Declutter your space and clear your mind

Do you ever have those times when there is just so much going on that you feel overwhelmed and end up immobilised?   When the chaos in your environment is matched by the chaos inside your head?

A technique I use to get my thoughts in order is to create order around me.

Now, there’s a fine line between putting physical things in order as a means of getting thoughts in order, and just using the excuse of cleaning up as a reason not to get started on what’s really important.

Perhaps it’s just one of my own mind’s procrastination techniques.  But over the years, I’ve learned to use my mind’s distraction trick to work for me instead of against me.  I now no longer use it as a procrastination tool created to keep me from getting started. Instead, I use the concept of decluttering as a key step in preparing for the challenge ahead.

In my corporate life I can often take on assignments that are hugely challenging. There is often ‘information overload’ and I just get stuck on not being able to start.  So, I clean or tidy my desk. I move the stationery around, readjust my screens and finally get that filing done.  What I find at the end of that process is that by doing something physical, I’ve given my brain enough of a break to sit down and get working on the task at hand.

The same applies here in VerityHearts.  I have so much I want to convey in my blog that my mind can get pretty jumbled.  Lo and behold – there’s the home office to tidy up.  I get filing done – both the paper and the email versions.  Or, there’s putting away the reference materials.  It actually doesn’t matter what the physical task is, as long as it give my mind a break and creates enough space to get my thoughts in order.

And so… the blog that I’ve kept coming back to and revising here and there and just not being happy with, finally gets completed.  Nice.

What’s your brain-space like?  Is there so much going on in there that it immobilises you? Well, how about you give your brain a break and go focus on tidying something up?  Empty that dishwasher. Put those DVDs in order. Or go pull out some weeds from the garden. It doesn’t matter what it is.  Just tackle one thing. Feel the satisfaction that you’ve taken some control in the physical realm and see if your mind now has the space to focus on what’s important to you.