who have trouble with impulse buying — that great enemy of simplifying. The rule is that if you want to buy something, you have to write it on your 30-day list, with the date that it was added to the list. After 30 days, if you still want it, you can buy it. This doesn’t apply to necessities such as groceries … which helps you distinguish between wants and needs, a great skill for simplifying.
Only wear a few colors. I actually do this, and it helps me simplify my wardrobe. I basically wear only black, blue, grey and green, with some browns thrown in now and then. This means that it’s very easy for me to match my clothes, and I don’t need a lot of clothes. You’ll have other colors you love to wear — build your wardrobe around them. This won’t work for people who love having lots of clothes in a wide range of colors, but for myself, it keeps things nice and simple — and I don’t like thinking about clothes anyway.
One in, two out. When you bring something into your house, you have to get rid of two things. The normal rule is one in, one out, but somehow that never seems to work — things still accumulate. Instead, get rid of two things and things will stay simple.
Work four days a week. Of course not everyone can set their own schedule, but if you have that luxury, limit yourself to four days a week — 8 hours or less. You might even set it to 6 hours if you can manage that. And then make it three days. But how can you work only four days if you currently work 5 and are overloaded as it is? It’s funny, but you can somehow make it work. It’s a well-known law that our work expands to fit the time we give it … and the flip side of that is if you shrink the time, you will shrink the work to fit the time. If you only have four days in a work week, you will pick the most important tasks. You will get the work done that needs to be done, and you’ll naturally eliminate the rest. You’ll set a schedule that works. You’ll delegate and outsource and automate and eliminate. And you’ll have an extra day off. Try it and see — I bet you can manage it.
Retire early. This is a radical hack, but it can work for some people. In fact, it’s worked for many. Simply set an early retirement date (maybe even next year!) and force yourself to save up the money you need. Take a mini-retirement if necessary. Then go back to work and save up for your next mini-retirement. Or set your early retirement in five or 10 years, and then never go back to work. It sounds unrealistic, but if you look at it this way, you can save the money you need to retire. It means forcing yourself to make choices — do you want to spend impulsively now, or retire early? If you cut back on spending you can save more. Live simply and frugally and invest the difference. Make more money in the short term so you don’t need to work as much later.
Limit storage space. Do you tend to save everything? Have tons of stuff in storage, in closets or attics or garages or cupboards? The less storage you have, the less stuff you’ll save — which will save you the stress of having to go through all that storage to find stuff, to organize stuff, to maintain stuff, to get rid of old stuff. A good example is my desk — I work on a table with no drawers. This means I don’t have all the usual stuff in a desk, and forces me to keep things simple. You can apply this to all areas of life if you like.
Staunch your information flow. Similar to the media fast, you can cut back on the amount of information coming into your life. Do you currently have tons of emails coming in? Find ways to reduce them — unsubscribe to mailing lists, ask people to stop sending you joke or chain emails (or block them from your inbox), automatically filter things you don’t really need to read, pre-empt common questions with an FAQ. Do you read a lot of blog feeds? Unsubscribe to those that don’t give you value. Do you read a lot of news? Pick one news source instead of five.
Send only five emails a day. I did this for a little while and loved it. I would pick five important emails to respond to, and that was it. The rest would be delayed or deleted. I ended up prioritizing, and while some people didn’t get a response, I also didn’t spend all my time in email. It freed me, and made me realize that I don’t have to respond to every email — people will make do.

“Reduce the complexity of life by eliminating the needless wants of life, and the labors of life reduce themselves.” - Edwin Way Teale

—
If you liked this article, please share it on del.icio.us, StumbleUpon or Digg. I’d appreciate it. :)

21 Easy Hacks to Simplify Your Life

“Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity! I say, let your affairs be as two or three, and not a hundred or a thousand instead of a million count half a dozen, and keep your accounts on your thumb-nail.” - Henry David Thoreau

If you’re trying to simplify your life, it’s best to follow the four simple steps I’ve outlined before — it’s just the simplest method.

But sometimes life gets in the way, and you need a workaround, some way to get past your usual obstacles and to trick yourself into keeping things simple.

Also, don’t try to implement all of them — that would be far from simple. Not all of them will apply to your life anyway. Pick one or two and try them out.

Simple tricks to simplify your life:

