20 Things I Quit to Simplify My Life (Buy Back Your Time)

It’s not what I do—it’s what I don’t do.

Busy isn’t impressive; it’s a tax on your potential. Below are the 20 things I stopped doing so I could double down on what actually matters—family, impact, and long-term wealth. Steal whichever hits hardest, then watch your calendar (and confidence) clear up.

  1. Splitting “Work” and “Life”

Integration beats separation. My kids visit the office; my team joins family adventures. One life, one calendar—optimize the blend.

Quick win

Plan one “family + work” micro-moment this week: kids on a podcast cameo, spouse at a client dinner, etc.

  1. Eating My Feelings

Confidence is keeping the promises you make in private. Junk food = broken promise. Eat for fuel, not mood swings.

  1. Caring What Strangers Think

None of those critics were around during my rock-bottom nights. Why let them vote on my future?

  1. Thinking in Days Instead of Decades

Play long-term games with long-term people. Compounding only works if you stay in the game.

  1. Worshipping a 37-Step Morning Routine

I keep a 2-minute reset—breathwork + gratitude. Anything else is a bonus, never a crutch.

  1. Canceling Meetings Last-Minute

If my word slips, so does my self-trust. Show up, even when it’s inconvenient.

  1. Allowing Phone Notifications

Your smartphone is a portable distraction device. Silence it; schedule inbox time windows instead.

  1. Stacking My Calendar With Meetings

Busy ≠ productive. Guard white-space to think through the one or two needle-moving decisions per day.

  1. Memorizing Every Detail

Brains are for decision-making, not storage. Offload to apps, SOPs, assistants.

  1. Numbing With Alcohol (or Any Vice)

Subtraction adds clarity. Whatever devil you’re bargaining with—kill it. Your next level is on the other side of that habit.

  1. Answering Unknown Calls

Toggle “Silence Unknown Callers.” Commit to the task at hand; call back when you’re done.

  1. Finishing Every Book

Read until you unlock one actionable idea, then deploy. Completion is optional; implementation is not.

  1. Multitasking

Science calls it “task-switching.” I call it progress-switching. Focus, ship, move on.

  1. Hanging With Energy Vampires

Audit your circle quarterly. If the relationship drains you, detox it—politely but firmly.

  1. Chasing Universal Approval

I’m responsible for my intent, not their interpretation. Lead with integrity; release the outcome.

  1. Staying Up Late

My 5 a.m. edge is worth more than any midnight small talk. Bedtime alarm > wake-up alarm.

  1. Blaming Others

Radical accountability = radical power. Own the problem, own the solution.

  1. Saying “Yes” by Default

Every “yes” is a “no” to your goals. Guard your bandwidth like your bank account.

  1. Over-Analyzing Decisions

Leadership = deciding with 70 % data. Make the call; iterate forward.

  1. Comparing Myself to Others

The only scoreboard that matters: Me vs. Yesterday-Me. Compete there, win everywhere.

Ready to Subtract Your Way to Success?

Pick three quits that punch you in the gut.

Block 30 minutes to design the replacement habit.

Drop me a note on X (@danmartell) with the one you killed first. I’ll cheer you on.

Next Level: Dive into the Buy Back Your Time framework to reclaim 10+ hours this week without sacrificing growth.

Keep it simple. Keep it savage. See you at the top.

Related Links

(4) 20 Things I Quit to Simplify My Life – YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQt7ziXMyFI

Transcript:

(00:00) stop lying to yourself i’m going to share with you 20 things that I quit to simplify my life to focus on what actually matters because when kids come up to me and I’m driving one of my supercars they always ask me “Hey man what do you do?” And I always say the same thing it’s not what I do it’s what I don’t do starting with the first thing I quit trying to separate work and life for me I integrate both things i don’t want to make it separate i want my family to be around when I’m working i want my workmates to be around when I’m

(00:27) playing i just realized if I’m going to travel the world and try to live life to the fullest then everybody is going to be part of that life i don’t keep them separate the second thing I quit is eating because of my emotions if you can’t control what you put in your mouth trust me it will affect your confidence because confidence is a byproduct of keeping the commitments you make to yourself in private and you know what you should be eating the third is caring what other people think when I look at my life and the pain I’ve gone through

(00:54) and realizing that if I made decisions based on what other people thought I should do guess who wasn’t there when I was in pain and if they haven’t done the thing that I want to do and I care about their opinion and I use that to make decisions now I’m living somebody else’s life when I take my last breath I want to know that I live my life the fourth thing I quit is thinking short term instead of long term if you want to build a life it’s going to take time if you want to be successful it’s going to take time if you try to take shortcuts

(01:23) guess what it’ll burn you every time investing in long-term decisions with long-term people playing long-term games is how you win in life number five is having a rigid morning routine it’s kind of crazy cuz I always ask people that have like the 37h hour 17step morning routine what if you don’t have it does that mean like the rest of your day is shot you can’t enjoy yourself my whole thing is being fluid there’s key things that I do that takes literally minutes to reset and center other than that those are just bonuses not required for

(01:54) me to have a great day number six is cancelling meetings last minute i used to think it was okay to reschedule reset and push things off the problem was is I was telling myself that my priorities weren’t important and guess what other people don’t want to work with people they can’t depend on and every time I let my feelings or my mood affect where I showed up or how I performed it bit me in the butt number seven is having notifications on my phone this device is a professional distractor device and if you allow it to bug you to vibrate to

