How to Organize Mental Clutter

Do you ever feel like you have a hundred things to get done and not enough time to do half of them? We are all busy people, but sometimes we get so caught up with ‘catching all the falling plates’ that we sacrifice doing the things we really want to be doing, the things that align with our desires and contribute most to our personal wellbeing.

We sometimes make the mistake in thinking that we are ‘super human’ and will be able to juggle it all with great success. “No need to write it down. I can handle it!” As more tasks get piled on, soon we become bombarded by the thoughts of tasks yet to be completed. And this added pressure will distract us in ways that are counterproductive to our goals.

Not writing these tasks down is just part of the problem; even if we wrote it all down, what if several tasks are equally important or dependant on one another? How do we prioritize conflicting to-do’s? After all, we only have so many hours in a day.

How do we break out of this cycle helplessness caused by an overwhelming number of priorities waiting to get done? How can we better manage and execute the activities that matter to us, such that we feel empowered and in control?

Backgrounds: A Personal Story

The past few months have been a period of adjustment for me, as several changes in my life took place simultaneously – I left my day job, ended a relationship, moved into a new living arrangement, got a second dog, and traveled to remote western China. Marching through the jungle that has become my house, with the new puppy circling around my feet (biting everything in sight) and with many things still packed in boxes, I can’t help but to feel a little irritable, unsettling and unwell as I notice all the clutter covering every possible surface.

“It will take days, if not weeks to get this all sorted out and organized.” I would say to myself, each time I’m reminded that I really should be cleaning and de-cluttering my living space.

What I really want to focus on is my writing, that and potty-training the new dog. But, I feel conflicted. On one hand, it’s tough to focus on writing (or anything else) if my environment is cluttered. On the other hand, since cleaning and organizing will take ‘forever’, I’d rather spend the time writing first. And thirdly, I have another list of pending responsibilities and promises that needs to be fulfilled.

As a result, I do a little of everything that tugs at my attention, not getting very much accomplished. Observing myself, I felt bothered and a little helpless. Last week, I came to a breaking point, “I’ve had it!!” I said to myself, and proceeded to spend the next 3 hours with my nose buried in a notepad, pen scribbling at accelerated speeds – as I collected and re-arranged my thoughts on paper.

As a result, I came up with an organized solution to solve my problem. I felt instantly relieved and no longer helpless, because now… I had a plan!

Let me share it with you.

A Closer Look

Before diving into the solution which worked for me, let’s highlight some observations.

1. Behavioral Pattern

In my scenario above, my exterior clutter was preventing me from focusing on my passion. I felt hesitant to proceed, because I was unsure which to focus on first, they both seemed important to me. Not making significant progress with either priority left me feeling unbalanced and uneasy.

Another possible scenario of a similar pattern is: the long hours I need to put into work are preventing me from focusing on my health and building an exercise routine. I feel hesitant to start my exercise routine, because I don’t feel like I have enough time in the day. Yet, conflictingly, if I incorporated exercise in my day, I would have more energy and wouldn’t need as many hours at work.

It is not a matter of procrastination. It is the mental pressure of knowing that we need to do something which makes us hesitant to proceed, yet failing to proceed prevents us from doing something else that is a priority to us.

We all have different scenarios and things that when left uncompleted make us feel unwell. Maybe clutter doesn’t bother you. What is it for you? What, when left undone, affects your emotional wellbeing?

2. ‘Action Alone is Not Enough’

We may be moving about in the act of living a balanced life, yet we can still feel mentally cluttered. This is because, when we have many pending to-dos, it is important to dump them out of our heads, and to track them with a system we regularly review.

Planning is more important than just taking blind action.

3. ‘We’ll Never Have Enough Time’

When we’re busy and engaged in one area of our life, we tend to think that “we’ll have time someday” to do those things that really matter to us. But someday will never come if we do not consciously plan to integrate those things into our daily life. It quickly becomes just another excuse to prolong us from doing those things.

“Conditions are never perfect.
‘Someday’ is a disease that will take your dreams to the grave with you.
If it’s important to you and you want to do it ‘eventually’,
just do it and correct the course along the way.”
~ Tim Ferriss

6 Step Solution to Manage Mental Clutter

Photo: Cindy Loughridge

It was really just a matter of dumping all the information I had lingering in my mental space, and organizing that dumped information in a cohesive fashion. Here we go!