Three-box decluttering. If you’re trying to declutter a room, drawer, shelf, desk … use three boxes to quickly sort everything. Just quickly go through each shelf or drawer or flat surface at once, putting things into three separate boxes: Trash, Donate, Maybe. The first two boxes are obvious … the Maybe box is for stuff you’re not too sure about — you can put this in storage for a few months and decide later. Put everything else — the stuff you love and use — back neatly.
Create a no-distractions zone. This is great for when you want to do some focused work — which is just about every day for most of us. Create a zone with no distractions — no phones, no email, no co-workers or kids or spouses, nothing on the walls, no IM or Twitter, no web surfing. Just the tools you need to do your work and nothing else. You could also create a time within your schedule for this distraction-free zone — say 8-10 a.m., for example. No distractions within that block of time. You can do email and phone calls before and after, but not during. I like this hack for when I need to do some writing but have a hard time concentrating.
Create a short-list. This is for the big-picture simplifying. If you’re having a hard time getting your life to something truly simple, create a short list of things you love doing most. This should be 4-5 things. For me, that’s writing, reading, running and spending time with my family. Your short list will be different. Then, try to eliminate everything in your life that’s not on the short list, to make room for the things you love.
Deflect all requests for a week. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, make the decision that you will not say “yes” to any new requests this week. If you get a new request, politely decline. If it’s a request you can’t decline, tell them you’ll get to it next week because you have some projects you need to finish this week. Then pick one or two or even three projects (depending on their sizes) and focus on finishing them this week. You can worry about new stuff next week. Repeat this hack when needed.
Go schedule-less. This works well if you’ve been over-packing your schedule. Try this: set a policy that you won’t schedule any appointments. This won’t work for some people who have mandatory meetings, but if you control your schedule, you can tell people, “I’m sorry, I don’t make appointments anymore. Call me on that day and we’ll see how things are going.” Leave your day wide open. At the beginning of the day, pick a few things to focus on and try to get them done. If you need to meet with someone, call them and meet.
Single-task. This is good for those who tend to be all over the place. I’ve talked about it many times before: don’t allow yourself to switch between tasks. When you’re working on a report or writing an article, don’t do anything else. When you’re processing email, get to empty and do nothing else. One task at a time … finish the task … move on to the next. Try this for one day, focusing on it completely for that day. If it works for you, try it again the next day.
Start your day with peace. I love this one, because it’s so easy to implement and yet it can have such a powerful effect on your day. When you first rise, do something that is calming and peaceful. That might be running or walking, having a quiet cup of coffee with a book, watching the sunrise, meditating or yoga … whatever works well for you. It can be 10 minutes or an hour, but find some peace in the morning and use it to calm you throughout your entire day. Read more.
Eat only 7 things. If you’re trying to be healthful, but are having a hard time navigating complicated diets, try this hack to simplify things. Limit yourself to non-packaged foods. Eat only seven things: fruits, veggies, whole grains, lean protein, lean calcium, beans, nuts, good fats. Nothing from a box. This will require that you cook your food, but it doesn’t have to be complicated. Read more.
Go paperless. This works great for certain types of jobs — mine, for example. It won’t work for other jobs. But if you can do it, you can save time filing, save time searching for stuff, save space, simplify your office, and save a few trees to boot. First, insist that everything be sent via email or through online documents. Then create a filing system that works for you. Personally, I like to keep things online, and just archive and search rather than creating a complicated hierarchy of folders, but you might prefer a more traditional system on your hard drive. Do what works best for you. For those things that can only be sent via paper, scan and toss. Try to limit the scanning, and request that things be sent electronically.
Go media free. If your life is filled with information overload, and you find little time to do the things you love to do, consider eliminating media from your life, at least temporarily. This includes cable TV, DVDs, newspapers and magazines, Internet news and the like. Now, I’m not saying you should eliminate the things you love. For myself, I would never eliminate reading books, for example. You might love a certain TV show — in that case, eliminate everything else. You can go media free for a week to see if it improves your life, and then consider extending it for longer. This hack won’t work for everyone, but I enjoy it.
Limit yourself to 3 tasks. If your to-do list is long and overwhelming, pick three tasks you want to do today — important tasks that aren’t just urgent but actually have a long-lasting impact on your life. Focus on getting these three tasks done before anything else. If you finish early, you can either call it a day or get some bonus tasks done. Read more.
Limit yourself to one project. How many projects are you juggling right now? If there are too many, you might be limiting your effectiveness. Instead, focus on one project right now, and put the others on the back-burner. Try to get that one project done as quickly as possible, and then work on the next one. Read more.
5-sentence emails. This works well if you spend too much time writing emails. I got the idea from Mike Davidson, who advocates limiting each email to five sentences or fewer. This forces you to keep your emails brief and to the point. It limits the amount of time you use doing email. And it forces you to decide what’s important in each email. I generally follow this rule (though I break it from time to time) … and if you get short emails from me, you now understand why.
30-day rule. This is a fantastic hack for those (like me) who have trouble with impulse buying — that great enemy of simplifying. The rule is that if you want to buy something, you have to write it on your 30-day list, with the date that it was added to the list. After 30 days, if you still want it, you can buy it. This doesn’t apply to necessities such as groceries … which helps you distinguish between wants and needs, a great skill for simplifying.
Only wear a few colors. I actually do this, and it helps me simplify my wardrobe. I basically wear only black, blue, grey and green, with some browns thrown in now and then. This means that it’s very easy for me to match my clothes, and I don’t need a lot of clothes. You’ll have other colors you love to wear — build your wardrobe around them. This won’t work for people who love having lots of clothes in a wide range of colors, but for myself, it keeps things nice and simple — and I don’t like thinking about clothes anyway.
One in, two out. When you bring something into your house, you have to get rid of two things. The normal rule is one in, one out, but somehow that never seems to work — things still accumulate. Instead, get rid of two things and things will stay simple.
Work four days a week. Of course not everyone can set their own schedule, but if you have that luxury, limit yourself to four days a week — 8 hours or less. You might even set it to 6 hours if you can manage that. And then make it three days. But how can you work only four days if you currently work 5 and are overloaded as it is? It’s funny, but you can somehow make it work. It’s a well-known law that our work expands to fit the time we give it … and the flip side of that is if you shrink the time, you will shrink the work to fit the time. If you only have four days in a work week, you will pick the most important tasks. You will get the work done that needs to be done, and you’ll naturally eliminate the rest. You’ll set a schedule that works. You’ll delegate and outsource and automate and eliminate. And you’ll have an extra day off. Try it and see — I bet you can manage it.
Retire early. This is a radical hack, but it can work for some people. In fact, it’s worked for many. Simply set an early retirement date (maybe even next year!) and force yourself to save up the money you need. Take a mini-retirement if necessary. Then go back to work and save up for your next mini-retirement. Or set your early retirement in five or 10 years, and then never go back to work. It sounds unrealistic, but if you look at it this way, you can save the money you need to retire. It means forcing yourself to make choices — do you want to spend impulsively now, or retire early? If you cut back on spending you can save more. Live simply and frugally and invest the difference. Make more money in the short term so you don’t need to work as much later.
Limit storage space. Do you tend to save everything? Have tons of stuff in storage, in closets or attics or garages or cupboards? The less storage you have, the less stuff you’ll save — which will save you the stress of having to go through all that storage to find stuff, to organize stuff, to maintain stuff, to get rid of old stuff. A good example is my desk — I work on a table with no drawers. This means I don’t have all the usual stuff in a desk, and forces me to keep things simple. You can apply this to all areas of life if you like.
Staunch your information flow. Similar to the media fast, you can cut back on the amount of information coming into your life. Do you currently have tons of emails coming in? Find ways to reduce them — unsubscribe to mailing lists, ask people to stop sending you joke or chain emails (or block them from your inbox), automatically filter things you don’t really need to read, pre-empt common questions with an FAQ. Do you read a lot of blog feeds? Unsubscribe to those that don’t give you value. Do you read a lot of news? Pick one news source instead of five.
Send only five emails a day. I did this for a little while and loved it. I would pick five important emails to respond to, and that was it. The rest would be delayed or deleted. I ended up prioritizing, and while some people didn’t get a response, I also didn’t spend all my time in email. It freed me, and made me realize that I don’t have to respond to every email — people will make do.

