People tend to focus on a single object or idea while deviating from others that may be equally or more valuable. Within the study of behavioral economics, this is referred to as an attentional bias. And it’s essential to understand within the context of minimalism.

From external events to internal states, our attention can be biased. We can perceive countless stimuli in our environments, but focusing on some (like when we’re shopping) can have unintended consequences. For example, you may have an attentional bias toward certain brands or stores. At work and with life administration, you may focus on specific information while neglecting other data, potentially damaging productivity.

Effective decision-making is a cornerstone skill of developing a minimalist lifestyle. When it comes to decision-making, attentional bias can be problematic because it leads us to focus on specific data points while ignoring other (important) ones. Tuning your decision-making skills makes trimming your stuff and preventing new items from entering your home more straightforward and consistent. In part, this means considering your purchasing decisions away from a cash register or when online, to prevent impulse purchases. 

Stimuli, like hunger or anxiety, tend to grasp our attention tightly. If you’re dieting, you may over-focus on hunger and then order pizza while watching a movie scene of the characters sharing a pie. In minimalism, this may show up as focusing on the fear of regret that you will wish you had it later if you give something away (that you don’t need or use). Attentional bias makes it hard to let go of distracting thoughts which cause us to fixate on certain things. So often, we experience a scarcity mindset and anxiety around that. Plus, we get consumed by our thoughts.

While attentional bias can create problems, it can also be used to your advantage. If things out of order or extraneous possessions are your focus, you can capitalize on this bias to catapult the development of your minimalist mindset. Become obsessed with it. Ignore other things in life that typically capture more of your attention. 

While attentional bias can occur on a micro level, the focusing illusion (coined by the author of Thinking Fast and Slow, Daniel Kahneman) occurs on the macro level. It’s related to your overall sense of life satisfaction or happiness, occurring when you focus too much on one aspect of your life rather than all of its parts and pieces. People often focus on what is distinctive about a particular life element, whether or not it affects the outcome. For example, how much wealth matters to happiness or having the material goods that seemingly represent wealth and success. Instead, focus on your life goals and whether you have clarity about how to achieve them.

Kahneman explains,”Nothing in life is quite as important as you think it is while you are thinking about it and as merely thinking about something will make you exaggerate its importance in your life.” So often, we overthink and overemphasize elements that capture our attention, like owning the latest technology, rather than seeing our lives as a sum of their many parts. We forget about the life goals that are most meaningful to us. 

Minimalism is a tool to unpack where our attention goes. We don’t realize the extent to which we give away our attention indiscriminately. We don’t realize that we overemphasize certain qualities and characteristics over others. These biases distract us from understanding what we truly want and need. This deeper understanding can bring us toward actions that support our fundamental values and priorities. Clarity about our values and priorities leads us to better and more effortless decisions about the stuff we decide to keep, let go of, and bring into our homes. It helps us make honest decisions about what we want in our lives. Acknowledging and understanding these human biases are vital in creating minimalist and easeful lifestyles.