Step 1: Brain Dump

List out all the tasks you need to do, which are running through your head right now. Write the list down (or type it out) as it comes to you. We don’t need to be complete with this step. This list just gives us an idea of the types of things that have been bothering us. The act of writing this list down also serves as a mental relief.

Step 2: Brainstorm Life Categories

Looking at the above list, come up with a list of categories or life areas that are important to us. The categories will encapsulate the items from the list and future tasks not yet on the list. Additionally, if we ignored any of the life areas, we would be left feeling unbalanced or unwell. For me, the life areas important to me right now are:

Work – sample activities: Writing, emails, interview questions, etc.
Personal Wellbeing – sample activities: meditation, reviewing goals/schedules/plans, reading something inspirational, exercise, etc.
Household – sample activities: cleaning, organizing, training dogs, grocery shopping, paying bills, running errands, etc.
Personal Projects – sample activities: working on my personal blog, sorting travel pictures, learning hobbies (salsa dancing, language skills), budget & financial planning, etc.

Step 3: Understanding Each Category

For each life area, use a new sheet of paper.

At the top of the page, write “Life Area: <fill in>“, where <fill in> is the name of the life area.
Title the first half of the page “General Tasks“
Title the second half of the page “Pending Task List“
In the first section, General Tasks, list in bullet points all the possible activities that would fall into this category. For example, for my Life Area: Work, some activities include:
- Answering emails
- Creating new articles
- Advertising inquires
- Site improvement and updates
- Accounting
- Reviewing and Setting Monthly Goals
In the second section, Pending Task List, list in bullet points all the current to-do tasks that you can think of that would fall into this category. Take this opportunity to move the mental reminders out of your head and onto paper. For example, my Life Area: Work, includes some of the following:
- Complete interview question for person X
- Get back to Y company with the requested Bio and Picture
- Complete the article on topic Z which I started last week

Do this for each life area from step 2. Feel free to use more paper if you run out of room. Keep the list as visually organized as possible. The point of this exercise is three fold:

To clear up mental clutter, by moving all the self reminder thoughts onto paper.
It’s easier to track and manage tasks when it’s all laid out in front of us.
To see which life area has the most pending to-dos, thus requiring more time and attention.

Step 4: Budget Time for Each Category

Daily Estimate – Look at your daily habits and schedule, how many hours a day will you have in total to devote to all of these areas? Example, my productive day generally goes from 10am to 8pm, which gives me 10 hours a day devoted to the life areas. The remaining 14 hours is for other activities such as sleeping, commuting, eating, watching TV, doing nothing.
Weekly Estimate – 10 hours x 7 days = 70 hours a week to divide up between the four areas of my life that’s important to me.
Budget Workable Hours – Review each of the life areas and its pending tasks from step 3. Estimate how much time to give it, on a weekly basis. From looking at my own lists, I know that the area of Household has priority, since there’s a lot that needs to be done and not doing them affects my sense of wellbeing and my work; thus I should give it more time. My weekly budget at the moment looks something like this for each of my four life areas:
- Household - 20 hours
- Work - 25 hours
- Personal Projects - 15 hours
- Personal Wellbeing - 10 hours
Daily Breakdown – Roughly estimate how many hours a day to give each life area on a daily basis. It helps to draw out a table, with days of the week along the top row and life area names along the left column. My estimate looks something like this:
- Weekdays: Work 5 hours, Household 2 hours, P. Project 2 hours, P.Wellbeing 1 hour.
- Weekends: Household 5 hours, P.Project and P.Wellbeing 2-3 hours each.

Step 5: Doing

As we are going about our day working on each of the life areas, flip to the page for that life area and pick the item under Pending Task List that has the highest priority to do first.

When working on one task. Focus completely on that task. If more to-do reminders come to mind, add them instantly into the Pending Task List for the appropriate life area.

Step 6: Tracking

Refer to your time budget several times throughout the day. Remember to be flexible. Nothing is set in stone. The time budget is there to help us as a guide, not as an unbreakable schedule. Take note how much time you are spending in each life area, and adjust appropriately.

Remember to be gentle with yourself. Notice all the improvements you’ve made and how much better you feel.

As we change, so will our priorities. Make sure to revisit our time budgets regularly and update time devoted to each of the life areas, as our life situation changes.