“Reduce the complexity of life by eliminating the needless wants of life, and the labors of life reduce themselves.” - Edwin Way Teale

—
If you liked this article, please share it on del.icio.us, StumbleUpon or Digg. I’d appreciate it. :)

Posted on 7 September 2008 in Simplicity |
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Comments (89)

"Motivate Thyself" Says:

September 7th, 2008, 19:44 pm

#2: Create a no-distractions zone.
This one is particularly hard for me because of things like my consulting business. I always feel that I need to be available for my clients. And yet I sometimes burn myself out because of this. This step is one I’ve been working on but need to go ahead and implement.

This is a big list to chew on but in a good way.

Stuart Says:

September 7th, 2008, 20:21 pm

I read about the three box hack before on your blog, I think. I’ve been using it awhile and I LOVE IT! My wife and I have been purging our house of things. Life is becoming much more simple three boxes at a time! Thanks.

emdoozie Says:

September 7th, 2008, 20:28 pm

I definitely need a no distraction zone. Problem is all the work I do is on my Mac and it is the source of 90% of my distractions. Though many of my distractions become well informed info as I believe everything I stumble on is for a specific reason.

-doozieUp

Shanel Yang Says:

September 7th, 2008, 20:31 pm

Go media free is my favorite. Since I stopped watching TV, I’ve been so much more productive! Saves cash, too! : )

JapanDave Says:

September 7th, 2008, 20:35 pm

Great article, and man, I really love the quotations you always pick for your articles, Leo. I almost always quicksilver them into my “quotes” file.

Regarding your list…

2 is a great one. Tough to do somethings… but always worth it. And the thing is, as soon as I pull myself away from everything I was being distracted (and overwhelmed) by, all of that stuff seems so meaningless. Like why was I being so consumed by this crap…

(of course then an hour later I get back on my computer and it all comes flooding back in… d’oh)

7 is also something I love. Lately I bought a small A7 memobook and went thru it, writing inspirational quotes on every page, with a few intentions mixed in. It only takes 5 minutes to read thru it everyday, but it always shoots my motivation, my sense of peace an calm sky high. I try to read it first thing every morning.

Mike Shea Says:

September 7th, 2008, 20:35 pm

Hi Leo,

I’m a huge fan of Zen Habits. It’s one of the few websites I subscribe to that almost always has an article I read and share with others. You always have some tip or thought provoking comment that leaves me re-evaluating my life.

I very much liked this article and many of the tips I use or am working on using. There are a couple that I question, however.

On three-box decluttering. I’m a huge de-clutterer. I used to keep all sorts of junk but for about 9 years I lived in a 690 sq foot apartment that simply wouldn’t hold that much stuff. Now I live in a bigger place but I still make it a habit of going through stagnant piles of junk and stripping it out to donate, give away, or whatever. I do it with books all the time. For every book that comes in, two go out (your other rule).

However, having a “maybe” box is a bit of a cop-out. I’m of the belief that the reason we have clutter is because we can’t decide what to do with it. The answer is to simply decide. Do you want and love this item? Does it make your life better? What would your world be like without it? Make a decision and move on, but don’t let it stagnate like an old pond full of scum.

For example, someone I love has a storage container full of stuff that has yet to be decided upon (it’s full of yarn). The cost per year of that storage container is now higher than the cost of the stuff inside. Just decide what to do with it and move on.

I’m also not sure about the schedule-less day either. I actually find that more chaos and madness will filter into a day un-bounded if you don’t schedule things. Instead, schedule everything. Schedule meditation time, schedule relaxation time, schedule time to escape to your private fortress of solitude (another of your rules that I love). The more you have your day planned out, the less likely some new catastrophe will fall into it.

All of the rest of your hacks are wonderful. I use many of them regularly and it makes me a happier person to do so. Some I strive for and understand but have yet to make a habit (like eating healthy and going on the information diet). Still great stuff.

Mike Shea

JJ Says:

September 7th, 2008, 20:54 pm

I’m a fan of the single-tasking. I have trouble getting through multiple tasks and by the time one of them gets done, I lost track of where the other ones are and in the end, nothing else gets done.

Anonymous Says:

September 7th, 2008, 20:57 pm

I wish I could read this article, it seemed to have very positive feedback… but there is this problem: You called something a “hack”.

This simply isn’t true, and I really REALLY wish people would stop abusing the word. A hack isn’t something you can do outside of a computer and it is impossible to hack life. Hacking is literally changing the way something works IN A COMPUTER to one’s desired specifications. Hacking, in short, is playing god. You can’t hack outside of a computer, because otherwise you’d be supernatural.

