On Subtraction...

Originally posted as a Tweetstorm here.

It’s simple to note: One has to subtract before adding. Give up what’s bad, before thinking about adding what’s good. True for habits, food, news and everything else. We live in a world with many apparent "signals”. We’re consuming more info/news/entertainment, more food, more social networking, more things to-do/work etc. than prior generations.

It’s making us lazy and critically, disengaged.

Separately, it’s unclear what the signal to noise ratio is - it’s a function of one’s own consumption habits. And over and above that, we’re prone to setting additional goals too: Read good books, Eat a healthy diet, Have fewer but better friends, Work smart etc.

t’s a never ending cycle of compounding to-dos and things never getting done. But there's an easy answer: Subtract before adding. Give up the bad habits rather than trying to pick up good ones.

Easier, lazier approach that works.

The question is how to choose what to cut out. Filters I find useful:

a) Lindy filter: Doing what’s worked over 100s of years (think food). Conversely, anything that’s not going to be relevant in a day isn’t worth consuming (think News).

b) Status filter: Taking a close look at what one's doing purely for social points vs intrinsic satisfaction, wealth/other actual asset. Don't play for status, esp on social media.

c) Health filter: give up anything/anyone you KNOW is making you less healthy/unhealthy

How to cut something out? Doesn’t always work but a method that can help discover the good feeling of giving up something bad is: Fasting. Best example: Dopamine fasting

Wondering what I cut out this year? Swearing.

END.