The benefits here are twofold. The first is the obvious victory of achieving whatever goal you’re trying to accomplish — here, you’re able to focus on your work without being constantly interrupted by a smartphone begging for your attention.

But the added benefit comes from the act of removing the temptation: A study from last year found that just experiencing temptation — regardless of whether we succumb to it — can leave us feeling depleted, which in turn inhibits our ability to achieve our goals.

A lot of this comes down to building healthy, self-reinforcing habits, a topic we’ve covered here before. The ultimate idea is to take yourself out of as many decisions as possible so you can focus on the ones that truly matter.

And even if you do eat one of those brownies, cut yourself some slack. An extra brownie is O.K. every once in a while.

What are your tricks for beating temptation? Tell me on Twitter at @timherrera or email me at tim@nytimes.com.

Have a great week!

— Tim

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