Refer to these things as tips, goddamnit.

Adam F. Says:

September 7th, 2008, 21:14 pm

Definitely one of the best posts on Zen Habits!

Leo Says:

September 7th, 2008, 21:26 pm

@Anonymous: The word “hack” has evolved over time. In computer terminology, it was meant to describe an inelegant solution to a problem, and later included clever fixes.

However, even the computer term came from an older term … it’s a German word that meant someone who makes furniture with an axe … in other words, crudely.

The computer term has evolved into the term “life hack”, and it’s an accepted use of the word. The same connotations of the computer term apply to life hacks … including crude solutions to problems, and clever fixes.

I’m using the term to mean fixes or workarounds to problems that stop us from simplifying. It’s a legitimate use of the word, imo.

They’re not just tips. I’ve published many more tips (including one post with 72 simplifying tips). These only apply to workaround solutions.

For example, if you want to get rid of stuff but keep getting hung up on certain items, the 3-boxes hack will be a good workaround. In each of the hacks above, I describe the problem that the hack works around.

Words evolve over time, and while the newer usages always have detractors — people who want to stick to only the old meanings — if people use the new meanings enough, the changes stick. That’s the nature of language.

Tabs at Levnow Says:

September 7th, 2008, 21:39 pm

Thanks for the list Leo, just put the last of the summer guests on a plane yesterday and after three months of visitors and things to do I finally have my life back. Your list will help me get back on track. I am going for the deflect all requests for a week but I may modify it for two or three weeks.

Thanks again,

-Tabs

Vered - MomGrind Says:

September 7th, 2008, 21:47 pm

I try to go media free once a week. Sometimes I manage an entire weekend, sometimes a full day, and other times just a few hours. But regardless of how long it lasts, it’s always wonderful to get away from it all and just RELAX.

Overcoming Lifes Obstacles Says:

September 7th, 2008, 21:50 pm

Love #14! What a great way to save money and space!

Kim Wood Says:

September 7th, 2008, 22:04 pm

Excellent stuff, Leo.
I have been media-free for the last month - reading and writing more, instead. I’m reading at least 3 books each week - and loving it!
I’m currently grappling with the optimal number of blogs to read - currently working on limiting subscriptions to 20.

Elizabeth Potts Weinstein Says:

September 7th, 2008, 22:11 pm

The secret is that no one does these all at once … it’s a process.

A few years ago I stopped watching TV (and I had been watching 20+ hours a week). Now I watch 2-4 hours per week (typically on Science or National Geographic channel). What a huge time saver!

Forward a few years later, I’m simplifying clothes, stuff (i.e., in garage/basement), email, food, …. but it’s still a process and journey!

~ ElizabethPW

Laurie Says:

September 7th, 2008, 23:13 pm

I’ve just about cut TV out of my life. I watch VERY little preferring to listen to the radio or read. I have no idea who won American Idol! :O)

Shilpan | successsoul.com Says:

September 7th, 2008, 23:19 pm

I also have gained great deal of time by stop watching TV. I’m getting lot more done. I also am getting more sleep as a result. It’s incredible.

PhilipLilly.com Says:

September 7th, 2008, 23:36 pm

I really liked the idea of eat only 7 different things. I find a lot of my time is devoted to making my food. I am a raw foodist, so I don’t eat anything that has been cooked. You might think that I would save time because I don’t cook, but I have to prepare items and put them together. Due to the time it takes to prepare things I often use fewer ingredients.

As many others have stated, I do like the idea of media free. I haven’t sat down and watched normal TV in a couple of years, but I will admit I indulge in movies. I think movies are a little bit better since I don’t have to watch them at a certain time, but they still waste my time.

Finally, I do want to really start my day peaceful. It is wonderful to have a few hours to myself in the morning before school or work. I still have to fight with myself to go to bed earlier though. I don’t mind waking up early, but going to bed early is hard for me.

Great tips!

Chris - Zen to Fitness Says:

September 7th, 2008, 23:49 pm

@No.8 I find it gret to simplify my diet. I only eat; Meat, Fruit, Vegtavles, Nuts and Helathy fats. This keeps my fridge very simple and minimalist and it makes shopping extremely cost effective and easy.

Thanks for th Post Leo

FrugalNYC Says:

September 8th, 2008, 0:04 am

Great article once again Leo. I like the No media rule and I do limit mine. I hardly watch any TV, no Cable helps! I recently purchased a dtv converter box and wrote about it on my blog, its to give me better reception for the few items I do watch on occasion. I do still have an issue with internet media, sometimes I waste hours just reading articles.

I find the email hacks very useful and hope to put them to use soon. I’ve recently successfully implemented InboxZero for myself and its great! I believe you may have written about that before as well.

Keep up the great posts Leo!

Eugene (Editor, Varsity Blah) Says:

September 8th, 2008, 0:17 am

My advice to all the readers is to slow down. This may seem obvious, but the first step in dealing with stress in your life is to stop being so rushed. When on earth did juggling a million things at once become a sign of the capable and adept? I’ve seen people eat, drink, smoke, apply makeup, and even send text messages all while trying to drive. I even saw a guy trying to read a newspaper while riding his bike! This just in…multitasking doesn’t work! And no, you’re not the exception to the rule. The facts of life show no favour.

(From http://www.varsityblah.com/need-for-speed/)

Success Professor Says:

September 8th, 2008, 0:23 am

Thanks Leo!

The top choice in my life is number 7: Start your day with peace. I can see a huge difference when I do this, compared to when I don’t. It’s easy to give up my personal quiet time when I get busy, and yet it can be one of the most valuable things at just that time.

