We are often afraid of silence, because its emptiness feels idle, boring, unproductive, and scary. And so we fill our lives with chaos, noise, clutter.

But silence can be lovely, and therapeutic, and powerful.

It can be the remedy for our stress and the habits that crush us.

If we want quiet in our lives, how do we create it?

I’ve been exploring this myself. As a father of six kids, I have to admit that I don’t always have silence in my life. That’s not a complaint — I love the messy noise that my family brings — but silence can be a welcome refuge from that noise at times.

I create silence by subtracting, and not filling the resulting emptiness withe noise or clutter.

And so my life is a constant experimentation with subtracting. When I’ve subtracted, and learn to love the empty silence, I subtract some more. Subtraction is a beautiful process.

Prefer subtraction over addition.

Learn to be content with little, or nothing.

Realize that silence is beautiful.

Find yourself in the empty space that results.

Empty a room, and put almost nothing back except that which produces quiet.

Speak less, listen more, contemplate even more.

Walk in silence. Watch the leaves quiver, fall in silence, whisper in the wind.

Sit and do nothing. Listen to your mind make noise in the silence, allow it to subside.

Eschew video, iPods, books, the Internet, mobile devices, social networks, and other purveyors of noise.

Be quiet, so that life may speak.

‘All men’s miseries derive from not being able to sit in a quiet room alone.’ ~Blaise Pascal

Post written by Leo Babauta.

Think about some of the problems of our daily lives, and how many of them would be eased if we could learn to sit alone, in a quiet empty room, with contentment.

If you’re content to sit alone quietly, you don’t need to eat junk food, to shop on impulse, to buy the latest gadget, to be on social media to see what everyone else is talking about or doing, to compare yourself to others, to make more money to keep up with the Joneses, to achieve glory or power, to conquer other lands or wage war, to be rude or violent to others, to be selfish or greedy, to be constantly busy or productive.

You are content, and need nothing else. It solves a lot of problems.

Can you sit alone in an empty room? Can you enjoy the joy of quiet?

Most of us have trouble sitting alone, quietly, doing nothing. We have the need to do something, to check our inboxes and social media, to be productive. Sitting still can be difficult if you haven’t cultivated the habit.

I’ve been learning. In the morning, as my coffee is brewing, I sit. Even for a few minutes, at first, it is instructive. You learn to listen to your thoughts, to be aware of your urges to do something else, to plan and set goals. You learn to watch yourself, but to just sit still and not act on those urges. You learn to be content with stillness.

You learn to savor the quiet. It’s something most of us don’t have, quiet, and it takes some getting used to. When we’re driving our cars or out exercising or eating or working, we have music playing or we talk with people or we have the television on. Quiet can be amazing, though, because it helps us calm down, contemplate, slow down to savor the emptiness.

An empty room, too, is a luxury. I try to empty my room of clutter, so that it’s fairly bare. That leaves only me, and the room is a blank slate ready to be filled with me, my creativity, my silence. I love a spartan room.

Being alone is another pleasure we too often neglect. When we are alone, we go on the Internet or TV to see what else is going on, what others are doing or saying, instead of just being alone. This isolation is a necessary thing, that allows us to find ourselves, to learn to be content with little instead of always wanting more.

Can you practice being alone, being still, being quiet? Just a little at first, then perhaps a bit more. Listen, watch, learn about yourself. Find contentment. Need nothing more.

Decluttering is a skill that you learn with practice, just like any skill. And just like other skills, there are many little questions and problems you need answered and solved as you get started.

Those of you taking the Clutterfat Challenge this month are facing these problems, and I’m here to help.

This post is a quickstart guide to decluttering — the most common questions answered. Also see last week’s Clutterfat Challenge post: How to Tackle Your Clutter.

1. Where do I start?
Start anywhere — really, where you start doesn’t matter, as long as you start. You’re going to get to all of it eventually, so pick a random spot to clear, and slowly expand from that spot. Start with a baby step — just one little space. Take just 5 minutes to clear a spot on a counter, and keep it clear. Clear a little more space later today. Tomorrow, clear a little more. It’s not difficult if you do it in small steps. Here are 18 5-minute decluttering tips to start conquering your mess.

