3-2-1: Nine questions to ask before buying something

Plus: Ditching physical books, the 3-month rule and improving your sleep architecture

Hey — Dean here.

My new life in Sudbury has officially started. Got here on Thursday and am slowly and methodically getting myself and my living space in order.

This move is teaching me a lot.

I’ll dive into some of those lessons in today’s 3-2-1.

1/ We are hardwired to be hoarders.

Our DNA evolved from a place of scarcity.

Almost everything essential to our survival was extremely difficult to find. So when we did stumble on abundance, we looked for ways to store it for later.

But that scarcity gene does not serve us well in today’s world of overabundance.

People don’t know how to let go of stuff that is no longer essential — so they spend gobs of money to store it for a “later” that never comes.

Suggested takeaway → Invoke the 3-month rule.

If you have not used/worn something in the past 3-months then get rid of it. It’s not essential to your life.

Your brain will scream at you to keep it because you “might” need it later.

When it does, remind yourself that 99% of the time, “later” never comes.

2/ Physical books are not practical.

The items I had the most difficulty dealing with were my physical books.

I have always preferred reading those to eBooks.

But trying to dispose of them made me realize just how impractical and inefficient they are.

What I discovered is…

• They take up a ton of space.

• I almost never reread a book. Most of the 200 I had, had been sitting on my book shelf for 23 years unopened.

• The notes I scribbled in the margins were never transferred to an app where I could refer to them easily at a later date.

• They didn’t age well making them impossible to give away/donate.

So I decided to shift to reading eBooks moving forward.

Here is the case I built for myself…

• I can download a free sample to see whether a book is worth buying.

• Amazon allows me to return a book if I don’t like it.

• They are much cheaper than physical copies.

• I can easily access my highlights and any notes I create.

• I can carry my entire library in my pocket.

• I have access to them 24/7 which will allow me to read more often during free moments that crop up during my day.

Extension → This thinking works for other physical items like journals, cookbooks, bills, mail, videos and tax returns to name a few.

3/ Contributing less to landfill sites.

Before I left Toronto for good, I had to make a trip to the dump. It was both cathartic and horrifying.

Cathartic because I had reduced what I owned — and what owned me — by about 50%.

Horrified at how much waste humans (Dean included) mindlessly dump into landfill sites on a daily basis.

So moving forward, I’m working at being more mindful of my purchases.

Let me share an example to illustrate the process.

I’m looking for something to help me organize/store my dumbbells and free weights I have strewn about in the room I now inhabit.

I’m thinking of buying this.

But before I buy anything, I’m training myself to ask these questions.

• Is this something I want or something I need?

• Why is this better than my present solution.

• Is there a simpler/cheaper solution that exists that would work equally well?

• Is it possible to get this used?

• Will I get great value for the price I pay?

• Does it come apart/travel easily?

• Is it composed of toxic materials?

• Would it be easy to sell? or give away? or recycle? or would I have to toss it in a landfill?

• Does this simplify/improve my life?

After addressing all these questions, I believe this is a good purchase to make.

But I’m going to wait a week, review the answers to the questions again and see how I feel.

If I still feel great about the purchase, I will pull the trigger.

Suggested takeaway → Try using these questions for your next physical purchase — shoes, clothes, furniture, exercise equipment etc. — to improve your decision making, while reducing your environmental footprint on the world.

1/ Use things in ways others don’t.

Two thoughts I had after watching this clip…

One. Humans tend to only use things within the context that they have been presented to them. As a result, few would ever think to use a “tool” bag as a gym bag.

Two. Tremendous opportunities exist for those who have the imagination to use things in ways others won’t.

For instance, I don’t read weight loss books. I read business and marketing books and use the lessons to influence my own behaviour.

As a result, I have discovered weight loss solutions most others never hear about in the traditional weight loss space.

2/ Better ways to assess your sleep.

Now that I’m living with my father, the demands on my time are going to expand exponentially.

So improving the quality of my sleep is going to be critical.

As a result, I’m actively consuming more content around sleep quality.

I found this clip with Tim Ferriss and Dr. Andy Galpin helpful.

Here are a few things that Andy said that really resonated with me.

• We should be treating sleep as a high performance tool.

• For most people, caffeine messes with their sleep architecture.

• How you think you slept is more important than what your sleep tracker might tell you.

If you are interested in watching the entire interview, click here.

1/ Donate something you don’t need to someone who could use it.

I gave away my couch and chair to my sister, who also lives in Sudbury. She loves it and I feel great about giving her something that will transform her basement.

Her cat seems to love it as well.

Most people wait until they have to move to start decluttering.

Don’t wait. Start now.

Throw out stuff that is garbage. Put things out on the street that others will give a new home to. And donate things to family, friends or organizations who could benefit from your item(s).

🙏 That it for this week my friend.

Thanks for reading.

👀See you again next week.

PS → 🥳Enjoy the newsletter? Please forward to pal. It only takes 30 seconds. Writing this took me 4.5 hours.

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