I’ve been working on number 6: single-task. I’m getting better, and I can already see the benefits in life. I often just get myself to commit to a single-task for a one hour stretch. Then, I’m allowed to check email or blogs etc., but during that hour - no interruptions. It’s amazing how you can get a lot of projects done in just one hour. If it is a bigger project, break it down into one hour segments.

My wife would never let me do #15, only wear a few colors, but then again, I’m not sure that I would want to!

FrugalNYC Says:

September 8th, 2008, 0:30 am

@Leo and @Anonymous I just saw the comment above. A hack in a computer program is technically a temporary fix. It is a solution that someone figures out on their own and is not officially supported by the writers of the program. With that said, I agree with Leo regarding changes in language. Just look at how Google is the word most people use when they mean search. Every year dictionaries add words that are commonly used.

patrickd Says:

September 8th, 2008, 1:32 am

seems to be like a set of “rules”.
to simplify life.
forget the rules.

Fiona Says:

September 8th, 2008, 1:36 am

Thank you so much for this list..I am printing out this list and I’m going to start on them. I have my fingers crossed the Retire Early but that is the one thing that may not happen on the list:)

Love your blog!!!

Fiona

Leo Says:

September 8th, 2008, 2:03 am

@patrickd: These aren’t rules at all. You can choose some that apply to you, or none. There are many ways to simplify your life — choose the path that works best for you.

Paulo Says:

September 8th, 2008, 2:33 am

Fantastic post, but there is so much information here that it might take me a month to try everything out. Bookmarked ;)

Leo Says:

September 8th, 2008, 2:43 am

@Paulo: Don’t try everything out! Just pick one or two. You can come back and try others out later, but this wasn’t supposed to be a list where you try everything. That’s complicated. :)

Chloe Says:

September 8th, 2008, 2:50 am

I also recommend Gafana.com which presents a CAPTCHA to everyone who send you an email to prevent spam and computer emails which waste time.

simplify Says:

September 8th, 2008, 2:59 am

read only three comments on this page! :-P

Smumdax Says:

September 8th, 2008, 3:22 am

Sometime ago, I stopped watching TV when my 19” broke down… I never got it to repair, and I went on without much TV and noticed I didn’t really need the entertainment that much. TV took about 3 hours of my time each day.. so that’s around 20 hours a week.

About 2 years ago, I stopped watching my favorite TV show, which was WWE wrestling (was following via the net)… I had been watching religiously for about 14 years straight… somehow, one day, I just stopped and never really missed it. It took about 5-6 hours of my weeks…

Now, if I go on a TV frenzy, I usually buy some full season DVD box sets of shows, and watch them late at night before going to bed. But that is pretty rare if you ask me.

Great blog, I will try other things… I’m a keeper kinda guy… I need to throw stuff out badly.

Elly Says:

September 8th, 2008, 5:04 am

very useful article. I’ll have to try those tips:)

Keiron Says:

September 8th, 2008, 5:23 am

I instigated the one in, two out rule a long time ago for my wife’s shoes! She wasn’t happy about it (and neither are her friends when I explain it to their partners!!!).

Some of the others I might have to take a look at though!

HP Says:

September 8th, 2008, 7:20 am

No IM or Twitter!

Nick Says:

September 8th, 2008, 7:41 am

Great post Leo! Very inspiring, I may do this at some point (if I can get over procrastinating!) if i start with a drawer then it should be easy. Only problem is will have lots of stuff in the ‘maybe’ drawer LOL.

I agree about the need to simplify - there is so much information coming in via computer, TV etc that it gets over whelming and you can easily get distracted and not do the things you REALLY want to do………………

ThiloP Says:

September 8th, 2008, 7:45 am

I like most of the hacks.
But wearing only a few colors… That’s kinda over the top.
A little bit bourgeois don’t you think?

Myrko Says:

September 8th, 2008, 8:28 am

Hm… it would be interesting to see an overarching principle for simplification. Sure, there are a lot of hacks and they work.
Maybe there is also another way by simply focussing on only that what is important - on the essentials. In some cases this works for me. And this is what simplicity is all about, be where we want to be without distraction. I think it is even more important to develop the kind of habits and focus that the clutter is not arising in the first place.
Maybe it’s not possible 100% of the time, but my experience tells me that I don’t have to declutter, where I have my attention because this is inclusive.

janelle Says:

September 8th, 2008, 8:39 am

Number 21 is going to be tough to tackle!

Marley Says:

September 8th, 2008, 8:57 am

I use #4 and have had a lot of success with it. I call it my “just say no button”. Whenever things are getting to hectic I push the button and that is all I can handle for a given time period. It works and if you do it politely it does not come across as being rude. It will even work with your boss, just as long as you are not continually pushing it.

Dave

Leo Says:

September 8th, 2008, 9:11 am

@Myrko: I’ve written about the overarching principles before, as I mentioned at the beginning of the article. See this article for example:

Four Laws of Simplicity

Hope this helps!

Ryan @ Smarter Wealth Says:

September 8th, 2008, 9:21 am

Leo,
I hate clutter and all the stuff you talked about it life clutter. Thanks for helping me get rid of it

Myrko Says:

September 8th, 2008, 9:29 am

Ah I see, Leo. Thanks. These 4 steps in the article you linked sound like a easy applyable and working procedure.
A thought following is still “How can I prevent clutter from happening in the first place?” I found this also a very interesting question.

