Do you sometimes feel tense, stressed out, worried, or overwhelmed by the many concerns around you? In this state of overwhelm, it is difficult to accomplish much, since your mind is not in a clear state to operate optimally. Usually, when feeling stressed out, a task that would take you an hour to do might take double the time.
You are also vulnerable to making costly mistakes or make you lose the very time you’re struggling for. One can easily end up procrastinating, which leads to inaction. All this can leave you in a negative spiral and pile up of unfinished ‘projects’, which in turn leads to anxiety and more stress.
I have been struggling to keep to my productivity schedule for the past two weeks; a soft reminder that good habits can easily be eroded by a fleeting season. Come to think of it, we’ve just finished January, the longest month of the year. No wonder new years’ resolutions get dropped nearly as soon as January ends. I need to do mental decluttering in such seasons to keep me productive and moving on, which is what I had to do to feel back in control.
There are a few methods suggested by various scholars and writers on how to clear your mind and get yourself to a positive mindset for action. Some of these include meditation, prayer, taking a walk, and exercising, among others. I learnt another way from a mentor last year, that helps me and always produces results, this is what I want to share today.
How do you declutter and re-organize?
I’m sure you know someone who is a scatterbrain. They never seem to settle on one thing and seem to be all over the place. When your mind is scattered everywhere, it shows even in your work and output, and you tend not to achieve much. This is because your brain is unable to focus and give your best in any of the activities you do. There’s no such thing as multi-tasking, it’s basically sharing attention - which can never be 100%. Here is a guideline that I use to declutter, and get my mind focused;
- Get a notebook or a piece of paper and a pencil or pen
- Set a timer on your phone for 10 minutes
- Start writing down everything you are currently thinking about - actively or not. Things that are bothering you or need to be attended to and are or have been in your mind. Items can include anything, samples as below. Don’t limit yourself, and be specific.
- Finish building the dog-house
- Work on the xyz report at work
- Take my family to a movie
- etc
- Keep going until the timer goes off. Allow your mind to flow, don’t create things up, and only write things that are in your mind. You might surprise yourself to see in your list things you thought you had forgotten about. Your subconscious mind is a storer of this information and it does not forget
- Look at your list thoroughly and start by striking out the items in your list that are really not in your control, or that you can’t do anything about them. This can be politics, the price of fuel, the action or inaction of your significant other…
- Next, is to number the remaining items remaining according to their priorities. Assign the first priorities to what needs your immediate attention and must be done.
- What do you need to do or must you do within the next 1-2 hours? Those go into the first priorities
- What must you do before the end of the day?
- Which of the items on the list can be scheduled for a day within the week?
- Of the remaining items, what can you give someone else to help with?
- For the remaining items, add to your schedule across the week or month (or year). Diarize each item and assign them time it shall be given attention.
- Have a mental check if there’s anything else bothering you that is not on the list.
- Start on your new priority list
By the end of this exercise, you should be able to calmly settle down and start on the immediate priorities. Knowing that you have scheduled the pending items and will be handled when their time comes. gives you some peace This also settles your brain to now focus on what is before you instead of worrying about what is not urgent or not in your control.
I do this often whenever I start to feel overwhelmed and it does help a great deal.
If you have done this exercise, let me know how it feels on my Facebook page here.