2. How do I deal with the piles of mail and magazines? How do I handle paper cluttter?
Make a big pile of your mail and magazines. Now work through the pile very quickly. Take the top piece, and decide: can you toss it? If so, toss it in a recycling bin. If you need it, decide if it should be filed (and file it in a folder right now), or if it needs action — in which case, take action on it if you can do it in a couple minutes. Have an action folder to file things in if they need more than a couple minutes. Toss the magazines — you don’t need them. Work quickly through everything until you finished the pile. When you have more time, make another pile of paper clutter and work through it. Read more: 6 Simple Steps to Make Mail & Paperwork Painless.

3. What do I do if my family is the clutter problem?
Start with yourself. Lead by example. Declutter your personal space, and show how great it is. Start a positive discussion with them about why you’re decluttering, and ask if they want to join you. It’s a long process, educating people, but don’t ever force them or they’ll resist or be resentful. Read more.

4. I tend to keep things just in case I might need them again.
Make a list of your “just in case” stuff — or better yet, put them in a box — and see how often you actually need them in the next 6 months. If you didn’t need them, you can safely get rid of them. If you did, keep them. Read more: the just in case syndrome.

5. How do I deal with things that have a sentimental value, that bring back memories/feelings about a time you might not think about without a reminder.
Realize that your feelings, your love, your memories, are not in those objects. They are merely placeholders. You can easily keep those placeholders on your computer, or online. Some ideas:

• Create a digital photo album of your sentimental items.
• Keep pictures of your loved ones as your desktop picture or screensaver.
• Play photos in a slideshow for visitors, or for yourself.
• Create a digital scrapbook.
• Start a blog or a tumblelog with photos, notes, posts about the things you treasure most.

Read more: Letting Go of Sentimental Items and Getting unstuck from sentimental stuff.

6. I want to clean my clutter but sometimes I’m just too lazy to deal with it.
This is why we’ve created the Clutterfat Challenge — it’s motivation to finally get off your butt! But you can create other challenges: announce to your friends and family on Facebook and Twitter that you’re going to declutter for 10 minutes a day for a month. Or blog about your decluttering journey. Do it with others and make it fun. Make it a game with your family.

7. My biggest issue is getting rid of things that where given as a present by people I care about.
Free yourself of this guilt. Your loved ones gave you the gifts to make you happy, not to burden you for life, not to make you feel guilty. Allow yourself to be happy, and only keep things if they’re making you happy. Read more from Discardia and Miss Minimalist.

8. Where do I dispose of stuff?
I like giving things away to friends and family, charity, Craigslist and Freecycle. Read Miss Minimalist’s great list.

9. I don’t have time to keep things clean.
Create clean-as-you-go habits. These take seconds, and if you do them, you don’t need to do a lot of cleaning later. Read more: Develop clean house habits and 15 Clutter Busting Routines For Any Family.

10. Making time to declutter and follow through with disposal is tough.
It only takes 5-10 minutes a day — declutter one pile at a time, one flat surface at a time. Do it when you get home, and before you leave the house. Put things you’re going to donate into a box each day, and put that in your trunk. When you drive by a charity, drop it off. That takes 5 minutes.

Need more? Here are a few more articles:

• Keeping a stress-free, clean house
• 15 Great Decluttering Tips
• How to Declutter an Entire Room in One Go
• The Minimalist’s Guide to Fighting (and Beating) Clutter Entropy

Every January, people rush out and get a gym membership, set a list of goals or resolutions, and get ready to take on a new year of frenetic activity.

Unfortunately, we don’t often clear space to make room for all this new stuff.

The beginning of the year is a great time for renewal of energy and taking on the things we’ve always wanted to tackle — clutter, fitness, work we’re passionate about, debt, and so on. But it’s also a great time to clear out your life, starting out the year on a blank page that’s ready to be filled.

While everyone’s life is different, I’ll share some of what I do to clear out my life.

