Declutter Your Life: This Guide Teaches You How To Transform Your Life One Small Step At A Time

The New Year is a great time to take stock of the past year and decide what you want the next one to look like. But what if you want to achieve it all in 2023? Get a promotion, run a marathon, learn a language, spend more time with family, and start a side hustle. All while living healthier, of course — the most popular resolution in 2022.

That’s the problem with being a perfectionist. It’s hard to focus on just one thing when you want to be the best at everything.

But New York Times bestselling author, podcaster, and recovering perfectionist Kendra Adachi says that’s a recipe for feeling exhausted — one thing that isn’t on our to-do list for 2023.

Stop Procrastinating and Start Getting Stuff Done

To help you focus on the things that matter in 2023 and let go of the things that don’t, Kendra Adachi has put together a step-by-step guide to overcoming perfectionism and zeroing in on your key priorities.

The guide — called Embrace What Matters, Ditch What Doesn’t — is based on Adachi’s experience as a recovering perfectionist and her bestselling book The Lazy Genius Way and takes us through her key points.

It takes an hour to go through in total, and it’s broken down into seven bite-sized chapters. Each chapter features narration from Adachi herself, snippets of wisdom from her book and books on complimentary topics written by other experts, short exercises you can do to help you narrow your focus for 2023, and recaps of the key ideas to make sure everything sticks.

And the entire guide can be done either from the comfort of your home or on the go, all on the Blinkist app. Blinkist gathers key insights from nonfiction books and shares them as 15-minute explainers. There are 5,500 titles to choose from across 27 categories including personal development, psychology, and productivity.

As well as bite-sized explainers of leading nonfiction books, the app now features guides, like the one by Kendra Adachi, which are short courses narrated by an expert.

The Embrace What Matters, Ditch What Doesn’t guide teaches you how to spend your time and energy on the most important things. Or in Adachi’s words: be a genius with the things that matter, and lazy with the things that don’t.

Here are just some of the powerful ideas you can find in Blinkist’s Embrace What Matters, Ditch What Doesn’t guide.

1. Figure Out What Really Matters to You

How can you spend your time and energy on the important things in life when you don’t know what they are? Adachi says the first step in becoming a Lazy Genius is naming your priorities.

Pick an area in your life — health, work, or relationships, for example — and ask yourself these three questions: What could matter? What does matter? And what matters most? These guiding questions should help you narrow your focus.

2. Organize Items, Ideas, and Expectations

It’s easy to feel frazzled, distracted, and pulled in multiple directions when everything from your closet to your workspace is cluttered and messy. That’s why organization is so important.

But organization goes far beyond your material items. Adachi argues you should organize not just your items, but your ideas and expectations, too.

3. Save Time with Systems

One thing we could all do with more of is time. The Adachi’s guide covers how to get more of this valuable resource by creating systems in your life.

One tip? Adachi explains how you can reduce the amount of decisions you have to make and declutter your brain by “deciding once” on something.

For example, instead of wasting time figuring out what to wear to the office each day, create a go-to uniform of black tops and jeans that you reach for no matter what.

Learn From More Guides on the Blinkist App

As well as this guide on prioritizing and decluttering your life, Blinkist has guides on everything from managing your mental health at work with psychotherapist Nora Dietrich to using the science of consciousness to connect with yourself and others with neuroscientist Anil Seth.

Here’s how the app works.

Transform Your Life in 15 Minutes

Blinkist’s core offering is its Blinks — bite-sized explainers of nonfiction books you can read or listen to in 15 minutes. These Blinks are packed with powerful ideas, actionable advice, and real-life examples, making them as memorable as they are useful.

Choose from top nonfiction books like Atomic Habits, How to Win Friends and Influence People, and Rich Dad, Poor Dad. The Blinkist team adds 40 new books every month, too, including trending titles and New York Times bestsellers.

Find What Matters Most to You While On the Go

Fit learning into your life by listening to Blinkist’s content on the go. You can listen to the explainers while driving to work, running errands, or while – quite literally – decluttering your life.

Blinkist Helps Users Make Real Change

Blinkist doesn’t just help users read more, it helps improve their day-to-day lives. When we surveyed our users, we found 91% have created better habits and 87% have made positive changes in their lives, all from what they’ve learned on the app.

One of the World’s Best Apps

Blinkist has won awards from the United Nations and Google, and it’s been praised by everyone from Forbes to TechCrunch to Apple, who called it one of the world’s best apps and one of the top 20 apps for lifelong learning.

25 Million Users Trust Blinkist with Their Personal Growth

Beyond Apple, Blinkist is loved by 25 million users around the world. And they aren’t shy about how much they love the app. Blinkist has received over 94,000 5-star ratings. Here’s what some of our users have to say:

Want to explore the rest of the Embrace What Matters, Ditch What Doesn’t guide? Download the Blinkist app to get started.