It’s a dummy Post One

Over the last few months, I’ve felt more distracted, less productive, and substantially more irritable. This morning, I wondered at why. 

My conclusion is that (like most things in life) it stems from my environment.

Compared to three months ago:

• I sold my home and now live in a different apartment,
• I’ve torn my shoulder, making it difficult to do many of the things I liked doing (sports and exercise particularly),
• I have new long-term health goals, along with dietary needs,

Given these significant changes, it’s not surprising I’ve veered off of the productive path I so carefully designed for myself last year. 

Unfortunately, the added friction in my life is causing me to to self-select away from beneficial behaviors and towards negative ones, and this is manifesting as the symptoms I described above.

But not all is lost! 

Redesigning my life

I’m going to fix this with an exercise called the lifestyle audit.

Lifestyle audits are a cornerstone of Maker School (my automation agency program)—their purpose is to help you thoughtfully design a more effective day-to-day. 

I’ve done many lifestyle audits over the last few years, but I’ve chosen to do this one in public to help reinforce the concepts in my program, and to hold myself accountable to its outcomes.

Since many of you will be unfamiliar with lifestyle audits, I’ll begin by providing some context on how lifestyle audits work, their motivations, etc. Then I’ll do the exercise myself, writing out my thoughts as I proceed.

First, some history.

Choice architecture

The idea that the environment you live in plays a significant role in the decisions you make is not new.  Kahneman was studying it back in the 1970s under the umbrella term “behavioral economics”.

Today, we often refer to the idea as choice architecture—how your environment shapes the perception and relative likelihood of the various choices you make. 

Unsurprisingly, it’s driven a variety of changes in workplace and organizational management around the world. Everything from office layouts to grand architectural choices to the snack options in vending machines are, at some level, thought of in terms of productivity impact and how it shapes human decision making. 

Applying lifestyle design to your own life

But what’s interesting is how few people ever consider the possibility of applying the concept of choice architecture to themselves. 

Not a company office, or a sports stadium—but you. Your home, your tools, your relationships, and even your thoughts.

I believe this is for a variety of reasons:

• Ego: we likely think we have more autonomy and agency than we really do.
• Fear: we’re afraid to validate the idea that, at some level, some of our decision making may be outside of our control (no one wants to be a rat in a Skinner box).
• Naïvety: we overestimate the impact of willpower, and underestimate the impact of our environment.

I felt a few of these when I begun performing lifestyle audits. I thought I could just muscle my way out of my problems, that I had the power to change my life in any environment and at any cost.

I do, of course. But it gets a lot easier when you thoughtfully design your life. If you create an environment that makes positivity easy, and negativity hard, good things tend to just happen. Since I started seeing lifestyle audits as a tool in my arsenal (rather than some strange ego-death thing) my life has measurably improved in almost every domain.

Friction

To simplify choice architecture, and to take this from the realm of theory into action, it helps to think of things in terms of their “friction”. 

Let’s define friction as anything that makes it harder to do that which you want to do. 

For example:

• If you want to go to the gym but you live far from it, then your distance from the gym is friction. You having to get in your car, walk a lot, or take public transit makes it harder to go to the gym. Naturally, then, you’ll do it less often.
• If you want to apply to 10 Upwork jobs per day but your microphone keeps bugging out, then your crappy microphone is friction. You always worrying about your microphone working makes it harder to apply to Upwork jobs. Meaning, logically, you’ll do it less often.
• If you want to eat healthier food but your roommate keeps putting junk food around your kitchen, then your roommate’s habit is friction. You having to exert extra willpower every day makes it harder to stick to your plans. Therefore you’ll succeed less often.

Looking at the above, it should be clear that “productivity” is not about having inexhaustible willpower or a stoic mind. It’s simply about designing your life in such a way that minimizes friction. If the things you want to do are easy, and the things you don’t want to do are hard, you will naturally begin living a better life.

That’s the basis for the lifestyle audit. By doing them, we thoughtfully design our lives and our environments to make positive things easy and negative things hard.

