Edit Your Life, Part 1: Commitments

Quick note: Every Wedneday is Simplicity Day on Zen Habits.

I’m a former newspaper editor, and one of the things I learned was to edit brutally (no sarcastic comments about why I don’t do that with my blog posts). Cut out everything that’s not necessary, and you’ve got a more meaningful story.

I highly recommend editing your life.

Today’s edit: All the commitments in your life.

Take an inventory of the commitments in your life. Here are some common ones:

Work - we have multiple commitments at our jobs. List them all.
Side work - some of us free-lance, or do odd jobs to take in money. More commitments.
Family - we may play a role as husband, wife, father, mother, son, daughter. These roles come with many commitments.
Kids - my kids have soccer, choir, Academic Challenge Bowl, National Junior Honor Society, basketball, spelling bee, and more. Each of their commitments is mine too.
Civic - we may volunteer for different organizations, or be a board member or officer on a non-profit organization.
Religious - many of us are very involved with our churches, or are part of a church organization. Or perhaps we are committed to going to service once a week.
Hobbies - perhaps you are a runner or a cyclist, or you build models, or are part of a secret underground comic book organization. These come with - surprise! - commitments.
Home - aside from regular family stuff, there’s the stuff you have to do at home.
Online - we may be a regular on a forum or mailing list or Google group. These are online communities that come with commitments too.

You might have other categories. List everything.

Now take a close look at each thing on the list, and consider: How does this give my life value? How important is it to me? Is it in line with my life priorities and values? How would it affect my life if I dropped out? Does this further my life goals?

These are tough questions, but I suggest seeing if you can eliminate just one thing — the thing that gives you the least return for your invested time and effort. The thing that’s least in line with your life values and priorities and goals. Cut it out, at least for a couple weeks, and see if you can get along without it. Revisit this list at that time and see if you can cut something else out. Edit mercilessly, keeping only those that really mean something to you.

Each time you cut a commitment, it may give you a feeling of guilt, because others want you to keep that commitment. But it’s also a huge relief, not having to do that commitment each day or week or month. It frees up a lot of your time, and while others may be disappointed, you have to keep what’s important to you in mind, not everyone else. If we committed to what everyone else wanted all the time, we would never have any time left for ourselves.

Take the time to edit your commitments, and your life will be greatly simplified. You will thank yourself for it.

Edit Your Life, Part 1: Commitments

Quick note: Every Wedneday is Simplicity Day on Zen Habits.

I highly recommend editing your life.

Today’s edit: All the commitments in your life.

Take an inventory of the commitments in your life. Here are some common ones:

Work - we have multiple commitments at our jobs. List them all.
Side work - some of us free-lance, or do odd jobs to take in money. More commitments.
Family - we may play a role as husband, wife, father, mother, son, daughter. These roles come with many commitments.
Kids - my kids have soccer, choir, Academic Challenge Bowl, National Junior Honor Society, basketball, spelling bee, and more. Each of their commitments is mine too.
Civic - we may volunteer for different organizations, or be a board member or officer on a non-profit organization.
Religious - many of us are very involved with our churches, or are part of a church organization. Or perhaps we are committed to going to service once a week.
Hobbies - perhaps you are a runner or a cyclist, or you build models, or are part of a secret underground comic book organization. These come with - surprise! - commitments.
Home - aside from regular family stuff, there’s the stuff you have to do at home.
Online - we may be a regular on a forum or mailing list or Google group. These are online communities that come with commitments too.

You might have other categories. List everything.

Take the time to edit your commitments, and your life will be greatly simplified. You will thank yourself for it.

Comments (17)

John Wesley Says:

February 23rd, 2007, 6:32 am

I agree, the tendency is always to over commit because there is pressure to please others. But pleasing yourself and having peace of mind is more important.

Also, definitely get your own domain and hosting. I like the name of the blog how it is, so no suggestion there.

Debbie Says:

February 23rd, 2007, 8:34 am

I already did this. When I first started working, I made sure I also had fun things to do other than work each day. A couple of decades later, I was overcommitted.

When I dropped one of my commitments (dance class each Friday night), I got the added bonus of a kind of gleeful feeling like I have stolen some free time or am cutting class. Sometimes I use this time to do nothing at all; sometimes to get something done that I wouldn’t have done otherwise. Either way feels good.

Leo Says:

February 23rd, 2007, 14:55 pm

@john: thanks for the comment, and excellent points.

