So, I decided to dive deeper into the topic of digital minimalism, not limiting myself to just one book on the subject. I started by studying everything Newport has written. I recently finished Deep Work.

The book deserves attention, I will write a full review of it, but today I want to use only one take from it, which is in the title of the post.

The point is that instead of relying on willpower every time, it is more effective to build an environment where you won't have to.

Let me explain. Suppose "usually" willpower allows me to make the right decisions: refuse sweets in the evening, go to bed on time, tackle a difficult task at work, etc. For example, in 9 out of 10 cases it works as needed. 90% sounds reliable.

However, if during the day there are 50 such situations where willpower is needed, the probability that it will work in all cases is 0.9^50 ≈ 0.5%. In short, there is almost no chance that the right decision will be made in every case.

And this is without even touching on the topic of willpower depletion. Conventionally, if in the morning the probability that willpower will work is 90%, then by the evening, after a series of difficult choices and with accumulated fatigue, is it worth hoping that willpower will work just as well?

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