Happiness Project: Get rid of things that don’t work.

I’m working on my Happiness Project, and you should have one, too! Everyone’s project will look different, but it’s the rare person who can’t benefit. Join in -- no need to catch up, just jump in right now. Each Friday’s post will help you think about your own happiness project.

For me, outer order brings inner serenity. I find it much easier to stay calm when my office, my apartment, and my calendar are well-regulated. One sign of disorder is to be surrounded by things that are broken, need new batteries, or need to be re-filled, re-charged, or serviced in some way.

Here are some things that don’t work in my apartment right now: a video camera, a smoke alarm (this is actually dangerous), an alarm clock (well, it works but I can’t figure out how to reset the time), a cabinet drawer, the electric socket in the master bathroom, the lightbulbs in the hallway light-fixture, and one of the phones. Plus my laptop has a huge black spot on the screen which blocks my view of the upper-right-hand corner of any document.

Each of these failure represents a task, and they’re weighing on me. Every time I’m reminded of them, I feel annoyed and overwhelmed.

I try to do an errand each day, but for some reason these these things haven’t made it onto the errand list. They’ve just been lurking in the background, inoperable.

We tend to overestimate how much we can accomplish in an hour or a week, and underestimate how much we can accomplish in a month or a year, by doing just a little bit each day. Over and over, as I do my Happiness Project, I remind myself that if I just do a little bit each day, I can get a huge amount done. If I write one sentence in my one-sentence journal, by the end of the year, I’ll have a meaningful record of what has happened. If I clean up for ten minutes each night before bed, the apartment will stay noticeably tidier. If I write a blog post each day, over time, I’ll amass a huge archive.

Look around your home, your office, your car, etc. What isn’t working? Throw it away, give it away, or fix it. Throwing away, of course, is easiest – once you’ve made up your mind that something should be tossed (which can be surprisingly difficult). For anything more complex, just tackle one restoration per day. At the end of the month, the elimination of these nagging tasks will make you feel more energized and free.

Anthony Trollope, the novelist who managed to be hugely prolific while also revolutionizing the British postal service, wrote: “A small daily task, if it be really daily, will beat the labours of a spasmodic Hercules.”

Each day, get rid of one thing that doesn’t work. It adds up.

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I was intrigued this story in Gimundo about how keeping a food journal made a huge difference when people were trying to watch what they were eating. I tried this myself for my happiness project, and I just COULD NOT manage to remember to write down everything I ate. At the end of the day, day after day, I'd realize that I'd forgotten to make any notes, and I had only the spottiest recollection of what I'd eaten. Reading this article has inspired me to try again.

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Comments

[Helen]

This rule also applies well to intangible things, like habits and routines!

[Zendad]

I do agree, these sort of things can really suck the energy out of you by emitting a negative vibe. It's best to eliminate them and in our case we always try to DONATE before tossing.
Zendad
http://www.zendad.net

[Jen Vondenbrink]

I am new to your blog. I read Leo's Zen Habits religiously and when he mentioned your blog, I wanted to see what it was all about.

I love your thoughts about how the "broken" stuff does accumulate in our lives. One thing I try to do I when I notice something isn't working, I try to fix it right away or decide what I am going to do with it. I started doing this after studying the principles of Feng Shui.

Glad to be part of your community!

[adora]

It is not a broken thing, but I got a new monitor and the old tube monitor has been collecting dust. It's about time to get rid of it!

[Debbie m]

When I first saw your title, I was thinking less literally: Get rid of things that don't work for you! For example, if a pen works, but with your handwriting style it's all blotchy, so it feels like it doesn't work for you, get rid of it.

Actually, I prefer to fix things when possible, but there also comes a point when you can realize you're never going to fix it, so just move on!

But it's good to be reminded to take care of things that are, from everyone's point of view, broken.

Your note about keeping a food journal made me think of keeping a happiness journal. I bet that writing down every thing that makes you happy throughout the day (at least for a short period of time like a week or a month) could help you notice what kinds of things make you happy and give you ideas for improving your life.

[Meg Renicker]

Hye Gretchen, the food journal thing was hard for you because food isn't a big issue, unlike those who live to eat, not eat to live, so you have no reason to remember. Look at how dilligent you are about Happiness, this is something that pertains to your life so you can function properly. Don't overthink things too much, as a gal just walking by my desk just said to me now. Could that be a Commandment?? (asks she in wonderment)

Meg

[Don Schenck]

RE: Food Journal

I do this by planning my (six) meals for the next day the previous evening.

Does two things: Keeps a journal and (sort of) forces me to eat well. It's one of my keys to fitness.

[Don Schenck]

RE: Food Journal

I do this by planning my (six) meals for the next day the previous evening.

Does two things: Keeps a journal and (sort of) forces me to eat well. It's one of my keys to fitness.

[DT]

I also prefer to fix things rather than to throw them out. The trick is to know that if you're not going to fix it, you can throw it out.

