Have you ever walked into a workspace and felt a sense of unease or even anxiety because the room was is in utter chaos. Things are all over, papers and files are not in their appropriate locations, nothing is where it’s supposed to be and the room is a scattered cluttered mess. How can anyone work effectively under these circumstances? Yet, when that same room is clean and properly organized a sense of peace comes over you.
Interestingly enough our minds work in a similar fashion. Many times we have tons of thoughts, ideas, and to do’s scattered all around in our brain with no sense of order. This “brain clutter” causes us to be inefficient and fall short of operating at our peak performance. Thankfully, there are a few steps we can take to clear out the clutter and increase our productivity.
- Find a place to store your thoughts. Whether it be a note pad, dry erase board, or an electronic device, you need to find a specific place to store your thoughts. This shouldn’t be something that will be easily discarded. You need a secure place that you can rely upon to use over and over again.
- Develop compartments for thought storage. Once you’ve identified a place to store your thoughts, it’s time to develop compartments. Determine specific categories that your thoughts and ideas generally fall in. For instance, work, home, school, shopping, chores, etc. The compartments you identify should be based upon your various needs.
- Store your thoughts daily. Subconsciously your mind finds a sense of peace in knowing your thoughts have been written down. It no longer has to scramble to try to recollect a great idea that popped up several days ago or fret because it can’t recall an important task that must be completed. It can rest in knowing that its ideas have been securely and appropriately filed away for later review.
- Develop a plan of attack. Now that your thoughts, ideas, and to do’s have been properly stored it’s time to determine what should be done with each of these items. Identify specific timelines and action steps for each thought you’ve written down and try to attack your items by category. This will help with your productivity.
- Review your files daily. By taking a few moments daily to review the things you’ve filed you will drastically lessen the opportunity for things to fall through the cracks. Your mind will be at ease knowing it hasn’t forgotten important items.
One of the most effective tools I’ve discovered to help me de-clutter my mind, is an app called Nozbe. Nozbe allows me to make specific folders called “projects” to store my thoughts. I have a project folder for my business, home, and personal life and I develop others when different projects arise. It’s the quickest and most efficient way I’ve found for organizing my life and I absolutely love it. You can find out more at https://nozbe.com/ . If Nozbe isn’t for you choose whatever method works best. The important thing is that you start the process.
If this post was helpful to you please go ahead and share it. Also, if you have discovered useful methods that help you de-clutter your mind please share below.