I hate rules that come from arbitrary authority, but I love giving them to myself. One of the best ways to experiment and find ways to get more productive and happy is through testing various rules. It’s also a great way to learn about yourself. Here are a few rules I have. I sometimes break them, and sometimes temporarily suspend them, but for the most part I value and stick to them.
- Don’t read the comments
- Don’t refer to any political figure by name
- Don’t check email, text, Voxer, or social media until a blog post has been written each day
- Immediately throw away anything that can be thrown away
- Walk outside at least once every day
- Don’t follow the news
- Build any commentary on underlying principles, not current events or specific instances
- Don’t recommend books unless willing to buy them for the person
- Have a budget for everything but books
- Immediately delete/archive emails that do not require a response
- Only read things by people I’d like to emulate in some way
- Listen to the same playlist every time I write
- Avoid phone calls unless absolutely necessary, and preferably only when scheduled
- Travel no more than three times per month
- Avoid calling anyplace that will put me on hold
- Don’t haggle over anything less than $50
- Outsource as many things I don’t love as possible
- Say no to anything less than an obvious “Hell yes!”
- When asking ‘why?’, try asking ‘why not?’ instead
- Assume the moral neutrality of everyone
Making this list has been a really fun exercise. I have more rules than I thought, and I’m sure I have others. One interesting observation about this list is that there’s nothing here that just comes naturally as a part of my personality. Every one of these things takes conscious effort, and they were all developed for specific reasons and continued because they are working for me. I suppose things we do naturally without much effort don’t require rules.
This list also reminds me of the value of self-created structure, and the danger of other-imposed structure. Most of these things may be useless to most other people, but they’re indispensable for me.