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| Clearing Your Mental Clutter
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| ‘Mental Clutter’ is your personal
to-do list, everything from important meetings to replacing a burnt
out light bulb. Even seemingly small tasks can weigh on our minds.
Have you ever put off going to the hardware or grocery store to pick
something up? How many times did you think about doing this chore?
Every day until you finally made the trip? When your mind is filled
with unfinished responsibilities and errands, your thoughts are scattered
and you’re less able to experience and enjoy the present moment.
You also have less energy to devote to truly important projects. |
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| If you find you’re frequently distracted
because your mind is scanning an endless To-Do list, then it’s
time to clear out your Mental Clutter. Set aside some quiet time when
you know you will have an uninterrupted half-an-hour. Have a calendar
and a notebook at hand. Then take a blank piece of paper and write
down absolutely everything on your mind—from defrosting your
freezer to asking your boss for a raise—no task is too small
or too big so don’t stop to judge or organize what you’re
putting on your list, just keep writing. The simple act of writing
down all the things on your mind will help clear your mental clutter. |
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| The next step is to organize your list. You may
wish to first identify anything that needs to be done by a certain
date or time and put those items on your calendar as well as on your
list. Next pull out anything that can be done quickly, like picking
up your dry cleaning or replacing a light bulb, then set a goal to
complete one or two of those tasks everyday. Each time you complete
a task cross it off—crossing things off on your list is a great
feeling, so take a second to enjoy the feeling of satisfaction. |
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| For larger, more substantial tasks that may take
time to complete, write down the first step that would need to
completed next in order to achieve your goal. For example, if you
want to write a book someday, but haven’t started yet, the first
step may be researching your subject, or learning how to write a book
proposal or just thinking of a title. Once you’ve crossed that
task off your list, write down the next step and so forth. Breaking
down large projects into smaller, more manageable tasks will help
you feel more focused and less overwhelmed. |
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| As you organize your list you may realize that
some tasks aren’t as pressing or important as you first thought.
You may even decide that some items can be crossed off the list immediately
because you’ll simply decide they’re not necessary to
complete. It’s amazing how we can carry an idea around in our
heads for weeks or even months, just because we never took a moment
to really think about it and decide how important it is to us. These
days we are bombarded with a constant flow of information from televisions,
radios, the Internet, newspapers, and cell phones, so frequently we
hear or see something that sticks in our minds, but that we never
process. Sometimes just taking a moment to think about what you’ve
just heard or seen, is all you need to do to get it off your mind. |
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| Commit to the process of creating and maintaining
a list at least once a week. If you ever have a moment during the
week when you experience “mental overload,” then take
ten minutes to write down everything on your mind. You can then review
and process that list later during the weekly time you have set aside
and can get back to the moment at hand. By clearing your mental clutter,
you will be able to identify what is really important to you and then
give those things and people your undivided attention. You are then
truly free to experience and enjoy living in the moment! |
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© 2004 Laura Forbes Carlin and Alison Forbes
The Art of Everyday Living® |
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