• Review the year to think about what I learned, what mistakes I made, what I accomplished.
• Clear my schedule as much as possible. That often means saying no to people.
• Wrap up old projects, end commitments to people, so that my work plate is clearer than normal.
• Toss out old fitness and eating plans, to make room for new experiments.
• Clear my email inbox. If I haven’t answered the email recently, it’s probably not important, so I archive it. Act on or answer other emails, so that my inbox is emptied.
• Clear out other inboxes. That might be an inbox on a social network, or a list of things I wanted to do or read, or any kind of list really. File them away under someday, or delete or archive. Anything that’s taking some mental energy because I know I need to get to it, gets cleared.
• Clear my computer files. Usually this means deleting a bunch of files I don’t need, but I also just consolidate files into one folder or put them in an online archive (like in Dropbox).
• Clear paperwork. I rarely have any papers these days — I’ve slowly turned everything digital. But I still get things in the mail sometimes, so if I have any lying around, I dispose of them to clear out any remaining paperwork.
• Clear clutter. If there are areas that have become cluttered, I clear them out. Often it just means taking a box or bag of things that I’ve been meaning to donate to Goodwill.
• Clear my errands. I’ll make a list of all the errands I’ve been putting off, and do them in one afternoon.
• Clear my finances. I’ll take a few minutes to review my checking and savings accounts, Paypal, investments, etc. and make sure everything is in order. If there are little things that need taking care of, I do them so that my mind is cleared.
• Clear pantry and refrigerator of junk. Old crap that’s been lying around. Junk food if there’s any there (I don’t usually have any anymore, but I used to). Left with just good whole ingredients for healthy foods.

This might take a couple days, working off and on in little bits. For some, it might take longer. But when you’re done, it’s amazing. Your mind is clear and refreshed. You feel like you’re ready to take on anything.

To be honest, I do these things regularly throughout the year, and it’s great to keep a clean slate most of the time. But the new year is always a perfect opportunity to clear everything at once.

‘No matter what gets in the way or which way the wind does blow… I’ll just sit here and watch the river flow.’ ~Bob Dylan

Post written by Leo Babauta.

Have you ever felt that we are rushing through life, that we get so caught up in busy-ness that life is passing us almost without notice?

I get this feeling all the time.

The antidote is simple: sitting and watching.

Take a minute out of your busy day to sit with me, and talk. Take a moment to imagine being in the middle of traffic — you’re driving, stressed out by the high amount of traffic, trying to get somewhere before you’re late, angry at other drivers who are rude or idiotic, completely focused on making your way through this jungle of metal on a ribbon of asphalt. Now you’ve gotten to the end, phew, you made it, wonderful, and you’re only a few minutes late … but did you notice the scenery you passed along the way? Did you talk to any of the other people along your path? Did you enjoy the ride?

No, probably not. You were so caught up in getting there, in the details of navigating, in the stress of driving, that you didn’t have time to notice your surroundings, the people nearby, or the wonderful journey. This is how we are in life.

Now imagine that you pulled over, and got out of the car, and found a grassy spot to sit. And you watched the other cars zoom by. And you watched the grass blown gently by the wind, and the birds making a flocking pattern overhead, and the clouds lazily watching you back.

Sit and watch.

We don’t do this, because it’s useless to do something that isn’t productive, that doesn’t improve our lives. But as Alan Watts wrote in The Way of Zen:

“As muddy water is best cleared by leaving it alone, it could be argued that those who sit quietly and do nothing are making one of the best possible contributions to a world in turmoil.”

It’s interesting, too, what we see when we sit and watch. We will notice others rushing, and worried, and angry, and in them see a mirror of ourselves. We will notice children laughing (or crying) with their parents, and remember what we’re missing when we rush to improve our lives.

More interesting is what you see when you sit and watch yourself. You learn to step outside yourself, and act as an observer. You see your thoughts, and learn more about yourself than you ever could if you were rushing to take action. You see your self-doubts, and self-criticism, and wonder where they came from (a bad incident in childhood, perhaps?) and wonder if you are smart enough to let them go. You see your rationalizations, and realize that they are bullshit, and learn to let those go too. You see your fears, and realize what hold they have over you, and realize that you can make them powerless, by just sitting and watching them, not taking action on them.

