The genius of subtracting habits: To make your life better, try less before more

Many people maintain “to-do lists” but have never considered another list for all the habits they should stop doing to be healthy, wealthy and wise. They read all the best books on building new habits — adding to everything they are already doing.

But sometimes, it’s wise to stop and think about everything we can stop doing to make our lives better. And that includes habits that are sabotaging our finances, relationships, health, and career.

Subtraction is not limited to habits. You can subtract things on your lists. You can also subtract possessions and clutter.

“In our striving to improve our lives, our work, and our society, we overwhelmingly add. We overlook the option to subtract from what is already there,” argues Leidy Klotz, the author of Subtract: The Untapped Science of Less.

Before you start listing everything you can do to make your life better, list the things you are currently doing that bring out the worst in you. The habits that are preventing you from becoming a better version of yourself.

Subtracting habits is a much better way to make your life better. It’s a human instinct to add to what we already have.

Subtracting doesn’t come easy to any human. Our biological nature is wired to seek more. That’s why it’s hard to become a minimalist, do less or focus on a single task to make progress.

We don’t consciously think of subtracting, but you can accomplish more by doing less. You can intervene and consciously focus on the few habits that move the needle.

Plus, 80% of what we achieve comes from 20% of our actions and habits (remember the Pareto Principle?). If you can identify those habits, you can quickly get rid of all the habits and behaviours that waste your time or make you worse.

Taking on too many things is not the fastest way to make progress or accomplish more. It’s counter-productive. Juggling multiple things at a time rarely moves the needle.

The genius art of getting to less

“When things aren’t adding up in your life, start subtracting.” ~ Anonymous

Success doesn’t come from taking on everything that comes your way or blindly adding habits to what you already do. It comes from focus — deep, disciplined concentration the few routines delivering the results you want. Subtract to add. Subtract to make progress.

Subtraction makes way for a better addition. For example, if you get rid of sitting for too long, you can begin to walk more to stay healthy. Likewise, if you get rid of unhealthy food choices, you can add healthy ones that improve your health.

If you get rid of unnecessary expenses, you can save more for the future.

Or better still, pay off your debt faster.

If you spend less time with people who make your life worse, you can spend more quality time with the people that matter in your life.

It pays to stripe down the behaviours that don’t guarantee happiness to make way for healthy habits. Eliminating bad habits is the secrets to maintaining good ones. The life-changing art of subtraction can set you up for a better life in the long term.

Subtracting a dominant or daily habit is hard. So, start small. Focus on a few changes at a time. For example, instead of changing your diet completely, subtract the unhealthy ingredients or reduce the portion size and add healthy options to the same diet.

You can use the same approach for habits you want to subtract in your life. Instead of stopping a bad habit entirely and adding it back in a few weeks, eliminate it slowly whilst you focus on the healthy ones.

“If the commitment feels like too much, you’re doing too much. Each step needs to feel almost effortless but involves something you can be proud to give up forever,” writes Nir Eyal, the author of Indistractable: How to Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life.

Subtracting bad habits can take months, sometimes years. Improve your chances of success by going slow. It’s the art of getting to the good core behaviours that deliver over 80% of the results you want in your life. It’s a practice that gets better with time.

The art of letting go is hard, but it’s worth it. Eliminating bad habits, rituals, routines, behaviours, and actions is a more efficient and productive way to achieve more or build a much better life. Subtraction gives you more time and clarity to focus on the essentials.

This article originally appeared in Medium.