@debbie: congrats on simplifying your life! i’m glad to hear that it’s working out for you. i love how you got so much joy from that little pleasure of cutting class!

Bengt W Says:

March 9th, 2007, 13:42 pm

Interesting read, like most in your blog. Nice to know that I am not the only one in need of cutting down on commitments. Checking ones commitment is useful, some are there more out of habit than out of filling a need.
Bengt
My blog

namita Says:

May 28th, 2007, 3:04 am

You are absolutely right. We often make commitments that seem difficult to keep up with later. The piece made me realise how important it is to reorganise and realign my lfe to what is truly important.

Thanks

Liara Covert Says:

September 13th, 2007, 8:56 am

Rethinking your understanding of commitment and how that changes over time can be useful as well. It begins with those things you think of most. That determines how you spend time.

H Devaraja Rao, Bangalore, India Says:

October 26th, 2007, 8:08 am

Unencumber yourself. Less baggage, more comfort. Make life a pleasure. Live well. Leave well.

Rabi, Denmark Says:

December 13th, 2007, 9:18 am

Very good write:)

Eugene (Editor, Varsity Blah) Says:

December 29th, 2007, 1:40 am

My approach is to question absolutely everything. I wrote about it recently at http://www.varsityblah.com/need-for-speed

“Since then, I’ve stopped watching TV (except for my favourite shows), stopped listening to annoying DJs on the radio, stopped watching the news bulletins several times a day, cut back my online subscriptions from nine to two, and cut back my print subscriptions from five to one.

“It may be hard to let go of all the data, but do you honestly need to check your email and other messages several times a day? Besides, if anything that important happens, you’ll know. Why not spend some time discovering the likes of Tolstoy and Twain, something I recently decided to do? I’m up for the challenge and can’t wait to get started!”

Albert Says:

January 1st, 2008, 13:55 pm

I know you said no comments about your blog posts, but why don’t you edit them?

Břeťa Says:

January 3rd, 2008, 18:44 pm

How can be your kids commitments your commitments? To me it sounds a bit strange. Kids are just kids, and we adults have to support them in their growing up, maturing, becoming an adults.
When children want some kind of activity its theirs and serves many purposes {learning roles, rules, their self, … lot of them are percieved simply just as fun} but purpose of childhood activities as such is goalless - and enjoying the life as is thats pure zen isnt it?

Kate Says:

January 5th, 2008, 12:51 pm

While I am a fan of simplifying in general, I am worried by the absolute focus on self in this and many similar blog posts. Civic and religious and political organizations are falling apart because of lack of volunteers, communities are falling apart because of lack of neighborly commitment, older people are shoveled into nursing homes, etc. What if instead of asking which of my commitments give me the most pleasure, I asked which of my commitments will help create the kind of world I would like my children to live in?

Leo Says:

January 6th, 2008, 18:20 pm

@Kate: You make a good point, but just to clarify, I didn’t mean to imply that pleasurable activities are the only ones you should keep. Any commitment that gives you great value and that is very important to you is a candidate for a commitment you should keep — just be sure to eliminate the others.

Civic and charity commitments are absolutely great candidates — remember the questions I posed in the post above:

“How does this give my life value? How important is it to me? Is it in line with my life priorities and values? How would it affect my life if I dropped out? Does this further my life goals?”

If helping the poor or elderly (for example) gives your life value, and is important to you, and is in line with your priorities and values, do not drop that commitment.

Jane Says:

March 15th, 2008, 17:19 pm

Heel Says:

March 15th, 2008, 18:03 pm

Paul Says:

April 25th, 2008, 13:46 pm

I just found ZenHabits and have been inspired by many of these posts.

I had done this quite some time ago with my music; as a trombone player I was active in a few different musical groups and thoroughly enjoyed it. However it was really encroaching on family time and life, and with my wife’s encouragement (to my chagrin at the time) I dropped out of groups little by little.

I didn’t expect how much relief I would have after dropping these activities, as enjoyable as they were. Now I’m able to commit more to my children’s activities, my relationship with my wife improved… less stress overall.

And the beauty of it is that I can always pick up where I left off when the kids are grown, and meanwhile can keep my chops in shape by playing for church, which overlaps with our commitment there.

Thanks for the great suggestions.

Jon - The DC Traveler Says:

May 13th, 2008, 10:49 am

To me, “commitments” are non-negotiable and remain at the top of the list.
“Preferences”, often confused with commitments or priorities (sports, hobbies, fun activities, leasure, etc.) tend to be negotiable.