Dessert

Image by RitaE from Pixabay

This is part of my series on Decluttering Mental Models.

A few weeks ago, my wife bought a package of chocolate chip cookie sandwiches. (Think of two soft cookies stuffed with cream.) I usually avoid sweets, but I was procrastinating some Saturday chores and thought, “Just a little taste…”

The first bite was incredible. Sugar roared into my bloodstream, and I was over the moon. I wolfed down the first cookie and grabbed two more before sitting down at the kitchen table to read a novel. I ate the second one but not as fast as the first. It was good, but the novelty had started to wear off. And I nibbled at the third one as I swept crumbs from my book. This treat just didn’t taste as good as the previous ones.

Afterward, I grabbed a big glass of water and peeked at the nutrition facts. I let out a long breath and added 750 calories to my food tracker. Consuming three cookie sandwiches felt like a mistake. And I had zero interest in the two remaining ones in the plastic container.

Looking back, it’s interesting how the first cookie sandwich gave me tremendous pleasure. (This is especially true for people who steer clear of sugar and then eat something sweet.) But the second one offered less pleasure. Eating more meant receiving less satisfaction.

Now, economists use the word utility to describe how much satisfaction or benefit you get from consuming something. They also use the term marginal utility to express how your utility (or satisfaction) changes as you consume more. And my cookie sandwiches had diminishing marginal utility: Each additional bite was less satisfying than the previous one.

Worse yet, each cookie sandwich dumped sugar into my bloodstream and deposited fat around my waistline. Eating more meant feeling less satisfied and getting fatter. Seems kinda silly, right?

We can apply this concept of diminishing marginal utility to every area of consumption. For example, it’s been a year since I’ve been in a movie theater (thanks Covid-19!), so the first movie I see will be incredible. (And it probably doesn’t matter what the movie is!) But if I go to a theater every day, the novelty will wane while the cost rises. This is stupid.

Mindful consumers understand this and place limits on pleasurable things. They stop eating after the first cookie to preserve that feeling of delight. They limit trips to movie theaters so that the experience never loses its magical quality. After all, it’s ridiculous to spend more and more money on something that pleases you less and less.

More Decluttering Mental Models:

Top 10 Favorites

  1. How I answer the question: “What if I need this later?”
  2. “The Container strategy” will simplify your decluttering
  3. Selling clothes is for suckers (unless you earn $15/hour)
  4. Wait 48 hours before buying stuff
  5. 21 questions to ask before you buy
  6. The radical way to measure wealth, part 1 and part 2
  7. We’re trained to be dissatisfied with what we have (and how to fix this)
  8. Clear clutter by zoning your home
  9. How screen time kills your motivation to declutter
  10. Dear car dealers: I don't want a "free" T-shirt with your logo

Get started

  1. Clear clutter by zoning your home
  2. How I answer the question: “What if I need this later?”
  3. “The Container strategy” will simplify your decluttering
  4. Hold each item and ask, “Does this spark joy?”
  5. When the “Does this Spark Joy?” fails you, ask these 6 questions
  6. Create your “Discard by Feb. 2022” box
  7. Decluttering yearbooks? Ask these 8 questions first

Shopping

  1. 21 questions to ask before you buy
  2. Wait 48 hours before buying stuff - version 1 and version 2
  3. How a grocery shopping list saves me time, money, and pounds

Manage your clothes

  1. Selling clothes is for suckers (unless you can earn $15/hour)
  2. Dear Dude with too many T-shirts: no one wants to buy them—just recycle/trash them
  3. Don't be like my friend Giorgio with his 400 Hawaiian shirts
  4. None of my clothes "spark joy"—so what do i get rid of?

Happiness & satisfaction

  1. Limit pleasurable things so they don’t lose their novelty
  2. We’re trained to be dissatisfied with what we have (and how to fix this)
  3. Craving never stops and my potato chip addiction
  4. Reminder: happiness levels stay consistent

Get motivated

  1. Want to boost your motivation to declutter? Immerse yourself in decluttering videos, podcasts, & books!
  2. How screen time kills your motivation to declutter
  3. Imagine your ideal home… Imagine all the clutter is gone…
  4. Feeling unmotivated? Declutter with a 5-minute time box

Manage your money

  1. The radical way to measure wealth, part 1 and part 2
  2. Save money by controlling aspirational identities
  3. I wasted so much money starting projects (and how I fixed it)

Manage consumption spirals

  1. How consumption spirals work
  2. Buying a house led to an enormous consumption spiral
  3. How craving completeness drives my consumption

Shift your Paradigm

  1. Change your environment, change your consumption
  2. 3 thought experiments to adopt a decluttering mindset
  3. Your home is not a storage unit for other people's crap!
  4. Before you buy stuff, do this little mental exercise
  5. Less space, less stuff
  6. That’s right, you and I pay for the privilege of seeing viagra ads
  7. Your home is an expensive container for your stuff. What’s your cost per sqft?

Manage your emotions

  1. Can you tolerate boredom?
  2. Fill the void with a long term goal

Control the Clutter

  1. Dear car dealers: I don't want a "free" T-shirt with your logo