By sitting and watching, you come to know yourself.

You learn the most valuable lessons about life, by sitting and watching.

And as we know from the observer effect in physics, by watching, we change what we watch.

Take a few minutes today, to sit and watch. It might change your life.

Are you ready to participate in the mad shopping frenzy that we partake in every year, not only on Black Friday but all holiday season long?

Are you ready for an incredible burst of spending, for racking up credit card debt, for the stress of buying things for everyone on your list?

Are you ready to consume an insane amount of resources, to have a huge impact on the environment, to work long hours to pay for all that?

Yep, it’s the holiday season again, and with it comes the worst season for consumerism ever.

I say, let’s opt out.

My family and I are issuing a challenge to all my wonderful readers, to the world: The No New Gifts Holiday Challenge.

What is this crazy challenge? It’s simple — follow all these rules:

1. Buy no new gifts during the holidays.

Wait, whaaat? Don’t fret, there are alternatives:

• Make gifts, like crafts or construction type gifts.
• Bake or cook consumable gifts like cookies.
• Give the gift of your service — wash cars, give a massage, babysit, clean a house, mow lawns, etc.
• Buy used gifts at thrift stores.
• Donate to charity, as a group.
• Volunteer at a charity together.
• Have a shared experience together.
• Create something, together, instead of consuming.
• Give to others things you don’t need (a good sewing machine, etc.).
• Find gratitude for what we already have.

Are you in? Take the challenge! It’ll be fun, you’ll save a ton of money, and your family will get creative. Read on.

The Tradition of Traditions

Many people will scoff, and say they love giving gifts. It’s a tradition, after all!

Well, sure. But new traditions can be made if the old ones aren’t working out. And I’d argue the tradition of buying gifts is broken. Read: The Case Against Buying Gifts.

Do we really want to teach our children that giving is really all about buying? Do we want to teach them that to show love, you must buy something? Do we want to set an example of consumerism instead of creativity? Are we saying that the only way a family or friends can get together is if we spend a crapload of needless money?

No. Let’s be more creative. Let’s create new traditions.

What kind of traditions? What if families got together and played games? Built things? Went outdoors to hike, play games, swim, play in the snow, camp out? What if families taught each other how to make things?

What if families got together to help others? Volunteer at a soup kitchen, help others build houses, clean up a neighborhood? Show that giving can be amazing, but it doesn’t have to involve consumerism.

Get creative. Get healthy. Get constructive. Get compassionate.

But teh sales! All the money I’ll save!

I think you know this already, but it’s worth reminding ourselves that when you shop during a sale, you aren’t saving money. You are spending it.

The best way to save money is by not buying at all.

Sure, there are some necessities that we need, but holiday sales are not about necessities. They’re about convincing you that all these TVs, iPads, Kindle Fires, iPods, video game systems, clothes, power tools and more are necessities. You can’t escape buying all this stuff, because it’s Christmas dammit! So come down and save some money, and sign up for store credit while you’re at it.

When retailers offer you a major sale, this is a good time to run in the other direction. They’re trying to trick you into buying something you don’t need. When you see an advertisement for something, anything, it’s a good time to shut off whatever you’re watching, or go to another website. You don’t need it. Opt out of Black Friday, at the very least. (We’ll talk about next year later.)

But … my family won’t!

First, your whole family doesn’t have to do this. Just you. You’ll be an oddball, and some people won’t understand, but you’ll be leading by example. Send them a link to this post, and tell them Leo made you do it. Just because everyone else is doing massive consumerism, doesn’t mean you have to.

Second, don’t be fatalist. Your family might be willing to change, if you at least start the discussion. Again, send a link to this post. Ask them what they think. Challenge them to get creative.

This could save your family thousands of dollars, and be incredibly gratifying in the process. Instead of spending hours of shopping apart from each other, you could be spending hours together, doing things. Celebrate the holidays simply.

Talk about the benefits of changing, and the problems with the way things have been done.