Aidan Says:

September 8th, 2008, 10:28 am

No appointments? I’m sorry, but if anyone told me that “they don’t make appointments anymore” they would be passed over. Which may help clarify things for some people that end up getting passed over, but the majority of the world runs on appointment, so this statement ends up sounding more like “I need you to work around my needs”.

jak of stratius group Says:

September 8th, 2008, 11:25 am

As someone who currently works from home, I think one way to simplify your life is to fin out the structure of the day that works the best for you. I for instance get a lot more done when I wake up early and go work via free wifi at a local panera or coffee shop.

Ryan Says:

September 8th, 2008, 11:44 am

There’s a book called One Month to Live that goes right along with this article.

nutut Says:

September 8th, 2008, 11:50 am

thanks for the post

nutut@web.de

Mary Kutheis (kooth-ice) Says:

September 8th, 2008, 11:56 am

Leo,

It’s a great list and I think the point you made to Paulo is particularly helpful. When folks see a long list it looks complicated and time-consuming to implement, just like you say.

The beauty of the hacks is that they aren’t new. (Though some may see them as new because the way you presented them may resonate in a new way or they may never have been exposed to them before.)

By picking one or two to implement, those new behaviors could end up becoming new skills to use occasionally, or turn into lifelong habits.

When we’re ready for more simplifying, more ideas will “magically” be presented again, somehow, someway. The universe takes care of these things if we will just let it happen.

You do a great service to keep these ideas top of mind, so when fresh ideas are needed, a helpful source is at hand.

Sue Says:

September 8th, 2008, 11:58 am

The problem I sometimes have with #14 when it concerns material items (especially clothes!!!) is that sometimes, with the popularity of a certain fashion trend or [insert material item here], the result is that some stuff just won’t be in the stores 30 days from now, and thus I’m faced with an impulsive decision. And while #15 quickly follows, this is something I struggle with. What I’ve done to limit wasting money on clothes is to not buy things I can’t return, which means I limit my thrift store or final sale purchases, and I keep EVERY receipt. So if I haven’t worn something within 2 weeks of buying it, which is I believe the upper limit to how long things should sit in my drawers or hang in my closet (because honestly, two weeks, 6 months, a year, its all the same), then it probably doesn’t coordinate with the rest of my wardrobe very well as well as I thought. And then when I return, I consider that my punishment for buying it, along with the reward of getting the money back and not saving it, or spending it on something that better fits my needs.

Nick Says:

September 8th, 2008, 12:04 pm

Help! I have developed the habit of continually checking the blog several times a day…. Now if I can only check it a couple of times I could get some work done!!! it is too good…..

K Says:

September 8th, 2008, 12:11 pm

Pick one news source instead of five.

No good. No single news source is adequately informative. Even with the sources I read now, I still miss things.

Dave Dragon Says:

September 8th, 2008, 12:20 pm

Great list!

Simplicity is a key to happiness.
Dave

Sue Says:

September 8th, 2008, 12:23 pm

oh wow, that last sentence should read “And then when I return, I consider that my punishment for buying it, along with the reward of getting the money back and not spending it, or spending it on something that better fits my needs.”

But I agree @Myrko, Erin McKean (http://www.dressaday.com/dressaday.html) wrote an article about the way we get dressed for certain career life situations, and as our “appearance” these days includes images of us both online, and in person for an occasional visit to the office, an interview, a presentation at a conference, etc. she points out that its important to be who you are, and @Leo, that’s in no way to imply that you’re not being who you are by paring down color and style choices, but I think it stands to say that for people who do enjoy the thought and effort that goes into their wardrobe, the article is a great way to buck the supposed “timeless” work clothing staples, which can be expensive (and boring!!!) unto themselves: http://www.jugglezine.com/CDA/juggle/0,1516,161,00.html

Caroline painting Says:

September 8th, 2008, 12:31 pm

#4 and #12 are frighteningly relevant to me right now. I have a painting to finish by Wednesday and two major, non-negotiable projects to be completed by the end of September. Your post reminded me I can ditch the two projects until after Wednesday - a few days really won’t knock them back too far.

It may seem obvious but when you’re in that over-committed fog it’s easy to forget the simple things. Thank you for lifting some of the panic and showing me a path to take.

#15 is something I’m working on - inspired by an Elfa brochure no less! Slowly the mornings are becoming so much easier.

@emdoozie - if you have 10.5 have you tried using Spaces to limit the distractions? Perhaps severely limiting the items on your dock might help too? I’ve also had success with mini-breaks, i.e. After I’ve worked on something for a set time (I even use a timer) then I can go play or surf or whatever the distraction is, but with a time limit when I have to get back to work.

Samira al Thores Says:

September 8th, 2008, 13:46 pm

Leo,
Thank you! I always need positive reinforcement to continue my lifestyle of slowing down, simplifying, and examining life. Just this past weekend, our neighborhood had its autumn sale and I got rid of most of my clutter that I had boxed over the year. I sold my clutter for $75 in small increments. Hey, the “dollar store” can’t compete. I didn’t bring the leftovers inside the house - I kept them in the garage and freecycled them. In addition to money in my pocket (!), I also spent time chatting with my neighbors and the people who stopped to buy my books and stuff. Win!
Sami

Sunlit Says:

September 8th, 2008, 13:47 pm

Hi everyone,

Interesting article. Peaceful mornings and media free habits does really make a big difference in my life. Good job Leo

Anne Says:

September 8th, 2008, 14:05 pm

And this list has just got this site tossed off my newsfeed - I’m bored of the constant self-recycling. No doubt very ecological but, frankly, I don’t think I’ve seen anything new in the last six-twelve months and I’m bored of waiting.

New readers - the archives are great, read ‘em.

Leo Says:

September 8th, 2008, 15:03 pm

@Anne: I hear you, and actually I appreciate the feedback. It helps me to grow, so thank you.

