1: Getting better at getting better is what RiseWithDrew is all about.
Monday through Thursday, we explore ideas from authors, thought leaders, and exemplary organizations.
At the end of each week, I’ve been sharing an idea from Tynan’s book Superhuman by Habit about how to install specific, positive habits into your life.
Here’s what you’ve learned so far:
- Building positivity
- Being compassionate
- Eating healthy
- Improving sleep
- Learning mindfulness
- Working out
- Seeking out masterpieces
- Writing every day
- Traveling to unusual countries
- Beating procrastination by starting work earlier
- Beating procrastination by planning when you’re stuck
- Beating procrastination by rating your day
2: “I’m not a naturally organized or tidy person,” Tynan writes in Superhuman by Habit.
“As a child, battles were fought over the cleanliness of my room, and when I moved out, I took a certain pride in not being too organized or tidy,” he notes. “It didn’t matter, I thought.”
Eventually, Tynan realized that living and working in a clean, uncluttered space reduced his stress, improved his focus, and made him feel better.
So what did he do? As with many things in his life, Tynan created several habits to make tidiness and organization easy.
Along the way, he had several insights.
Insight #1: Don’t let clutter become overwhelming.
“Part of what kept my house messy was the magnitude of effort that it would take to get it fully clean. . .
“If the house slipped into the messy territory, procrastination kicked in, and I would avoid doing the hard work for days or weeks, only to repeat the cycle again once cleaned.”
The answer? Don’t let your living space become a huge mess.
Insight #2: Aim for consistency, not perfection.
Perfection is not the goal. The goal is not a perfect 10 out of 10 on the cleanliness scale. In Tynan’s case, he shoots for 9 out of 10.
Next, define what that standard looks like.
“For me it means that everything I’m not going to use in the next 12 hours is stored in its place, no dishes are in the sink, and no surfaces are obviously dirty.”
Why be so specific? Because “it’s important to be able to determine accurately whether you’re done or not, otherwise the task can drag on into perfectionism and become too much of a burden to do twice a day.”
3: The key is to make this a daily habit. In fact, Tynan recommends cleaning twice a day.
As with any habit, choose specific triggers that remind you when to clean. For Tynan, he cleans right after his morning tea and again after shutting down his laptop at night.
“By choosing two times to clean, you make each cleaning very unimposing,” he shares.
One tactic that makes this habit easier? Time yourself. Why? Because “you’ll be very surprised at just how quickly you can clean your house to this standard,” he says.
“Once you mentally accept how quick it is, it will be very easy to stick to the habit.”
One final tip: Choose times when you’re not tired or rushed.
“When integrating this habit myself, I found that if I was tired or busy, I was very inclined to skip a cleaning, thinking, ‘It’s not that messy now. I can pick up the slack later.’
“Of course, that’s the beginning of the end.”
More next week!
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Reflection: Is there an area of your life where small tasks pile up because you wait until they become too big to ignore?
Action: Choose one area to keep organized. Define what “good enough” looks like, then spend a few minutes tidying it at the same two times each day.