These holidays weren’t always about massive shopping. What did people do before department stores and malls and online retailers? How did they ever survive? Let’s try to remember.

Dealing with Difficult People

Some friends or family members absolutely won’t join you. That’s OK. You don’t need to force this on anyone.

Remember that everyone will change at their own pace, and not everyone will embrace changes like this. They’ll feel threatened, or criticized. You need to try not to come off as critical of others, but more positive.

Tell them that they are not required to join you, but that you want to do this for your own sanity. You are trying to save money, but mostly you want to move away from consumerism. Ask only that they respect this.

Others might insist on getting you presents. Politely ask that they don’t, but if they do, don’t be ungrateful. It can be awkward — for years I’ve asked family not to buy me presents, only to have some of them buy me stuff anyway. I don’t buy them anything, so it’s weird. But these days I just smile, and say thank you, and appreciate the effort. It’s a long education process, trust me.

In the meantime, you can still suggest starting other traditions, like playing games or going outside or volunteering.

Be patient. Others don’t like to be forced into change, so just be the change you want to see in the world.

It’s just you, and the life you love. Without clutter getting in the way.

You live experiences, you do things you’re passionate about, you spend time with people you love.

You don’t live through objects, you’re not passionate about things, you don’t spend time with possessions.

You live, and the clutter that has built up over the years has been stripped away to the bare essentials.

This is my life, so much better now that I’m clutter-free. I’d love to help you get there if you need that help.

Today I’m releasing an ebook and a course called Clutterfree, a collaboration between me and my friend Courtney Carver of Be More With Less.

The ebook is available today, while the course will be run in January. You can buy both for a discounted price, until Dec. 1.

The Clutterfree Life

In the book, and in the course, we’ll help you:

• Examine and deal with the emotional issues that keep your life cluttered.
• Deal with the “just in case” syndrome, and sentimental clutter.
• Figure out what’s important in your life.
• Get started decluttering.
• Clear out your closets, your kitchen, your living room, and more.
• Create a clutter-free work space.
• Deal with kids’ clutter.
• Declutter your schedule.
• Maintain your clutter-free status once you’ve created this new life.

I’m excited about helping you create a clutter-free life, finally.

The ebook is $19.95, and includes interviews with two excellent people: Joshua Becker of Becoming Minimalist and Tammy Strobel of Rowdy Kittens. It also includes a video from me that answers your most frequently asked questions on clutter.

Read more about the ebook.

I am very happy to share with you my new ebook, “The Effortless Life: A Concise Manual for Contentment, Mindfulness, & Flow.”

The book was meant to share ways to make life less of a struggle, to help you find contentment in a world where little exists, to instill a bit of mindfulness in an age of distractions.

If you’ve had problems with:

• frustration
• struggle
• distraction
• anger
• impatience
• unhappiness
• relationships
• goals
• work
• being present

… this book was written for you.

A Public Book: And it wasn’t just written by me — I wrote this book publicly, as others watched, and then hundreds of others helped to write and edit the book. It was an amazing collaborative effort, and I was humbled by the contributions.

Pay Anything: As a token of gratitude, I’m selling this book on a pay-as-you-see-fit model. That means you decide what you want to pay, and although I suggest a $15.99 price, you can pay more or less depending on your ability and how much you think it’s worth. If you absolutely can’t pay, you can get it for free (I trust that you’ll be honest and pay even a dollar if you can). If you do get it for free, please pay it forward with kindness to strangers.

And as always, the work is uncopyrighted.

Loaded Value: This book is actually a full digital package that includes 3 ebooks and a couple bonuses:

1. The Effortless Life ebook, in three formats: PDF, epub (for the iPad/iPhone and others), and mobi (can be used on the Kindle).
2. The Simple Guide to a Minimalist Life, another of my ebooks that I think goes really well with this new book, a $9.95 value, PDF format.
3. Thriving on Less, an ebook that was a companion to my print book, The Power of Less. PDF format.
4. The Simple Method for Creating Habits, a brief bonus PDF that contains my habit-creation method that I teach in The Habit Course.
5. The Effortless Life Q&A video, which I’ve recorded to answer common reader questions. It’s 31 minutes, online for buyers of this book only, downloadable to your computer if you wish.

