I used to feel really stuck in my life and unmotivated. I'd always try these extreme things to change my life—30-day challenges that I saw other people doing. But over the past few years, I've built some small, simple rules for myself that have really improved my day-to-day life, and I hope they can improve yours as well.

The House on Fire Rule: Recently, on our trip through Europe, British Airways lost our luggage. We kept our backpacks, but we lost all of our clothes. And it was at that point that I had a really cool realization: I didn't really care about any of that stuff. It wouldn't make any difference to me if I never saw all my clothes again. So, I've been practicing this rule recently. The rule is: think about your attic, your closet, your storage unit, whatever it is. What would happen if it just went away and evaporated into thin air? Your house burned down, and you lost all that stuff. Would you actually be relieved? Are you overly attached to it? Does your stuff actually kind of own you a little bit? For me, I had this realization—there's a few things in my house that I wouldn't love to lose, but for the most part, it wouldn't really affect me as a person—my happiness levels, anything—if my house burned down. And that's a really freaking concept, because the stuff we own ends up owning us. So, the more stuff I've gotten rid of, the more calm and mental clarity I've ended up having in my life.

The 20/20 Rule (or Just In Case): I think I first heard this rule from The Minimalists. But especially in my beginning stages of decluttering, when I was going through a bunch of stuff, I realized that we have so many things that we hang on to just in case. Just in case people come over, just in case I need to make 18 cups of coffee at once, just in case I go up a size or I go down a size. So, as you're decluttering and trying to figure out what to get rid of, if you can replace an item for $20 in under 20 minutes, then just let it go—obviously, without being wasteful.

The Box Rule: This rule, and actually the last two, are my absolute favorite rules, so make sure you stick around for those. But the box rule kind of expands on the last one. If you're going through decluttering stuff you're unsure about, maybe it doesn't fit the 20/20 Rule; throw it in a box. Put it in your attic, put it in the garage, and set a reminder on your phone for like six months from now that you will go through that box and decide then. So, this is for the people who have a hard time getting rid of stuff and are like, "Well, I'm not getting rid of it; I'm just putting it in a box." And when that time comes, maybe six months from now, and you realize that you haven't gone to that box because clearly you didn't need anything out of it, you have two choices: you can either go through it and decide to sell or declutter it, or you can just take the entire box and donate the entire box because clearly you don't need anything that's in there. So, if you want to trick yourself into decluttering, this is a great way.

The Two-Day Rule: This rule is super simple. It's pretty much certain that you're not going to miss a new habit two days in a row. For me, I use this in a couple of different ways. I read a page of a book every single morning, and it's okay if I miss one day because I've got an appointment in the morning or whatever's going on. But I can never miss two days in a row, and that has kept that habit extremely consistent for over a year now. I also use this when going to the gym, where I'm going to do some type of exercise every day. It's okay if I miss one day, but I can never miss two in a row. But it also keeps you from falling off the bandwagon for habits that you really want to keep.

The Investing Rule: This is a rule that I've followed, but I don't really know what to call it. If you have any ideas, let me know. I just called it the Investing Rule, but pretty much, instead of investing in stuff, into random books—"What is this, Hans Christian Andersen? I didn't even know we had that"—these are Meredith's books, by the way. We should be investing in experiences. Investing in stuff has generally led me to be more stressed. It all takes up space in my mind, and it doesn't really make me happy. Even when you buy a new car, it's cool for a little bit, and then it's just a car again. Same thing with clothes and most things. But experiences really help change you as a person. They're great memories; they help you learn and expand your horizons. So, I've been really focusing on taking that money that I'm not spending on stuff and investing it in travel. For holidays, we gift each other experiences instead of gifting each other random crap that we don't need. And that should be literally in our budget—to invest money in experiences.

The Have a Home Rule: I really gotta get better at naming these things; this is embarrassing. If stuff does not have a home in my house, I just get rid of it. Since I took the time and found a place for everything to go, I've stopped losing my wallet and my keys. My phone has a place to go; all my clothes have places to go; all the toys have places to go. Everything in my house has a place where it belongs, and if it doesn't have a place where it belongs, it probably does not belong in my house. And because it'll end up on the counter, it'll end up strewn all over the place. And if it doesn't have a place, strongly consider getting rid of it. Like, this is just a good overall rule that if it doesn't have a place where it belongs and it's always just sitting around, you probably don't need it.

The Other People Rule: A lot of times we do things, either consciously or subconsciously, for other people. When we're getting the newest iPhone, it's partly because we want that new flashy thing, but it's also partly because you can kind of show off. It's cool to have; it's a status symbol. Same thing with maybe a pair of shoes, or a car, or the house in the neighborhood, or clothes—part of it's for you, and part of it is for other people. Even like posting to social media, unless it's for work, a lot of that is just to get some validation from your day, from other people, and kind of make yourself feel better, because maybe you're not having a great day and you want people to tell you how great you look or how hard you're working or whatever. So, this one actually took me a while to get out of. But instead of worrying about what other people think, especially when I'm buying stuff, I've been really focusing on wants versus needs.

Is this something that I actually need, or do I want it because X, Y, and Z—because maybe people think it's cool? Like when I spilled water on my laptop, I realized that I didn't need a second laptop. I was able to share Meredith's for almost a year, and then when we went to travel and I needed to edit while I was traveling, I bought a laptop because I needed it, not because it was like, "Ah, that'd be cool to have." I don't really care what other people think. I'm doing what is best for me. I don't really care.

The 90 Rule: I use this rule in two different ways. First, when I'm looking at stuff to buy, I try not to buy it unless it is a 90 or above. So, out of 100, does this shirt reach a 90 for me? Does it fit well? Will I wear it a ton? And if it's below there, I'm not going to buy it. And as a result, every shirt that I own is my favorite shirt. I can reach my hand in and grab it; I love it. I used to have a lot of stuff that was maybe 60 or 70 and be like, "Oh, that's pretty cool; yeah, I like that." Yeah, it's not bad. And I never wore it because I would wear my favorite stuff. And now, everything's my favorite stuff, and since I found all my favorite stuff, I don't really buy anything anymore. So, that's really strict criteria for buying pretty much everything in your house. And while sometimes that might mean spending a little more money to get a more quality thing, in the long run, at least for me, I've spent a lot less money because I don't shop for anything. Like, obviously, I need some stuff, but I don't cycle through anything anymore. And then the second way to use this is when somebody asks you to do something, an opportunity comes up—is that a 90 in your book? Is it, um, yes? And if it's not, then it's a no. And doing that has cleared up my calendar incredibly. I do so much less stuff now.

The Two-Minute Rule: I think I've done a whole video on this; let's give you the quick version. A life-changing rule: if something takes two minutes or less, just do it. Put away the dishes, clean up your room, bring that thing upstairs that's been sitting on the staircase for a month, finish that repair, put on your workout clothes, and go sit in the car. Only commit to the smallest thing possible, and by doing that, you'll trick yourself into doing the big stuff. And you just clear up like a bunch of crap that you've been avoiding.

The Nightly Reset: Every night before bed, I walk through and reset my house. I lay out my clothes for the night before, I load or unload the dishwasher so we never leave any dishes around, I fill up my kettle so that I can make coffee by just clicking the button in the morning, I lay out the book that I'm going to read, and I set up my next day for success the night before. And it's been life-changing—almost as life-changing as subscribing to this channel because I'm trying to hit half a million by the end of the year. So, thank you to everybody who has subscribed, and I'll see you next week.

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