What is bothering you right now? What are some things that you are putting off, that if you just got them done, will contribute significantly to your state of wellbeing? What are some life areas most important to you? Share your thoughts with us in the comment section. See you there!

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75 Responses (66 Comments, 9 Trackbacks ):

Comments

Alex Shalman

Nov 12 08, 6:41 pm PDT

1
What great timing for this article Tina, I could use some mental clarity right about now. Actually the two things that help me maintain mental clarity personally are hard exercising and fasting.

I actually wrote a post not too long ago called Fasting: A Clear Mental State and Longer Life. Check it out when you get a chance Tina.

Btw, Stumbled and Dugg.
Jonathan Mead

Nov 12 08, 6:56 pm PDT

2
I think the most important thing is taking the time to “brain dump” as you said. We take in so much new information on a daily basis, but we rarely take the time necessary to process and sort out all the input we receive. Meditating is a great way to give your mind time to sort through all your mental discord. In fact, that’s often why when you sit down to meditate, you notice an increase in thoughts initially. Your brain is taking that quiet focus as a time to sort through all your thoughts.
Shamelle-EnhanceLife

Nov 12 08, 7:00 pm PDT

3
So many of us are overwhelmed by the day-to-day demands of our careers, our families, sometimes even our friends. We often feel there is not enough time in our lives to do the things we need to do, let alone to do the things we want to do. And, most importantly, there never seems to be time just for ourselves.

Indecision is one of the main things that cause my “metal clutter”! :-0)

I enjoyed the post. I admire the way you manage to weave your personal life story into the post.
Stephen

Nov 12 08, 7:06 pm PDT

4
During the last month I got really sick for the first time in years. It was almost like I had forgotten what it’s like to be sick. However it certainly reminded me why I’m no passionate about being healthy!

Anyway while I was sick I kept up the pace of work I’ve been putting into my blog. Things really started to get cluttered both physically (in the office and bedroom particularly) and mentally. Then to top it off we did a bunch of rearranging of rooms.

To get back on track now that I’m feeling better the first thing I did was make a list. It certain does just dump a bunch of stuff out of the cluttered mind and free it up for actually taking action. Otherwise I find everything just gets stalled because there is just too much on my mind at once for me to take effective action.

Thanks for a great article! :)

Stephen
Andrea Hess|Empowered Soul

Nov 12 08, 7:23 pm PDT

5
Wow, Tina, I marvel at your level of mental organization. I have to say that when I have a lot to do, I go in the completely opposite direction. I STOP planning and organizing and just allow my inner wisdom to decide what really, truly needs doing right now.

Oddly enough, when I do that, my mind drops at least half the tasks it wants to insist on. And I move directly from impulse into doing, without all that thinking first, which saves a lot of mental energy. The result is usually that I look back and marvel at how it all got done.

A very different approach, but it works for me.
Blessings,
Andrea
Evelyn Lim

Nov 12 08, 7:51 pm PDT

6
I’m in need of this advice right Now. I’ve just got too many things to remember! Not only my kids’ schedules, I have to juggle my own. I need to cut down what is on my plate. It’s getting too much to handle! Thanks for your tips!!
Steve C | MyWifeQuitHerJob

Nov 12 08, 9:16 pm PDT

7
I’m with you Andrea. When I have too many tasks in my head, I tend to drop all of the ones that aren’t as important and focus on the ones that require immediate attention. I figure that if those tasks are truly important, they’ll come up again on their own. I guess I’m not as organized as you Tina, but someday I hope to be.
Rachel/Asceticlife

Nov 12 08, 10:04 pm PDT

8
This is a great article that I think many of us are in need of. I like to think of myself as a fairly organized person, but too often I use my organization as a tool to get out of actually doing the work I need to do. The procrastination is just because I feel like whatever task I’m avoiding is too large to conquer. However, if I create a budget of my workable hours during the week, I think I’ll be more likely to see just how much time I have to complete those “unconquerable” tasks. I’m going to put your ideas to work this week and see how it goes.
Valeria | TimelessLessons

Nov 13 08, 12:43 am PDT

9
Another thing that really helps me is humming. I read somewhere that recalling a tune and then humming it and letting your lips relax and tingle actually totally resets your brain because music is recalled in a different part of the brain. So sometimes if I’m feeling overwhelmed or ‘cluttered’ I hum an old song and close my eyes and it definitely works to relax and refresh your thinking!
Robert A. Henru

Nov 13 08, 1:45 am PDT

10
What I always admire about you Tina, you’re openly sharing about your life and struggle. But more than that, you have bounced back, and it’s really a lesson we all need to learn!
Robert
Cecilia

Nov 13 08, 2:06 am PDT

11
Great post, as always :)
Right now I have a lot of things troubling me: final exams (and all the work they require), college assignments (and all the work they require too!), looking for a job, making my blog grow, and, most important of all, I’m moving to another place quite soon, so I need to start organizing that.
Your articles always seem to come when I need them most. I’ll put into practice you advice!
Eric Hamm

Nov 13 08, 4:23 am PDT

12
“Planning is more important than just taking blind action.”

