Clear Your Mind of Clutter in Five Easy Steps
"Do you know what day is today?" was a question my late wife asked me more than a couple of times in our entire 37 years of marriage.
Unfortunately I erred several times.
Wedding anniversaries, when they become so many, are often buried beneath other familial and career concerns especially when the children are growing, exponentially increasing and you are trying to make the most of your career so you can meet their financial needs.
If your child, girlfriend, or spouse asks you the same question, better crank up your memory real fast or risk being given the silent treatment, or worse, sleep on the sofa.
No amount of apology can appease a loved one who thinks she has been taken for granted.
If your boss asks you the same question, or something similar, beware.
Quickly scan your notes or juggle your mental hard disk for the right answer.
A wrong one could jeopardize your career.
If you get them wrong more often for comfort, chances are that your mental closet needs some housekeeping.
It is time to throw away those which are not important to your relationships and career, and neatly arrange those that do.
Your success and happiness depend on how well-organized you are on matters pertinent to both.
In other words, it is time to un-clutter your mind.
Un-cluttering your mind is not as easy as un-cluttering your closet or your bedroom.
Mind clutter is an accumulation of things you do, deliberately or unwittingly, through the years until they become permanent traits; your way of doing things, your mindset, or your habit.
And un-doing them need an effort of gargantuan proportions.
So let's take a closer look at what mind clutter is: Sources of mind clutter: It can start from a simple, and apparently harmless, lie to a spouse, a child, an associate, or your boss.
Then one lie leads to another until lying becomes a part of you.
Lying clutters your mind from feelings of guilt or from the fear of being found it.
It is like a teeter that holds you down, knowing that sooner or later, your lies will be exposed.
And they will.
Procrastination is clutters your mind because of the so many things that you could have done yesterday, but didn't.
Because you procrastinate, tasks pile up until they become so high you don't know where to start and what to start with.
It makes you disorganized, lose focus and leave a lot of things half-done of not at all.
Envy is another source of mind clutter because it consumes you.
Instead of focusing on yourself, what you have, and your capabilities you keep on wishing what others have.
Happiness will always elude you if you are envious because, regardless of your accomplishments, you will have this deep feeling that it is not good enough vis-à-vis a co-worker or the guy next door.
It will always make you feel inadequate, eroding your self-confidence.
When you fear or worry about something, you either become withdrawn, or be on the defensive; either shut yourself from the world or become too aggressive.
Worry and fear will unnecessarily agitate and excite you.
You lose your cool, unable to look at things in their proper perspective.
They make you see threats where there is none; they stress you to the point of a burnout.
The above are the most common causes of mind clutter.
Instead of productive and healthy thoughts, they fill your mind with worry, fear, unhealthy desires and other things that cloud your judgment of what is important and relevant to your happiness and success.
They sap your creative and productive energies and, if not controlled, disable you physically and mentally.
Mind clutter is a product of unhealthy habits, thus, difficult to remove unless you: 1.
Decide: Make a firm and resolute decision to remove your mind clutter.
No amount of self-help reading can do any good if you don't take concrete and positive steps of doing it.
Hoping is not good enough.
You have to will them away.
2.
List them down: Identify your mental clutters and list them down, give them name and form - like a bull's eye in a target range.
Plainly making mental notes will not be effective.
You will soon forget them and be picking up more clutter.
3.
Excise them: Like a surgeon removing a tumor, slowly remove them from your mind.
You will experience extreme discomfort at first, but not anymore than explaining a missed deadline, or being found out lying, or constantly being fearful or worried.
You will get over this discomfort if you forge ahead forward.
To make it easier, try these: - Exercise: it makes your brain manufacture more happy and pleasurable hormones to drive away your fears and worries.
- Take a hike: get away from your daily routine.
Go to the beach or watch a funny movie.
Hang out with friends who are more organized than you.
Indulge in a hobby or get involved in community service; - Meditation: this allows you to look inside you; to confront you for who you really are.
It is a "Mirror, mirror, on the wall...
" experience and will reveal the tiny little things that clutter your mind.
4.
Keep trying: Living out of your comfort zone is never easy and change is always difficult.
You will fall many times, backslide many times but those are expected.
What is not expected is for you to give up.
Giving up is not an option.
Keep trying.
Persistence is the name of the game.
If you are definite in your purpose, you must keep trying until you get there.
5.
Reinforce yourself: Removing your mind clutter is like having to undergo a heart transplant - you will need anti-rejection drugs to prevent a relapse.
To avoid getting your mind cluttered again, maintain a daily to-do list so you won't wander into territories you should not.
It is always the unscheduled stops and unforeseen detours that derail a train's schedule.
When I was a kid there was a movie titled, The Absent-Minded Professor.
It is about a professor who, in an episode of his epic absent-mindedness, accidentally discovered a substance he called blubber.
Blubber gave the movie a very funny twist and a happy ending.
But things are never accidental or funny in the real world.
I once sat in a meeting scheduled for an hour but lasted four because of a supervisor who just couldn't say "Yes," or "No," to an assignment given him.
The reason? He was too scared to make a commitment without consulting his subordinates first.