I would like to point out that if you look over the last month’s posts (for example), you’ll see that I’ve tried to blend some of my old content with new content. I try to find a balance between fresh content and bringing back important concepts for those who haven’t been around that long.

And if you look at my readership, at any given moment there are a lot of new readers. I’ve been finding more and more that my readers aren’t aware of my old posts, so I try to bring some of the key material back in new ways.

That said, I will work harder to find a better balance, with new material mixed in more often. And again, I appreciate your honesty.

Leo Says:

September 8th, 2008, 15:04 pm

@Anne: Also, if you and other long-time readers have suggestions for specific posts you’d like to see, I’d love to hear them. That’s always helpful to me.

Karl - Your Work Happiness Matters Says:

September 8th, 2008, 16:07 pm

I disagree with Anne. This post gave me something that I never thought about before.

“Only eat 7 things” I sometimes make my diet too complicated and I fall off the wagon. This is good advice on keeping it simple.

Most things have already been said. Every religion copied from earlier religions. Even Einstein said he stood on the shoulders of giants.What matters is taking a new spin on it and giving the reader a new perspective. Yes, I’ve heard many of these, but not every reader has. It’s a fine line to keep new readers checking out the site and also keep the old readers happy who know Zen Habits inside and out.

Katrineholm Uncensored Says:

September 8th, 2008, 17:02 pm

Do zazen, Walk, Do hatha yoga, Eat vegetarian meals. Good enough to keep most folks in shape. Simple. No equipment or gym membership necessary. No need to drive to a workout.

Nick Says:

September 8th, 2008, 17:10 pm

We all need reminding about things, even if we know most of it from other places, books etc. We all need encouragement from time to time and I think Leo’s blog is great - I’ve only known about it for a few weeks but dip into the archives and look forward to his posts, we can all keep learning, even if it is just a ‘tweak’ her and there. Plus the people who contribute are great, very inspiring, encouragement etc………….keep it up everyone!

Mark Says:

September 8th, 2008, 17:26 pm

This may have been covered, but something i just stumbled upon is this…….there is nothing wrong with using regular mail. Resolve a complaint, pay bills, etc etc. In the age of instant gratification, snail mail is a good way to slow your life down. If there is no hurry…why create one?

chris Says:

September 8th, 2008, 19:36 pm

The only way I can go media free is when I’m out of the house…It’s really hard thing to do.

JapanDave Says:

September 8th, 2008, 19:47 pm

Did I mention I like #15 too? The Steve Jobs approach. Honestly, I usually just grab the first thing I see in my closet without care as to what matches. Because of this I usually stick to only a few colors when buying something new.

Fashionable? Probably not. But makes getting dressed a no-brainer.

Alice Campbell Says:

September 8th, 2008, 20:12 pm

My parents were young adults just starting out during the depression. When things got bad, they lost their house. When something broke, they couldn’t afford to replace it. This hardship led my mother to a lifelong, uh, uh, dare I call it hoarding problem? As a result she kept everything. The zipper out of the old dress that gave up the ghost, the buttons off the old car coat (remember them?), the pins out of the shirts that came back from the cleaners, everything. I grew up with that, and some of it rubbed off on me, but I’d been battling it fairly successfully until I married someone worse than I! I’ve used the 3 box declutter method, except my third box is the keeper, not the maybe. When I declutter, it’s for good. My husband, on the other hand has tried the 3 box method, but his keeper box is always hugely full, and the other 2 have almost nothing in them. I’m going to suggest the maybe box. That should help him, I think. Thanks for the idea!

Alice

Down Comforter Says:

September 8th, 2008, 21:52 pm

I’d like to add # 22: “Sleep Well - you’ll look better, feel better and can focus better on the other 21 tasks :-)”
Stef @ http://www.shopdownlite.com

winey Says:

September 8th, 2008, 22:00 pm

7. Start your day with peace
14. 30-day rule
16. One in, two out
those is my favorite.i like simple life

Srinivas Says:

September 9th, 2008, 5:08 am

Leo, the write up is excellent. I especially liked your tips # 7, 17 and18. In fact I am planning to retire after two years and trying to limit my wants.

Wobagi Says:

September 9th, 2008, 5:24 am

Leo, this list is great, and your four laws of simplicity are even better. However I don’t think they can lead many of those who don’t live simple to simple living. They are tips of a man who needed a decade to reach this point (to tell you the truth, I also needed more than 10 years). And from that point they may seem “easy hacks”. But they are habits, and we all know that it’s not so easy to change habits. Nonetheless all the tips are very good.
#11 — the magical number 3 makes me think about one of my habits, to keep no more than 3 photos made during one day. you leave only the most important, the best photos. and they really mean something after years. less=more
#14 — i use another method: when I want to buy something, I cannot spend the money I saved before. I have to start saving new money. It works like the 30-day rule, because you have time to change your mind, but has an additional side effect — more savings.
#17 is great! and it’s so true!

Tony Says:

September 9th, 2008, 6:26 am

Excellent post, thanks!

#1 Having just decluttered my spare room/office I will start doing this. If you have a massive amount of papers and files to begin with (I managed to accumulate 10 years’ worth before my big purge) - the thought of getting organised is daunting. I found it easier to simply box everything up and then leave it for about 3 months. During this period, I never needed to access anything so I decided to archive everything. Ideally, I should have thinned out the files and decided what could be trashed first, but my “simplification” was that life was too short for that!

#9 I went paperless (as far as I could) over a year ago. Don’t forget to have a good data back up system in place - the automated online providers (Mozy, Carbonite, etc) may save you one day!

Click A Life Coach Says:

September 9th, 2008, 7:12 am

I like the decluttering. One challenge remains, when I do this 90% ends up in the maybe box.
I guess if I won’t use it then for the next two months it should go in the Trash or Donate box.