(02:23) ring to ding you will not be able to get into flow state you won’t be able to do the work the biggest thing robbing you from focus is the distraction that comes from this little device number eight is having lots of meetings what I thought was productive was literally a distraction allowing people to take my calendar and make me busy and then not having the time to actually think did you know there’s only one or two really important decisions you have to make every day and if you don’t have the space to actually think about those

(02:50) decisions then you’ll just get bogged down by being busy but not moving forward there’s a massive difference between busy people and productive people and being in meetings all day is just giving you permission to avoid the real big decisions number nine is trying to remember every freaking detail i got to tell you my dad used to ask me all the time like “Hey Dan what about this part of the business that part of the business?” And I was like “Dad I don’t know.

(03:12) ” And guess what i got okay with that because the need to remember everything is going to cause you from actually focusing on the things that are important can I get the answer yes do I need to remember and memorize everything no create the space in your brain to be able to make better decisions number 10 alcohol partying or honestly any vice when I looked at my life I realized that success is not about adding a bunch of stuff it’s actually about taking things away and the more I subtracted I added to my life i know that your next level is on the other side of you actually

(03:43) giving something up you might not want to hear this you might think it’s okay to vape you might think it’s okay to gamble you might think it’s okay to play video games i know that you know that next level is going to require you to kill that devil number 11 is answering random phone calls did you know in your phone you can there’s a setting there’s a toggle it says any unknown number send immediately to voicemail that’s a pro move but I just stop answering my phone why if I made a commitment to get something done that thing has to get

(04:09) done if somebody else wants my time they can wait until I’m done i just write down their name and call them back when I’m finished number 12 trying to finish every book that I started it’s so funny how some people are like “Did you finish the book did you read that book?” I might have read the first chapter maybe the third chapter if it was good I got to the fifth chapter every once in a while a book’s going to keep my attention to the very end i don’t need to read the whole book i’m just looking for one thing that I think can change my

(04:35) whole perspective one nugget one idea that’ll give me something to move forward with once I got that I might close the book put it down and never visit it again and that’s okay number 13 multitasking in general see most people think they can multitask it’s actually fake it’s a focus tasking so you go 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 try to go A B C D E F G now go 1 A 2 B 3 C see how much slower it is your multitasking is actually fake lock and load focus and get the thing done before trying to do too many things at once number 14 spending time with

(05:08) people that suck my energy i had to get really honest and it was hard cuz I was scared I was going to piss people off to start choosing folks that when I spent time with them when I talked to them they gave me energy they made me feel good about myself like it’s so crazy how it could be family members and friends but it could also be people you used to look up to that all of a sudden start criticizing because you’re making more progress than them you need to protect your energy and do a friend inventory and get rid of those energy vampires

(05:36) number 15 trying to make everybody happy here’s what I learned their reality is their reality i’m not responsible for the reality they found themselves in and I have no problem realizing some of my decisions may not make them happy but if I know I’m doing them with the right intention then that’s on them to figure out their own story number 16 staying up late at night i got to tell you I turned into a pumpkin at 9:00 p.

(05:59) m and I’m okay with it last night I had a big dinner and I told everybody before I showed up hey if it goes late that’s cool but I’m going to peace out and I did why i’d rather upset a few people by going to bed early so that I have my mornings and I’m not groggy and tired because when I think of my life I want to be focused i care about my energy in the morning i’m not going to ruin that by staying up late because somebody’s got some social hour thing they want to do what’s funny is most people have an alarm that goes off to wake them up i have an alarm that

(06:25) goes off to tell me to go to bed number 17 blaming other people if you realize that your whole life your situation everything is 100% your fault and you are accountable for your creation you will give yourself power i don’t want to give somebody else the power on my life number 18 saying yes to everyone here’s what’s crazy is the more you grow the more people will want to ask you for things the more you expand who you are and better your life people will want to take some of your time learning to say no is the key saying yes to everybody

(06:57) will only lead you disappointed so here’s my philosophy sometimes we have to say no today to other people to say yes to the goals that we plan for ourselves number 19 overthinking every damn decision i had a mentor of mine say to me once he said “The point of leadership is making decisions with imperfect data.

(07:18) ” If you got 70% of what you need to know decide don’t get stuck in the analysis paralysis most people are worried about making the right decision i’m about making a decision and figuring out how to make it right number 20 was stop comparing myself to other people the thing you actually may be inspired by me for is being me 100% me the most unique thing that you can do is be you so here’s the deal you didn’t live somebody else’s life i don’t have other people’s bodies i don’t have their brains i have me the only person I compare myself to is me from yesterday

(07:49) if you do that you will live a life that is uniquely yours so now if you want to be 99% more productive than anybody else click the video and I’ll see you on the other

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Picture of Dan Martell

Dan Martell

Dan Martell is the bestselling author of “Buy Back Your Time” and the #1 executive coach for founders and CEO’s in the world. He was named Forbes Top 10 Business People to Follow on Social Media and is a highly sought-after speaker, including events by Tony Robbins and John Maxwell. He’s a husband and dad of two boys, and when he’s not in family mode, he’s competing in Ironman races and supporting troubled youth.