Step-by-step

Here’s how the lifestyle audit works in practice:

1. First, we’ll comprehensively examine our career, our relationships, and our personal lives to identify as many “friction points” as possible.
2. Then, we’ll build a list of actions that we can take to start reducing or eliminating points of friction—making positive habits easier to maintain and negative habits easier to discard.
3. Once we’ve created our list, we’ll assign “difficulty” scores to each task (i.e we estimate how hard it would be for us to solve these friction points right now).
4. Lastly, we’ll begin solving these friction points starting from the least difficult to the most difficult. Why least -> most? Because it a) helps us build momentum, and b) with less initial friction in our lives, subsequent friction points become easier to solve. 

Steps 1-3 take ~60 minutes. Step 4 can take days, weeks, or months. I typically recommend that you space out Step 4 to make it seem less intractable—i.e take care of a few friction points per day rather than trying to solve all of them at once.

Before we begin

Some important points you should know before we start:

• Right now, the goal is merely to identify friction, not solve it. All we’re doing is creating a list of points—we’ll worry about taking care of them afterwards.
• Writing down a point of friction does not mean you commit to doing anything about it. This is crucial to address. On some level, humans fear explicitly verbalizing the negative parts about our lives because we think that doing so will require us to act on it. It doesn’t. There’s no judgement on any of these items whatsoever, and you can change your mind at any time.

1. Setup

Note—the following is heavily inspired by this article, originally written on LessWrong. I found a lot of value in their section on “bughunting” and have incorporated it into my own life (though I’ve replaced “bugs” with “friction” since I find this is a better way to think about it).

Find a notebook, phone app, spreadsheet, or Google Doc to write with. You’ll refer back to it repeatedly over the coming weeks.

To begin your lifestyle audit, follow each of the six sets of prompts in the next section. The moment you start each, set a timer for 5 minutes—your task is to list as many points of friction as you can in that time period.

2. Prompts

Below are some helpful prompts that will walk us through a few common places that friction comes from. You don’t need to constrain your friction points to these—they’re merely meant to help encourage thinking.

A. Mindful Walkthrough

Walk through your daily routine in your head and look for places that need improvement. Do you wake up on time? Do you have a morning routine? Do you waste precious minutes deciding what to eat for breakfast? Are you using the most efficient commute, maximizing your time in transit, etc?

Fast forward to work or school. Are there physical discomforts? Do you have all the tools you need? Are there colleagues or individuals who cause friction, or with whom you need to communicate more? Do you ask for help when necessary? Do you know when to stay silent? Is there unproductive time during meetings, classes, or projects? Do you take care of yourself during the day?

Consider the evening at home. Do you waste time deciding where or what to eat? Are there hobbies you want to try but haven’t yet? Are there enjoyable activities you’re missing out on? Are you making consistent progress on side projects? Do you go to bed on time? How is your sleep quality?

B. Hobbies, habits, and skills

Review your regular activities. Are there habits you intend to drop? Are there habits you want to develop but haven’t yet?

For each hobby or habit, ask yourself the following questions: Do you do it enough? Do you do it too much? Are there ways to improve your experience? Could you do it at a different place or time? Should you do it with others or alone?

Maybe you have skills to practice. Are you as proficient as you want to be? Do you practice regularly? Have you plateaued by overtraining? Are there minor recurring issues preventing you from improving? Are there new directions you haven’t explored that might indirectly enhance your abilities?

C. Space

Examine your living space, workspace, or vehicle interior. What would you change?

Your space should be functional. Is there clutter you navigate around daily? Are your chairs and tables at optimal heights? Is your bed comfortable? Are there items like towels, pans, notebooks, or papers that need organizing? Are there important things that deserve a more central position? Have you designated specific places for glasses, wallets, and phones?

Your space should also be aesthetically pleasing. Do any pieces of furniture or equipment stick out awkwardly? Do your walls feel drab and depressing? Are there carpet stains or dust that draw your eye and reduce happiness? Are you tired of the art on your walls?

Digital space can be as important as physical space. Do you have enough screens? Do you find yourself repeating tasks that could be automated? Do you use all the browser extensions and keyboard shortcuts available? Is there a voice in your head urging you to learn new software tools?