This is SO true! I think many of us (my hand is raised) have a tendency to just DO and we end up running around aimlessly, wasting our time.

What an excellent layout of ideas to get organized and start accomplishing out goals/tasks! Thanks for sharing your insight, Tina. Eric.
Maria | Never the Same River Twice

Nov 13 08, 5:45 am PDT

13
Thanks for sharing your thoughts in such an organized manner, Tina!

I’m in the process of a big transition in my life right now and one habit I am building is to do focused work for the first work hour of every day. It’s a difficult challenge, so I’m tracking my results often.

I am finding that if I can stick to that habit I get a lot of work done early in the day. The next step will be to try to extend my focus for longer!
Vincent

Nov 13 08, 6:07 am PDT

14
Great post Tina. I believe that if there really isn’t enough time in our life, it is time to shift our attention to things that provide the most value and minimize doing things that isn’t really adding value to our life. I like your idea of budgeting our time in to different areas of our life. By doing that we can set our priorities right.

Cheers
Vincent
Personal Development Blogger
Will

Nov 13 08, 6:11 am PDT

15
Heya Tina,

Why are you so good to me? ;) You always seem to deliver articles that chime in with what I’m going through as I’m trying to sort things out.

Thank you for sharing your experiences with us.

- Will :)
Rosabel

Nov 13 08, 6:36 am PDT

16
I do agree with your that brain dump does help me to get myself focus in getting things organized. I’m glad that my mind now is much simple and my work is more efficient.
Raised Path

Nov 13 08, 7:04 am PDT

17
Tina,
This is great! It sounds like a lot is shifting in your life. That always happens for me when I am poised for a huge period of growth in my life. It’s impressive how diligent and committed you are to embracing life and it’s challenges.

The organizational and time management system I use is called Mission Control http://missioncontrol.com. It’s simple and comprehensive. You should check it out when you have a chance.

Have an awesome day.

Marc
g

Nov 13 08, 8:21 am PDT

18
Hi,
I’m glad that I found this on Digg. I’m inspired by the brief tid-bits you gave about quitting your job, ending your relationship, and moving to rural China. I’ve often thought about perusing a similar scenario so that I can have more time and freedom to write and identify what my passions and priorities are.

One of the hardest parts about being sucked into a stringent work schedule and relationship is that you often exchange your long term priorities for short term conveniences. I have not lost sight of my long term goals and passions, I never fully identified them.
Di Eats the Elephant

Nov 13 08, 8:36 am PDT

19
I so lo-o-o-v-e that you are going thru all these things at once – it seems to be how I reorganize my life every 5 years: fruit basket turn-over! I too recently quit my job, am moving 9 hours away, leasing my house (new, working with lawyers), learning a new “business” as well as wanting to set aside time to write. My “puppy” needs a fence and dog house and manners, even at age 3 (luckily my fiance (another major change) is open to providing that for him!). If I had enough time today to read and act on your blog, I’d be there. As it is, one piece is finally moving forward – the final move of stuff from one state to another, and I need to get on the road in about 30-90 minutes for a 9 hour ride. No internet. Pack, meet with carpet/room measurers, supervise loading into a moving van, back on the road and back here in 3-4 days. The lease is not yet complete – need to write to the lawyer (something new for me to deal with), etc. etc. I hope none of your aggravations of moving are centered on getting utilities or such turned on. I have heard that can happen overseas. May all your adventures be fun (somehow!) and know that many of us envy you for making such a trip. Please write and let us know more about western China – I’ve only seen the pictures of the “mountains” (going straight up) from Epcot. What a wonderful adventure!!!

