|
Arete Warriors – spirit, mind, body strong
|
|
|
Declutter Your Life & Mind
Dear Reader,
Did you get a chance to complete the Wheel of Wellness? Everyone probably found a different area of most concern, but today I want to talk about one that I call a starting domino…
Positioning this correctly, can often lead to the momentum needed to tip other dominoes in the right direction.
We talked last week about being able to keep calm, cozy & centered on the inside, despite the stormy weather outside. We cannot control the weather, but we can control a lot about our surroundings that would make it less stressful.
We are a product of our environment.
Clutter is linked to stress. Truly. It makes us feel anxious & overwhelmed, costs us more money, leads to bad decisions, less life satisfaction & obesity.
It is THAT damaging.
Psychology Today states
Research has shown that people are less irritable, less distracted, more productive, and better able to process information with an uncluttered and organized work area.
Well mamas, since our “work” is pretty much everywhere we go, our “work area” is everywhere we spend our time.
There is a lot that is out of our control (IE other people, deadlines, weather) but there is a lot we CAN control. What can you change about your daily surroundings that would decrease the background noise as you move about your day?
- Is your car clean?
- Is your bedroom a peaceful haven?
- Does your kitchen spark joy?
- Do the people you spend time with elevate you?
- Are you inspired when you walk into your office?
Furthermore, visual clutter is just as bad as the clutter you can’t see. Mental clutter.
In The psychology of the to-do list – why your brain loves ordered tasks, Louise Chunn writes,
Russian psychologist Bluma Zeigarnik was perhaps the first to note the brain’s obsession with pressing tasks. The so-called “Zeigarnik effect” – that we remember things we need to do better than things we’ve done – stemmed from observing that waiters could only recall diners’ orders before they had been served. After the dishes had been delivered, their memories simply erased who’d had the steak and who’d had the soup. The deed was done and the brain was ready to let go.
Let go.
Chunn goes on to report,
… a study by professors Baumeister and Masicampo from Wake Forest University showed that, while tasks we haven’t done distract us, just making a plan to get them done can free us from this anxiety.
There are so many advantages of cleaning up our environment, both inside our minds & in our surroundings.
Let’s Work – the exercise
So we are talking about 2 areas of opportunity here. The clutter we see, & the clutter taking up space in our brains. Here is my suggestion for you this week.
-
Take a 30 minute block of time to walk through your house, car & garage with a notebook. Make a list of every area that needs your attention.
- What needs to go?
- What could you add to make areas better?
- What needs some attention to turn it into a space that would serve you best?
-
Take a 30 minute block of time to write down all the things you need to do (not for the above, but for all of life). What are all the things that come to mind if you give yourself the time & space to just sit & think? Get it out of your head & on to paper.
- Perhaps you could organize it into categories like Errands, Office, Home, Personal, Calls… whatever. I find this to be helpful because when I am in my car for example, waiting for a kid, I can look at the Calls list and make a quick call. If I’m out somewhere & have an extra 15 minutes, I can look at the Errands list… Organizing my lists this way makes me more productive.
This would be a great start. We will delve a bit deeper next week into this very important overhaul. If you find the time to start working through the lists you’ve made, more power to ya! But this week is about gathering information.
Take your time. Perhaps looking at your office tomorrow, will give you an idea you won’t think of today. Give yourself a full week to examine & process your spaces. Continue adding to your list & taking notes.
If you have any special ideas, habits, systems or apps you’d like to share, I’d love to hear from you so I can pass them on.
Here’s a suggestion: Invite a girlfriend over to do the walk through with you. Sometimes an objective view point can bring about amazing new ideas. Maybe you do this as a family so they have buy in to the changes you want to make & will be more eager to help!