D. Time and attention

People and activities demand your attention. What’s missing from your life that would let you manage your time as effectively as possible?

Many activities are bottomless time sinks. Do you watch shows or play games you no longer enjoy? Do you get pulled into unproductive conversations? Do you find yourself scrolling endlessly on social media? Are there classes, meetings, commutes, or projects that drain your energy for the rest of the day? Do you have strategies to protect yourself from time sinks?

Focus on the things you overlook. Do you often make mistakes on autopilot? Are there friends or family you’ve neglected or grown distant from? Are there conversations where you zone out but could gain more value? Is there a childhood dream you’ve forgotten?

Sometimes trivial distractions lead to significant setbacks. Are minor, recurring physical discomforts draining your efficiency? Does the weather hinder your exercise routine? Is there something that always diverts your attention from work?

E. Blind spots

Our biggest points of friction can hide in blind spots.

Take an external view of your life. Pretend, for a second, that you’re me, and I’m evaluating you objectively. If I were to be straight with you: would I say that you’re achieving your potential? What would I say is your biggest weakness? What do you think I’d point out as the one obstacle holding you back from reaching your goals? Do you have irrational attachments to parts of your identity? Do you routinely overestimate or underestimate your abilities?

What do I say about you that surprises you? What behaviors would annoy me? What behaviors would I appreciate? Is there advice I’d keep giving you?

Imagine your best friend advising you. What would they say? What deep insights are you missing? If you were the protagonist of a story, what genre would your life be?

Look to admiration and jealousy for insight. Are you the person you most admire? What skills and traits do others have that you aspire to?

F. Fear and trembling

The shadows we avoid can hide the most valuable opportunities.

What are your greatest fears and anxieties? Do you have courage? Are there essential actions you need to take? Are there truths you’re afraid to acknowledge? What do you lie to yourself about?

Consider your social circle. Are there good people you avoid? Are there conversation topics that make you uncomfortable? What comments cause you to lose your composure?

Think about the past and future as far as you can see. What deadlines make you anxious? Is there a type of person you fear becoming? Or are you most afraid of stagnation? Do you trust your past and future selves?

3. Sort

Most people that do this come up with 50-100 points of friction. When I did it the first time, I came up with 79. This time (as you’ll see below) I came up with 63.

Now it’s time for some housekeeping. Input all of the points of friction you’ve discovered into a spreadsheet. Add a column called “difficulty” beside every point.

Your last task is to assign difficulty ratings from 1 to 10 to each point of friction. 1 is “I could solve it right now” and 10 is “Just thinking about it causes existential panic.” Sort them in increasing order of difficulty.

In the coming days, we’ll systematically work through your list, addressing as many points of friction as possible. By the end of the month, you’ll have taken major, definite action towards improving on things that have held you back (consciously or unconsciously) your entire life.

My own friction points

Now that we understand the conceptual basis behind lifestyle audits and how to do them, I’m going to write out mine below. I’ll then treat this as a living blog post by updating the tasks on my lifestyle audit over the coming days and weeks.

Before we begin: I should note that not all of these are directly career related! You will (probably) see some weird, or unexpected entries here. I think of lifestyle audits as a way of improving every aspect of your life—and although the bulk of my focus is on my career, there are still other areas worth optimizing.

Anything in bold is something I’m currently working on.