This package could easily be worth $35-50. But you can decide what you see fit to pay. (You can edit the suggested price once you click “Add to cart” … just click “Update Cart” after you’ve changed the price.

Note: iPad and iPhone users … please see the Q&A below!

The book is also available in the Kindle store, but without the other ebooks, bonuses or video.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. What is an Effortless Life?
3. Guidelines for an Effortless Life
4. Wu Wei and Doing Nothing
5. True Needs, Simple Needs
6. Reduce Your Needs
7. Cause No Harm & Be Compassionate
8. Have No Fixed Goals or Plans
9. Have No Expectations
10. The Illusion of Control
11. Living with Chaos
12. Living Daily without Plans
13. Why Plans are an Illusion
14. Be Open to the Unfolding Moment
15. Don’t Create False Needs
16. Be Passionate & Do Nothing You Hate Doing
17. Don’t Rush, Go Slowly, & Be Present
18. Create No Unnecessary Actions
19. Find Contentment
20. Let Go of Success & the Need for Approval
21. Prefer Subtraction
22. Changing Your Mindset & Getting Rid of Guilt
23. My Experiments with an Effortless Life
24. Be Like Water
25. Equal Weight to Every Action
26. Eating Simply
27. Effortless Parenting
28. Effortless Relationships
29. Effortless Work
30. Turning Complaints Into Gratitude
31. Letting Go of Struggle
32. Dealing with Others
33. You’re Already Perfect
34. Putting This Book Into Practice
35. Effortless Writing & This Very Book

Questions & Answers

Q: I bought the book and downloaded it to my iPad/iPhone but can’t open it!

A: The package comes in a .zip file, which is a compressed file. Download it first to your computer, then unzip it, then you can read it on your computer or read the epub version on the iPad/iPhone in the iBooks app.

Q: How do I read it on my iPad/iPhone?

A: Unzip the package on your computer, then drag the epub version into iTunes on your computer. Then sync the iPad or iPhone with iTunes on your computer, and the book should now appear in the iBooks app on your iPad/iPhone. Detailed instructions.

Q: How do I read it on my Kindle?

A: Unzip the package on your computer, connect the Kindle to your computer, open the Kindle’s drive on your computer, and drag the “mobi” version of the ebook into the documents folder on your Kindle. Simple instructions can be found in this video.

If there is any one indication that life is best lived slowly, it’s that among all of the busyness, racing to fulfill tasks and rushing to complete goals, there is one race that nobody wants to finish first: the race of life itself.

Our culture has a mild obsession with racing — not racing for the sake of sport or simple competition, but racing through many aspects of our lives, so as to fulfill a sense of productivity.

When conquer sprawling to-do lists we hopes that we will feel accomplished.

But “productivity” is a false-comfort.

When I remember back to my college days, I recall seeing fellow classmates who were so obsessive about fulfilling the idea that they needed to be constantly working, racing, striving and even suffering that they would spend as much time as humanly possibly within the confines of the campus library.

It’s not that they didn’t have work to do or need to accomplish assignments (they did).

But what I realized was that it was almost an obsessive-compulsion to simply reside — as if subconsciously reinforcing a feeling that they were being “productive,” and obliging a widely-shared notion by our culture that said, “if you aren’t constantly working, you are falling behind.”

Do you do the same?

Outside of a collegiate environment, as adults we still largely obsess to fulfill the idea that living in a constant state of unrelenting work is good.

The obsession is a quiet, subconscious, subtle cultural meme that we all inherently understand as members of our society.

And so we spend a significant portion of our lives tirelessly racing to an imaginary finish under the guise of “productivity” — only to realize that the finish line never comes.

Before long, we forget that life itself is about experiencing the journey — not racing to the finish.

And considering that take so many measures to prolong the length of our lives and increase the quality of them, wouldn’t it logically follow that we ought to slow down each and every day, and escape this senseless “race” mentality?

Start Slow

I’m as much a victim of the “race” mentality as anyone else. But what I have discovered is that the pace and quality of my days are largely dictated by how I start my days each morning.

