I recently watched a Matt D’Avella video about the failings of minimalism. The video pointed out that while minimalism hasn’t been the cure all that perhaps some thought it might be for a hyper consumerist world, it has in fact helped a lot of people by giving them a prescription or goal to cut down on some of the input they face in a complex and uncertain world. Like minimizing our things, I think that minimizing how we approach getting our tasks or obligations done can also help make us feel a greater sense of control and life satisfaction.

I call it the CLEAR framework. The acronym stands for

  • Cut
  • Locate
  • Enrich
  • Act
  • Repeat

and I think it can help you stop focusing on the wrong things or frantically expending effort but never making progress.

When you minimize your things you clear the clutter from your life, and I think a similar thing happens when you use the CLEAR framework to work through your day, week, projects or goals. So let’s start with cut.

Step 1. Cut - Cutting the non-essentials or things that you don’t have time for frees up your mental psyche to make meaningful progress. Ever have a to do list of about 50 things, and get exactly none of them done that day? You did things - to be sure, but they probably weren’t planned or that important. Maybe a kid is home sick and you needed to take care of them. Maybe your boss had an important meeting that came up and needed you to help them get prepped. Meanwhile, the things you intended to get done sit idle on that to-do list making you feel guilty. When you have many things on your list that you don’t or can’t get to it’s like having a home that is absolutely trashed, how are you supposed to cook dinner with the sink overflowing with dishes - you can’t. The solution, clean up first to make the list easier to clean. If you won’t get to it in the time period you’re planning for, be like a minimalist and instead have a defined decision

  • trash it - don’t do it and just forget about it
  • donate it - put it on your someday maybe list
  • give it away - delegate it
  • keep it - get it done

By starting from a place of cutting and not just continuing to clutter your lists with things you want to get to you’ll start your days with a feeling of peace and have the added benefit of a little extra dopamine as you cut down your list.

Step 2. Locate - Using a map isn’t particularly difficult, but knowing what you want to do when you get somewhere takes more time and effort. The same is true of our goals and dreams - they take time and thought. While there isn’t one way to go about finding direction some ideas include

  • Let your emotions guide you - pain can be a sign to go in the opposite direction while happiness may be a sign to continue pursuing something
  • What are things worth doing - getting fit, saving, taking classes to improve your professional skills - do things you know have a long term benefit
  • Still don’t know? Work in small bets and try a lot of things

In my opinion this can be the hardest step, but once you set broader directions everything it makes all the other steps easier.

Step 3. Enrich - Enrichment and learning is the key to overcoming obstacles that you encounter on your journey. Maybe it’s taking a class to learn a skill to pivot into a new profession, or gathering ideas of how to reorganize your kitchen. Often when we’re not making progress it’s not because of lack of effort, but usually there’s just a gap in our knowledge. Before you take the next step in CLEAR, it’s important to pause and ask if you don’t have some the tools needed to go on your journey and work on that first. This is the right time to utilize books, YouTube, or even AI to help you move on to doing the actual tasks. Don’t let learning be a barrier to the next step action, but doing things in a more efficient or correct way is vital to accomplishing your goals.

A note on AI: AI is changing how people work and learn. While I use the technology liberally, I’m starting to become more discerning about when and how I use it, as studies have clearly shown that it inhibits critical thinking. My recommendation is that you should try to use AI for only things you already know how to do (well), repetitive or busy work, and potentially in a learning capacity - but it’s terribly difficult to have good habits when attempting this. Opt for simpler or older tools whenever you can rather than the latest and greatest.

Step 4. Act - For some people taking action may feel like the hardest thing to do. Part of the beauty of CLEAR framework is that each step of the journey gives you a little boost to continue on, and by the time I get to the moment of action I find that it’s almost like I’ve been primed to begin. I’ve

  • Cleaned up the clutter of tasks
  • Thought about higher motivations
  • Asked if I’m going about things in the right way

And now it’s time to start! In practice, when I’m setting my CLEAR objectives for a day for example I will write down steps one through three and then write a succinct sentence stating what exactly I will do immediately upon getting up or working.

Step 5. Repeat - There’s no secret to this step, it’s really just an opportunity to reflect and think about what you can do better next time. Then repeat!

Traditional to-do lists focus on the simple identification of things you could or might do, but they don’t actually help you make gain clarity, think about the larger context, and ultimately make progress. The CLEAR framework does these things. Meanwhile, it’s iterative nature can be adapted over multiple time horizons whether it be a day, week, month, or longer to fit your needs. Whether you’re working on a big project, or just setting the intentions for today, CLEAR is a better way to work than a traditional to do list.