How To Declutter (your mind) and Become More Productive

Do you let things clutter your mind?

I took the time this weekend to declutter. Read below, perhaps some of you may relate.

For me it was mostly trivial, non-urgent “to-dos” that I had been postponing for a few weeks mostly because these were easy but boring, time consuming things that I don’t particularly enjoy doing.

It was subconsciously creating a “heavy” feeling in the back of my mind like I was carrying lots of unnecessary baggage.

It started off with just a couple of low-priority to-dos that I could easily ignore. Then progressively more things started adding and the “mental list” grew longer and longer. And finally, the weight of those to-dos became just too unbearable.

It was beginning to (seriously) affect the productivity and effectiveness in all areas of my life and business. I had to finally sit down this weekend and Get Things Done!

Now I literally feel really light, refreshed, and energized both physically and mentally and am looking forward to tackling things that I do enjoy doing.

{CLICK TO TWEET} The clearer your mind, the more present you are in anything you are doing, the more effective and productive you will be.

Clutter does not just come in the form of a list of to-dos or disorganized files on your desk. It could be:

1. Low priority To-Dos and unanswered emails
2. Literal clutter or disorganization around your house, office and/or desk
3. Low-priority/low value appointments, meetings, and commitments
4. Relationship and emotional clutter (thoughts, worries, anxieties) – this may be more difficult to deal with

Whether you are aware or not, all of these take up mental space and affect your overall productivity and the quality of being present in the moment. I like to think of how the “temp” folder on the computer takes up space and makes the computer slower.

New things will always come up and things will get disorganized (it is the law of entropy). I think the whole point of different productivity philosophies and tools like Evernote is to help you better manage the new clutter as it comes up.

You may have your own way of dealing with clutter. For me, the following two things have worked nicely:

1) Getting things out of my head and on a piece of paper or using a tool like Evernote

2) Making decisions (many times it may mean saying NO to things)  -> De-cide literally means “to cut off”

Making a list of ALL the little to-dos instantly makes a difference for me. The things are no longer in my head and as I start getting things done; I start striking them off on the piece of paper and can see my progress. It creates a positive momentum and encourages me to keep on going.

Getting things done requires making decisions. Decision making is a muscle that anyone can develop (in my opinion). The more you practice, the better you get at it.

At the end of the day, no philosophy or tool will work if you first don’t get rid of ALL your existing physical and mental clutter and start off with an empty slate and a clear mind.

How do you keep things decluttered?

I recently created a 10 Part FREE course on Evernote. You can access it here.