P.S. This also ties in so closely with what I’ve written on my blog about losing weight and keeping it off – hence the signature “Di Eats the Elephant” (one bite at a time) and I also love Tim Ferriss’s ideas on how to divide all those tasks into bites! Rock on!
Clinton Skakun

Nov 13 08, 8:51 am PDT

20
This is great because just this morning I came up with an idea to get ahead with school and stuff. You can take on anything when you know how to handle it. I was surprised how much of a difference it made.
Zoe

Nov 13 08, 8:58 am PDT

21
Wow, I just wrote a post about “idea dumps” for focusing creative ideas. Dumping it all out is a splendid practice.

Although this system sounds a bit intimidating, it also sounds like a really interesting way to step back and see how you’re using your time (and how it could be used). I think I’ll take a shot at this exercise.
finola

Nov 13 08, 9:30 am PDT

22
You put it so well, even in my mentally cluttered, randomly distracted, wonderfully, but maybe should be worryingly, explorative state these days, I found your advice well laid out and easy to follow. A tonic to my frazzlement.

Having left my day job recently, moved to a new country, moved to a new, old house in dire need of repairs and temporarily without a kitchen, started blogging, lost focus on writing my art book, gained focus on re-becoming a jewelry artist…I am often, no, nearly always grappling with trying to see the clear the ground so I can see the path and the air so I can keep an eye focused on my dreams.

I’m going to link to this post on my blog’s next post – I suspect I know a few people who will feel the same as I do about it!
jacqueline

Nov 13 08, 11:02 am PDT

23
I use three by five cards for each client/project – I write each element down and as I shuffle through the cards I can work on what is most important or most interesting at that moment. I can’t agree more – you have to get it down and out of your head.
juana Michelle
Nov 13 08, 11:05 am PDT

24
Thank you so much. You really inspired me and lately I have lacked just that, inspiration.. As I read your article I begun making my lists and organizing my what to do’s, etc.. Funny how I forget to do what always works and allows me to feel my very best~
Take Care and Thank you for inspiring me!!!
Dorsi

Nov 13 08, 12:21 pm PDT

25
Wonderful article. I can so relate to this- and plan to take some action on getting rid of my mental clutter!
Safa Sheehan

Nov 13 08, 6:54 pm PDT

26
I loved the way you broke the time budget down. What a great idea!
Thank you!
Ching Ya

Nov 13 08, 8:17 pm PDT

27
Very inspiring. I’m glad I came across your link today and decided to have a look. Hopefully by following some of the advices here could clear up some of my mental clutter… arrrgghh…. and back to work on my entertainment blog.. How can it be ‘entertaining’ if the blogger herself is not? Thanks for the enlightenment. =)
Vinie
Nov 13 08, 10:35 pm PDT

28
Hi Tina,

It was good to see a new post from you in my RSS reader after a gap. I keep looking forward to the articles you write which, I am sure people will agree, are of great help to all.

Thank you for inspiring me and many others with your writing :)

Warmest Regards,
Vinie
Brad Semp

Nov 13 08, 10:37 pm PDT

29
Great article on mental “de-cluttering”. I’ve personally found that one of the best ways to de-clutter is to focus on reducing or eliminating those activities that cause the clutter in the first place. This involves an attack on the source of clutter rather than focusing on the symptoms of a clutter-filled life.

One of the worst clutter creating activities in existence today would fall under your “work” category…….this activity is e-mail. E-mail clutters your mind, distracts you, and ultimately leads to an unproductive day if it is not managed properly.

The challenge is to “unplug” yourself from e-mail but to do so in a way that all e-mails still get answered and that you know immediately about anything critical that comes into your inbox. Can’t be done? It has been done and proven.

Stay away from your e-mail….don’t peek at it….destroy the Email Monster…….address only those e-mails that your Email Manager tells you that you need to respond to at the end of each day.

If you do so, you’ll go a long way in de-cluttering your mental state and increasing your daily productivity.
L.

Nov 14 08, 1:09 pm PDT

30
Again a great article to improve my everday life. Especially in the last few weeks I’m feeling more and more depleted and it seems, as every day there are more tasks to be done for me, actually without anything being done at all!

Alone at school, there are so many things to be done within the next weeks:
- a presentation, which I have to do for English
- a writing, I have to finish for German
- a dork, I have to deal with somehow
- etc.

But of course, I also want to focus on my personal projects(as you call it in the article) like working on my writing skills, playing the piano more often, etc.