Hazeldell Says:

September 9th, 2008, 9:00 am

I totally needed this post today. Thank you!!! Now, can you come over and help me get this all done?

Matt Says:

September 9th, 2008, 10:36 am

I really like #1 - its a great way to declutter which is something something I find a lot of people have trouble with. Somewhere along path of life we learn to accumulate junk rather than getting rid of it.

Great post Leo

dokidok Says:

September 9th, 2008, 14:00 pm

#2 is very good.
I wrote something similar about NOT to do list.
http://simplifydude.wordpress.com/2008/04/04/not-to-do-list-what-the-hell-is-this/

tigerbee Says:

September 9th, 2008, 14:04 pm

I love to start the day with peace, I also try to end the day with peace and push peace into my lunch time too. The more peace the better. I also have a method with boxes, I put a big box by my street curb with the words FREE on it- and I make sure to fill it with stuff in good condition I don’t need. Whatever my neighbors don’t want or need gets donated. I’m a good neighbor! ;-)

Tony Says:

September 9th, 2008, 15:40 pm

#8 - a variation - learn to cook good food, simply! By coincidence, I’ve just watched a programme on the BBC (UK) by Nigella Lawson (http://www.nigella.com but this is a poor website) who called herself a lazy cook, because she cooks in half the time with a quarter of the effort. The food looked fabulous (Italian with an English twist).

Something to aspire to? How about a way to reduce the effort of cleaning up the mess too?

Still Life in Buenos Aires Says:

September 9th, 2008, 17:43 pm

Love these hacks, particularly saying “no” to appointments and the five sentence e-mail rule.

Backpacking for a few months was a great instruction in how to live with minimal items. I recommend that people bring fewer items on trips–it’s less stress and less to carry.

Thanks for sharing these!

frely Says:

September 10th, 2008, 12:25 pm

I love most of these hacks, they’re easy to implement. I combined the 30 day rules with my joesgoals website. Each time I’m able to complete a new habit for 30 days, I reward myself with something nice. Most of the time, it really removes the guilt of purchasing unecessary things because I will have to choose carefully which things I decided to reward myself after doing my new habit for at least 30 days.

Laz Says:

September 10th, 2008, 13:17 pm

Thanks a lot Leo! Great post, great site. First time visiting the site, and it definitely made it to the ‘keeper’ box in my book! Thank you very much and keep up the awesome work. I can see you inspire many people to improve their lives, and I am happy to be part of the movement!
Good day to all! =)

Art Says:

September 10th, 2008, 20:52 pm

Be present. I read a great book about Leonardo da Vinci and it went into how he didn’t just walk down the street. He sucked it all in - allowing each of his senses to relish its environment.

To me that means don’t just eat food…. savor the flavor. Relish the smell and texture.

It’s a long winded way to advocate single tasking. Don’t try to do 5 things at once and rush through life. Stop. Smell the flowers. We all die. There’s no point in rushing towards a goal all the time.

The older I get, the more I appreciate the phrase The Journey is the Reward.

joe Says:

September 11th, 2008, 1:01 am

Number 8 is supposed to have 7 items in it, but has 8. Fruits, veggies, whole grains, lean protein, lean calcium, beans, nuts, good fats.Please change that by either changing the title or changing the list. Thank you.

Sincerely,

A very picky English teacher.

cohnsey Says:

September 11th, 2008, 17:21 pm

thanks for the tips

grace Says:

September 11th, 2008, 20:23 pm

Multi tasking = fractured tasking

Marisa Singhnarinaath Says:

September 12th, 2008, 11:49 am

When my brain is short circuited by everything that is going on inside, I meditate. Meditation helps to declutter my mind. When it is peaceful and quiet on the inside, life seems so much simpler to me.

Gina Says:

September 15th, 2008, 2:57 am

Aloha!
So much wonderful information!
I just had to share my no TV experience.When my kids were in grade school. I teamed up with a few other moms and we had the entire school district turn off the TV for a week yes a week and the parents went crazy (well some of them). We had the kids make journals and write (or draw) their feelings for the whole week and most had an easy time of letting it go and enjoyed the space and time to do other tings or imagine this do nothing! . LEGOS donated tons of legos for a community build. The library extended their hours and we had open gyms and aerobic instructors ( yes it was about 15 years ago) opened their doors to families at night. We built,more than logo land, in that one week we built a larger sense of community and freedom from the dependence on the tube.
I often look back at this event and wonder how we pulled it off…the TV has great power in our homes, well not in mine-I gave it up completely 7 years ago.
I am so happy to see others considering less time with the TV it really does make a difference! Peace

JasonOnEarth Says:

September 15th, 2008, 23:02 pm

#13 5-sentence emails.

I think this is a great suggestion but…

Regarding #21. Ay, I find it hard to just ignore people and delete their messages. :-P I’m glad this is the last suggestion because I’d avoid it at all costs unless you truly have no time.

It takes people time and effort to write an email to us so we should always try to send a response. This is especially true if the person has asked us questions or is obviously expecting a response.

The above suggestion shows respect to our fellow humans, hehe, because we acknowledge them, and that’s a very good thing, indeed! Ignoring people is just distasteful. I can see how it may be warranted but only if you are extremely busy.

MichaelGuzy Says:

September 19th, 2008, 18:28 pm

Number 3 is no good. If you don’t have variaty in your life it will be boring and not interesting. I would advise you the opposite: try different things, different hobbies, different activities. It will make your life spicy!

Rabbit Says:

September 23rd, 2008, 3:19 am

A very organised and focused co-worker once told me of an alternative to your 3-box rule: the 6-month