A mindful walkthrough 

1. I listen to audiobooks before I fall asleep, so my phone is usually within arms reach when I wake up! This often leads to at least a few minutes of mindless scrolling, which I’d be better off eliminating.
   1. Solved. I now put my phone in the bathroom as I brush my teeth before bed, and set it up to stream to AirPods. I use the “Timer” feature on iPhone and set it to sleep after 30mins.
2. Related: when I wake up in the middle of the night I sometimes check my phone—this leads to me seeing the time, which frustrates me and makes it difficult to fall back asleep. I’ll get 5-6 hours of sleep a few nights a month because of this.
   1. Previous hack solved this too.
3. I sleep significantly better with earplugs (light sleeper, clearly) but I keep running out of the soft ones that I like. I should be able to fix this with some sort of routine Amazon schedule.
   1. Solved. Subscribed to these earplugs on a 60-day schedule. If I end up with more, that’s fine—they’re like $10.
4. I sleep better with ZMA but keep running out of it.
   1. Solved. Subscribed to this Zinc/magnesium blend on a 30-day schedule.
5. My throat is extremely parched in the mornings and this is uncomfortable, but I don’t have water nearby so I don’t solve it immediately. I could build a habit a la James Clear where I fill up a water bottle before going to bed.
   1. Solved. Built an atomic habit where I fill up a water bottle before going to bed. Since it’s insulated (Owala) it also stays cold overnight, which makes it extra refreshing when I wake up.
6. The humidity of my home is very low, and it’s interfering with dryness, general comfort, etc. I could buy a humidifier (would need to do some research on how this all works, though).
   1. Decided not to buy a humidifier—moving in around a week, and my new home will have one. Will tolerate it for the next 7 days, not that bad yet anyway (no snowfall yet).
   2. Update after moving: my new home has a humidifier as part of its central HVAC system. Done.
7. I’ve noticed that I sometimes skip my morning skincare routine because I’m short on time. I think I can solve this by placing my cleanser within arms reach of my shower, since that way I’ll be able to cleanse during my morning showers (as opposed to having to consciously make the decision to afterwards).
   1. Solved. I placed my cleanser on the ledge of my bathtub and return it there after I’m done. This makes me much more likely to do the rest of my routine as well. Insane how a small hack like this will probably lead to my skin looking years younger when I’m 50+.
8. I’ve noticed my skin is often dry and crackly after showering because of the hard water in Calgary. I could find ways around this—perhaps a water softening system or something. That said, I do live in (mostly) short term furnished rentals at this point, so may be infeasible.
   1. Decided not to fix this yet. Moving in around a week, so will determine feasibility then.
   2. Update after moving: this is feasible, though expensive. I can either buy a full home filtration system, which is ~$5K, or a shower head (something like the ShowerStick). The former isn’t feasible as this isn’t my home. Based on reviews, the latter sounds like it’ll produce more friction than it’ll save (frequent “recharges” of the resin filter). Will skip and use a full-body moisturizer after showering instead.
9. My lips are perpetually chapped now due to dry winter air. I could just buy chapstick, something with vaseline in it. Would improve both appearance and comfort.
   1. Solved. Bought a collection of chapstick and put a few rolls next to my bed, a few in my car, and a few where I work.
10. I routinely forget where my glasses, phone, and wallet are (which leads me to spending a silly amount of time looking for them). I could create a Schelling place the first day that I move into a new location.
    1. Solved. I created a Schelling point on the glass table next to my television, and now leave my phone, keys, wallet, glasses, etc there when I come into my home.
    2. Update after moving: I created a new Schelling point by my staircase.
11. I don’t have a morning routine of any kind, so my days typically follow my moment-by-moment desires rather than longer term goals. This leads to lower stress, I think, but there are probably a handful of high-ROI actions I could be frontloading. For instance, taking a few of my supplements in the mornings (particularly the ones I forget). Or doing a brief bout of stretches/a warmup routine to make me more resilient to, say, back pain later on in the day (would let me work longer).
    1. It remains to be seen how strongly I stick to these habits, but I’ve decided upon:
       1. Morning supplements: I mix Longevity Mix into the water bottle next to my bed the night prior. I then begin drinking it the moment I wake up, finish a few minutes later, and take the remainder of my supplements (mostly vitamins I have previously been deficient in). This is very low friction and I finish in less than 2 minutes.
       2. Coffee: I then spend a few minutes to make coffee. I focus on being present, as I think there is value in consciously experiencing mundane rituals like this and it’s a good way to wake up sans-phone.
       3. Stretch: While I wait for my coffee, I do a handful of morning stretches.
       4. I’ve written and spoken many times before about how I dislike long, drawn out morning routines (since I think they take away from what most entrepreneurs really care about: their ability to generate revenue). But I like this one—takes ~5 minutes in total, does not meaningfully detract from the rest of my day, and forces me to take care of things I otherwise forget about. I’ll trial it for the next week and see how things go.