Don't fall into this trap.
Get on ahead and as the saying goes, "Damn the torpedoes
Unfortunately I erred several times.
Wedding anniversaries, when they become so many, are often buried beneath other familial and career concerns especially when the children are growing, exponentially increasing and you are trying to make the most of your career so you can meet their financial needs.
If your child, girlfriend, or spouse asks you the same question, better crank up your memory real fast or risk being given the silent treatment, or worse, sleep on the sofa.
No amount of apology can appease a loved one who thinks she has been taken for granted.
If your boss asks you the same question, or something similar, beware.
Quickly scan your notes or juggle your mental hard disk for the right answer.
A wrong one could jeopardize your career.
If you get them wrong more often for comfort, chances are that your mental closet needs some housekeeping.
It is time to throw away those which are not important to your relationships and career, and neatly arrange those that do.
Your success and happiness depend on how well-organized you are on matters pertinent to both.
In other words, it is time to un-clutter your mind.
Un-cluttering your mind is not as easy as un-cluttering your closet or your bedroom.
Mind clutter is an accumulation of things you do, deliberately or unwittingly, through the years until they become permanent traits; your way of doing things, your mindset, or your habit.
And un-doing them need an effort of gargantuan proportions.
So let's take a closer look at what mind clutter is: Sources of mind clutter: It can start from a simple, and apparently harmless, lie to a spouse, a child, an associate, or your boss.
Then one lie leads to another until lying becomes a part of you.
Lying clutters your mind from feelings of guilt or from the fear of being found it.
It is like a teeter that holds you down, knowing that sooner or later, your lies will be exposed.
And they will.
Procrastination is clutters your mind because of the so many things that you could have done yesterday, but didn't.
Because you procrastinate, tasks pile up until they become so high you don't know where to start and what to start with.
It makes you disorganized, lose focus and leave a lot of things half-done of not at all.
Envy is another source of mind clutter because it consumes you.
Instead of focusing on yourself, what you have, and your capabilities you keep on wishing what others have.
Happiness will always elude you if you are envious because, regardless of your accomplishments, you will have this deep feeling that it is not good enough vis-à-vis a co-worker or the guy next door.
It will always make you feel inadequate, eroding your self-confidence.
When you fear or worry about something, you either become withdrawn, or be on the defensive; either shut yourself from the world or become too aggressive.
Worry and fear will unnecessarily agitate and excite you.
You lose your cool, unable to look at things in their proper perspective.
They make you see threats where there is none; they stress you to the point of a burnout.
The above are the most common causes of mind clutter.
Instead of productive and healthy thoughts, they fill your mind with worry, fear, unhealthy desires and other things that cloud your judgment of what is important and relevant to your happiness and success.
They sap your creative and productive energies and, if not controlled, disable you physically and mentally.
Mind clutter is a product of unhealthy habits, thus, difficult to remove unless you: 1.
Decide: Make a firm and resolute decision to remove your mind clutter.
No amount of self-help reading can do any good if you don't take concrete and positive steps of doing it.
Hoping is not good enough.
You have to will them away.
2.
List them down: Identify your mental clutters and list them down, give them name and form - like a bull's eye in a target range.
Plainly making mental notes will not be effective.
You will soon forget them and be picking up more clutter.
3.
Excise them: Like a surgeon removing a tumor, slowly remove them from your mind.
You will experience extreme discomfort at first, but not anymore than explaining a missed deadline, or being found out lying, or constantly being fearful or worried.
You will get over this discomfort if you forge ahead forward.
To make it easier, try these: - Exercise: it makes your brain manufacture more happy and pleasurable hormones to drive away your fears and worries.
- Take a hike: get away from your daily routine.
Go to the beach or watch a funny movie.
Hang out with friends who are more organized than you.
Indulge in a hobby or get involved in community service; - Meditation: this allows you to look inside you; to confront you for who you really are.
It is a "Mirror, mirror, on the wall...
" experience and will reveal the tiny little things that clutter your mind.
4.
Keep trying: Living out of your comfort zone is never easy and change is always difficult.
You will fall many times, backslide many times but those are expected.
What is not expected is for you to give up.
Giving up is not an option.
Keep trying.
Persistence is the name of the game.
If you are definite in your purpose, you must keep trying until you get there.
5.
Reinforce yourself: Removing your mind clutter is like having to undergo a heart transplant - you will need anti-rejection drugs to prevent a relapse.
To avoid getting your mind cluttered again, maintain a daily to-do list so you won't wander into territories you should not.
It is always the unscheduled stops and unforeseen detours that derail a train's schedule.
When I was a kid there was a movie titled, The Absent-Minded Professor.
It is about a professor who, in an episode of his epic absent-mindedness, accidentally discovered a substance he called blubber.
Blubber gave the movie a very funny twist and a happy ending.
But things are never accidental or funny in the real world.
I once sat in a meeting scheduled for an hour but lasted four because of a supervisor who just couldn't say "Yes," or "No," to an assignment given him.
The reason? He was too scared to make a commitment without consulting his subordinates first.
Don't fall into this trap.
Get on ahead and as the saying goes, "Damn the torpedoes