About the food journal - be careful. They're fine for some people, but if you have any issues with disordered eating you might want to avoid it. I tried keeping a food journal and the result was that I stopped eating because I didn't want to have to write things down. I realize that makes no sense, but it's how I felt. It wasn't working... so I threw it out.

[HBK]

Use a dictaphone/cellphone recording function to keep the food journal. Voice-recognition software can be used to convert it into text.

[HB]

If it's something that could feasible be fixed by another, give it away. Add to their happiness too.

the easiest way is freecycle.org

[Jaydee]

HB has the best suggestion as one man's junk is another man's treasure! In 2001, I gave away almost all my 'worldly' goods, years of accumulation as I joined a Catholic volunteer program and moved into a friary with 30 priests to begin an almost 3 year spiritual journey.
When I returned to the secular world in 2004, as is my nature, I started adding on again and again I have way too much 'stuff.'
I loved it when I was unencumbered and every so often, I start putting things in a box to drop off at our local charity shop. I am in a senior highrise, so I can put something I no longer need on a table downstairs and within minutes, it is gone.
As soon as I finish a book, no matter where I am (coffee shop, McDonalds, etc.) I write a little review and leave it behind.
Now I have to look up freecycle.org......

[Pete]

I am definitely emailing this to my sister, who loves to horde all sorts of stuff.

http://yinvsyang.com/

[Ethan]

I've definitely found I'm more enthusiastic, and get more done, when I sit down to write and my desk is immaculate. I've killed many birds with one stone by selling junk on eBay. I sold two games I thought were worth like ten bucks each, and the auctions finished at 244.00. So, cleaning is great for productivity, plus you get the side benefits of making some pocket change, and/or giving stuff to charity and feeling awesome.

[Elizabeth]

I am retired, so my time is my own. BUT...

Today I made a list of all the things I would like to work on or do at least some of on a daily basis:

Practice harmonica (I'm learning)
Practice singing (want to take voice lessons, but not sure I can do right by them)
Practice piano (a long-lost pastime)
Exercise
stretch
strength
endurance
balance
Sewing handwork
Sewing by machine (I make quilts)
Reading
Keeping abreast of administrative stuff (mail, bills, accounts, etc.)
Chipping away at physical clutter
Studying/practicing chess
drawing and/or painting (currently moribund)

Not to mention paying attention to my spouse, cooking dinner, and taking the occasional walk outdoors! Oh, and errands...

Let's face reality, here. I don't have the time or stamina to do some of every single thing, every single day. I like a fair amount of structure to my day, but too much of a good thing is a bad thing!

Any other dilettantes out there have schemes that work for managing so many interests?

[ciocia]

Do what the Weight Watchers do--have a little fold-up journal that fits in your purse. Update the food journal through the day, not at the end. I never realized how much I ate--or how often--till I did that.

[HP van Duuren]

Yes, one day I came to realise that I would unconsioussly put pens without ink back where I found them, while being totally frustrated about grabbing the same pen that doesn't work again and again.

So, now when I find a pen that doesn't work I don't only throw it away....,

I distroy the pen first !!!

Than throw it away :)

All the Best,
To your Happy Inspiration,
HP

P.S. BTW in case you have a pen that does have ink, and you like to write, you might like to have a look at my 'Writing Blogspot' at:

http://hpshappywriting.blogspot.com

[Crabby McSlacker]

Ah, I see now what I've been doing wrong. Instead of starting a "Happpiness Project," I've embarked on a "Crankiness Project."

Much easier to do--if you have good whining skills. Yet your suggestions do seem quite a bit more sensible.

[Derek Ralston]

Your tip for getting rid of things that don't work is great for productivity also... You can apply an 80/20 rule to many things (tangible or intangible) in your life and figure out what is providing the most benefit, get rid of the rest. For example, you said you can write a blog post a day, and that will accumulate a lot over time. But the 80/20 rule might say that 20% of what you write will be read by 80% of your visitors. So the challenge is to find the 20% that "works", and get rid of the rest. I'm trying to do this on my own blog but feedback is a main requirement for determining which posts "work". Excellent post!

[Karen]

"Let's face reality, here. I don't have the time or stamina to do some of every single thing, every single day. I like a fair amount of structure to my day, but too much of a good thing is a bad thing!
Any other dilettantes out there have schemes that work for managing so many interests?"

Hi Elizabeth--
I'm also up to my neck in interests! First, get rid of the clutter, once and for all.
In addition to the things that you need to do everyday (errands, cooking), I broke my interests down into categories. Yours might be •creative (musical, sewing), •physical, and •mental (reading, chess).

Then, just make sure you do something from each category daily. That way, you make progress but don't feel overwhelmed on a daily basis. Good luck!

[Camilla]

My therapist recommended several years ago to me that I keep a "happiness journal" and just jot down in it something that made me happy that day. Just a few words or a sentence. Sometimes there are BIG gaps between the entry dates. I have a hard time remembering to do it, but I keep coming back to it, and writing again. And it is fun to look back and see what has made me happy in the past. The overwhelming favorite: cardinals in the back yard! They get mentioned a lot. :)