When I wake up, part of me feels obsessively compelled to “dive in” to my work and to-do lists. Having recently written and published my first book, on recent mornings my “race” mentality would even take the forms of physical anxiety, shortness of breath and nervousness.

However, each morning I strive to quell those feelings by starting slow.

• I will go for a run or immerse myself in nature.
• I’ll do an hour of slow yoga.
• I will practice mindful breathing while accomplishing a short t’ai chi or qigong routine.
• I’ll read a chapter or two of a good book.

Starting slow is less about what you do, but beginning the day in accordance with a sense of inner peace, patience, and contentment.

And, don’t get me wrong: starting slow can feel like an agonizing affair on some mornings.

Our self-imposed demands to constantly work, strive and race feel like an overwhelming addiction — and all we want to do is quell those subconscious demons in our heads that tell us that slowness, quietness, and simple “being” are wrong.

However, every morning that I choose to “start slow,” something amazing happens.

I am calm, relaxed, and balanced throughout the day. Each moment feels like a gift, and not merely an “opportunity” to accomplish goals or fulfill tasks — as if sand in an hour glass that needs to be consumed by “racing.”

When I start slow, I am naturally more productive — and feel more accomplished by the day’s end.

How to Start Slow

Here’s how you can start to begin your days slowly:

• Write a list 5 activities, hobbies, or practices.
• Choose activities that are positive, constructive and/or healthy.
• Try one for every weekday morning of next week.
• Wake up earlier or go to bed sooner to best ensure you have plenty of time and energy to experience the moment.
• Focus on patience, pace, and calmness when you “start slow” each morning.

Starting slow paces each day in accordance with a natural internal balance: a meaningful peace within that resonates with our human core, and denies the obsessive addiction to the race.

Life itself is not a race. Nobody wins by finishing first. We all strive to live as long as we possibly can.

And when we make the little effort to “start slow” each morning, we remember to dedicate ourselves to the journey of life itself — and not the race to reach its finish.

Dave’s new book, Lead Without Followers: How to Save the World By Radically Redefining the Meaning of Leadership is now available. He can also be found at his blog, DaveUrsillo.com.

Every time we automate a process in our lives, we trade a piece of consciousness away for a piece of convenience.

This can be fantastic, as long as we ensure that we automate positive, sustainable habits.

The problem with automation comes when we try to apply it to areas in our lives that need more consciousness.

We run into trouble when we try to solve a problem by automating it.

Automation itself doesn’t fix anything.

In fact, automating a undesirable process only buries the problem even further.

“Problems can’t be solved at the same level of awareness that created them.” -Albert Einstein.

We cannot solve problems by trading away consciousness.

We need to reverse this trend. We need unautomation.

Unautomation is the act of deliberately trading back pieces of convenience for increased consciousness in return.

In our financial lives, there are plenty of examples were we can benefit from unautomation:

• Creating a list of every item you own. While far from convenient, this will drastically increase the awareness of our clutter.
• Using a 30-day list for wants. Waiting 30 days to purchase an item can be a drag, but we’ll likely realize how little we really desired it in the first place.
• Tracking our spending with pen and paper. Carry a small pocketbook and record every purchase by hand rather than just on your plastic.
• Converting the cost of items into time we’ll need to work. This can be a tough exercise, but will put things in perspective quickly.
• Purging 2 items for every 1 you bring into your life. Yet another inconvenient (at times) rule-of-thumb that can raise awareness around just how much clutter we bring into our lives.
• Quit signing contracts. Until you’ve ever tried to quit signing them, you don’t realize how fundamental contracts are in our society.
• Spending with cash over plastic. Going without plastic isn’t easy, but you can’t get much more aware than we spending cold, hard cash.
• Taking public transportation. You may have to leave early or plan a little more in advance, but taking public transportation will open your eyes the other side of your daily commute.

These examples are only a handful of hundreds of money instances where we could benefit from a path of less convenience and more consciousness.

The next time you look to change a set of behaviors in your life, don’t turn to automation.

Start with unautomation.