If you ask yourself what you spend your time on that is bullshit, you probably already know the answer.
There are two ways bullshit gets into your life: it's either forced on you, or it tricks you. To some extent you have to put up with the bullshit forced on you by circumstances.
The bullshit that tricks you may be harder to eliminate than the bullshit that's forced on you. Things that lure you into wasting your time have to be really good at tricking you.
Below are five ways to to prune out the 'bullshit', stuff that won't matter to you in future.
1. Employment
The amount of time you have to spend on bullshit varies between employers. But if you consciously prioritize bullshit avoidance over other factors like money and prestige, you can probably find employers that will waste less of your time.
2. Business
If you fire or avoid toxic customers, you can decrease the amount of bullshit in your life by more than you decrease your income.
3. Arguing Online
When someone contradicts you, they are in a sense attacking you. Sometimes pretty overtly. Your instinct when attacked is to defend yourself. Counterintuitive as it feels, it's better most of the time not to defend yourself. Otherwise these people are literally taking your life.
4. Things That Matter
The things that matter aren't necessarily the ones people would call 'important'. One way for distinguishing stuff that matters is to ask yourself whether you'll care about it in the future. Fake stuff usually has a sharp peak of seeming to matter. That's how it tricks you.
You should, therefore, be actively seeking out things that matter to you because they keep you away from bullshit. A good way to achieve this is by cultivating a habit of impatience about the things you most want to do. Don't wait before climbing that mountain or writing that book or visiting your mother. Just don't wait!
5. Small Children
One great thing about having small children is that they make you spend time on things that matter: them. They grab your sleeve as you're staring at your phone and say "will you play with me?" Small children are practically a bullshit-minimizing option.
Adopted From Paul Graham's 2016 article - Life is Short.