A new season often brings thoughts of new desires or plans for changes in many areas of our lives. Perhaps for many of us the New Year or New Decade is the season that draws this out. As the new year starts we begin focusing on our new ‘resolution’ or goal and soon enough, we find that we have lost our momentum, or that we have moved back to old habits and we’re back to where we started.
Why does this happen? Well, one reason is that we may not have made space for the change we want in our life. We are still living with old clutter, whether it be mental, emotional or physical (hint: they usually go hand in hand). There simply is no room for more, no matter how fantastic it might be. Before we can move forward we need to do a real house cleaning; mentally, emotionally and physically.
Here are some quick tips for clearing away old, mental clutter to make way for the new:
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Take an inventory of what you DO on a daily basis. Keep what you like and what moves you towards your goals and get rid of the rest. Look at what brings you joy - be sure to keep it. If it drags you down - get rid of it, delegate or renegotiate your part in it. Be ruthless! After all, this is your life.
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If you constantly associate the word SHOULD with a task, take a good look at it. It’s likely associated with unearned guilt or someone else’s agenda. And it’s taking up your life space! Be ruthless.
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Look at how many activities are you spending your time on. How much energy does it take to switch tasks? We often forget that there is considerable energy in ‘multi-tasking’ when we try to focus on more than one thing at a time. Think about how much time it takes to move from one task to another, and then refocus on the next. This is called switching time. Count how many times a day you do this and you will soon know how much time your mult-tasking is costing you. Whoever said you can get more done multi-tasking was probably doing the assigning and passing out the to-do list. It doesn’t work. Decide what you want to focus on, cut out the distractions and focus on one thing at a time. You will get more done in the end.
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Focus on the most important instead of the urgent. The important will move you towards long term goals and much of the ‘urgent’ will take care of itself. Those that don’t take care of themselves will likely be fewer in number and less often. When you give energy and attention to the important you will find that less ‘urgent’ things will come up on your list.
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Examine your thoughts. Are you focusing negative energy on some specific areas? If so, you are spending precious time and energy on something that likely doesn’t deserve it. My suggestion…take some time to examine your thinking around this (hint: download the One Belief at a Time worksheet from Byron Katie).
This brings me to a very simple saying that you’ve likely heard before: Less is More. And it certainly is. Cut out the clutter and you will soon find you have more time, energy and more resources for the things that bring you joy in your life. And…you deserve more joy.
Question: What is your favorite tip for clearing ‘mental’ clutter?
Mental clutter can be reduced or even eliminated by physical tidying, reorganizing and cleaning!! I know I can reduce my “mental” clutter by reducing the physical clutter around me. Not only that, I can find the right answers and the best solutions while I clean and organize. I’m not kidding. Try it yourself! I do it at “the office” too. When I need to get away and let the “answer” come to the forefront of my brain, I sometimes head to the kitchen for a cuppa tea and a bout of good old fashioned dish washing. (okay, I limit it to a few cups and pieces of cutlery) It’s great for stress busting and idea generating- like any physical activity!!! Salut uncluttering minds!!! N
Hi Susan! Congrats on the new site!
For what it’s worth…. Yoga - deep breathing with meditation - trying to force your brain to have no thoughts at all for a few minutes. Doing this in a sauna is pretty nice too
Great tips! Keep up the good work!
Sue E.
Fantastic ideas Nadine! Thanks! You will enjoy the next few posts coming on uncluttering the rest of our lives including our physical surroundings. Be sure to stay tuned.
I have to say that I never thought of dishwashing for clearing the brain. I’m more into vacuuming for that. Instant gratification. Cheers!
Ah…yes, yoga. Excellent for many a mind clearing. Not to mention that it’s so good for the body too. Coincidentally I’m about to do some morning yoga with a DVD from http://www.BodyWisdomMedia.com. I like the sauna idea as well and as we don’t have one of those, I’ll have to stick with the soaker tub and some soothing music and candles.
Thanks for reading Sue!
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