making your home work
Throughout the day, we get frustrated, irritated, angry. We are frustrated in traffic, when a loved one doesn’t behave the way we like, when someone tells us we’re wrong, when technology doesn’t work the way we want, when dinner is ruined, among many other daily stresses. These frustrations can build up into …
One of the best things I’ve done to change my life — along with meditation, exercise, and eating healthier — is to get rid of most of my clutter. I downsized, and became a minimalist. It helped me find space in my life, figure out what was important and focus on that, get rid of visual stress, simplify my life, get …
His wonderful advice for doing any activity was to do things with “a simple, clear mind.” One way to apply this is with a simple decluttering habit: clean up your mess when you’re done. This is a more literal way to “leave no trace” … not exactly what Suzuki Roshi was talking about, as he meant that we should leave no …
I’m not going to claim to be the world’s greatest writer, but I do think I’m reasonably competent. I’ve been training for 25 years as a writer, and I make a living as a writer. For those who are just starting out as writers, I’d like to share my training. I didn’t wake up and suddenly know how to write — I’ve been …
If you want to create a new exercise habit (for example), you might tell yourself something like this: “This is going to be amazing, I’m going to get fit and look incredible and be super healthy!” This is a story you’re telling yourself. It’s not real, but it has tremendous power to affect your feelings about your …
Being a dad is messy … not just the many spills and broken dishes and dirty kitchens and finger-painted walls you have to clean up, but messy because nothing ever goes as planned. It’s messy because you start out with the best of intentions, hoping to be super dad and loving and perfect, and then it all goes to hell. …
I’m happy to announce that I’m offering my Zen Habits book to purchase, for the first time since I put it on Kickstarter at the end of 2014. The book is called, “Zen Habits: Mastering the Art of Change.” The Kickstarter campaign did extremely well, and people gave me wonderful feedback on the book. I didn’t allow …
If you’re like me, you’re always looking for the perfect productivity system. Unfortunately, it doesn’t exist. The problem isn’t with the productivity system — the problem is that none of them can solve a few really important (and related) problems: For example, at the top of my to-do list today is “write Zen Habits …