4 More Ways to Declutter Your Life: Insights from Ryan Holiday

This month, we will continue with our ways to declutter life from Ryan Holiday's "Decluttering Your Life" video. You can read about the first four ways here.

The last four ways to declutter your life are:

Do Less

There’s always something demanding our attention—emails to answer, meetings to attend, groceries to buy, errands to run, kids to drop off, social media to check. On top of all that, we carry our own hopes and dreams, tucked away in a never-ending to-do list. It’s no wonder we feel overwhelmed. But to truly excel at anything, we need to cut through the noise.

If you want more peace, and if you want to improve, start by asking yourself: “Is this essential?” Because the truth is, much of what we do isn’t. By eliminating the nonessential, we free up more time and energy for what truly matters. That might look like reevaluating your calendar, saying no more often, cutting unnecessary meetings, emails, and texts.

We have to be unapologetically intentional with our time. Saying no to others is, in many ways, saying yes to ourselves. So, ask yourself—how much of what you do each day actually moves the needle?

Wipe Off the Dust of Earthly Life

When we wake up in the morning, we’re fresh—bright-eyed and ready to begin. But by the end of the day, we’re dusty. We carry the residue of emotions, work, stress, the news, and everything else we encounter. It settles on us, little by little. That’s why it’s important to find ways to gently wash off the dust—especially the kind that doesn’t belong to us.

We can do this through movement, a cold plunge, journaling, diving into a hobby, meditation, or simply taking a quiet morning walk. These small rituals help us return to ourselves. How do you dust yourself off each day?

Bathe in Beauty

Sometimes, we need to take a step back from the noise and pace of everyday life and spend time in the quiet beauty of nature. It’s one of the most powerful ways to declutter our minds and reset our bodies.

Getting outside, even just for a little while, can feel like a kind of cleansing. We spend so much of our lives moving between four walls, from one confined space to the next, often missing out on the richness and wonder of the natural world.

How are you making intentional time to step into nature? You might come back a little dusty in the literal sense—but inside, you’ll feel clearer and more grounded.

Audit Your Time

A powerful question to ask ourselves is, “What’s eating up most of my time?” and “Is this truly a good use of it?” Taking a moment to do a simple time audit looking at how we’re spending our days can be eye-opening. What started as a small task may have quietly ballooned into a major time drain.

This season, it’s time to clear out the “time sucks”, the habits we’ve fallen into, the things we do out of routine rather than intention. Everything compounds, for better or worse. Let’s eliminate the wasteful, the inefficient, the things that no longer serve us.

Life isn't short and there is actually a lot of time, but we often waste it. Let’s be intentional. Let’s protect our time like it matters because it does.