Since there is so many stuff that seems to overwhelm me at the moment and I’m feeling so depressed because of all that mental clutter, I definitly gonna try your 5 steps out!

Thanks so much for that =)

(And sorry for the bad english, but I’m merely a german student^^)
Melissa Donovan

Nov 14 08, 1:59 pm PDT

31
This is a great way to get grounded, something I do every couple of months as my to do list gets overwhelmingly enormous. A great tool to use is Excel or the spreadsheet in Google Docs. Putting everything in a grid makes it super easy to organize and rearrange. Awesome tips!
Bengt

Nov 14 08, 2:37 pm PDT

32
Great post but my counting makes it a six step program.

It lists:
Step 1: Brain Dump
Step 2: Brainstorm Life Categories
Step 3: Understanding Each Category
Step 4: Budget Time for Each Category
Step 5: Doing
Step 5: Tracking
hellen

Nov 14 08, 10:32 pm PDT

33
Hi Tina,

I am a Chinese girl live in Beijing.
How was your trip in western China?

It was so good to see a new post from you and I keep looking forward to the articles you write .

This advice is very useful for me right Now.
I’ve just got too many things to do every day and I think may be I have to change my life.

thank you again your post.

P.S. I also have my own blog (Chinese version), you can come by sometime if you can speak Chinese. ^_^
Caramelmoiselle

Nov 15 08, 3:34 am PDT

34
This is great! I’m going to use these techniques.

My most important ‘area’ is relationships- family, friends and finding a good partner. :)
Nathalie Lussier

Nov 15 08, 7:05 am PDT

35
I love getting a glimpse into your thought processes and how you found mental clarity. I think that when you take charge of your life (as you have) you need to keep close tabs on everything, which is much harder than just living unconsciously. I really admire you! :)
Giyen

Nov 15 08, 10:39 am PDT

36
I love the idea of budgeting your time. I never thought of it that way, even though we all do it in some form anyway. I can tell you I need to budget how much I spend on the internet vs. other pursuits!
Miguel

Nov 15 08, 2:37 pm PDT

37
Quality post! It seems like people only complete half the battle; after writing our various to do list, most never plan how much time they need to invest in each activity. I have too many self reminder thoughts- at the moment I try to get in the habit of writing them out. I’ve never considered what the monthly time total might be. Interesting. Understanding each category is my favorite portion of the article. :) Thanks!
Tony

Nov 16 08, 12:03 am PDT

38
Personally, I’ve never had much track with budgeting time. I’ve read through books like Getting Things Done and life, I find, rarely cooperates for very long. Nor would I expect it to. Juggling multiple priorities can indeed be a real mental strain. I find all we can do is focus on the most important tasks. Get that out of the way, and there’ll be time for everything else. We often know what that is, even if we don’t want to admit it.

I do, however, greatly support the concept of a brain dump onto paper, your computer, your cellphone, or any combination thereof. I would simply recommend being prepared to throw out a lot of the not really needed or not so practical thoughts, put others on a back-burner, and condense and simplify where possible.

As for getting the most important, yet large tasks done right away, there’s a simple focus technique that often works for me: “What is the immediate task in front of me?” It’s usually something very simple, and I tell myself that for right now, this is all I need to think about or do. One step at a time, as simple as possible.

For the Christian, I would recommend one additional step to the above: Make God the #1 priority. Higher than work, play, or any other responsibilities. Rest in Him, have faith, and your load will be that much lighter and your worries that much less. He has never failed me, even when the task seemed impossible.
Raised Path

Nov 16 08, 12:00 pm PDT

39
Tony,
I think that you point to a potential pitfall in planning and budgeting time and tasks. I think it is easy to get caught up in planning and spend too much time doing that and never develop lasting habits.
To me faith is crucial in accomplishing anything life. Some people have it growing up, some people aren’t interested, and for others like me life circumstances forced me to look for and develop faith.
Thanks for your commentary. Have an awesome day.

Marc
John Carly
Nov 16 08, 4:06 pm PDT

40
Great Post!!!
Morgan
Nov 16 08, 4:12 pm PDT

41
Thanks Tina for this article! What great timing!

Most articles and books that I’ve read try to teach how to de-clutter the external, but what to do when there are a thousand unspoken internal tasks in addition to the external ones? I seriously needed a plan for mental decluttering, stat! Not only that, mental clutter seeps out into physical clutter, which creates a cycle of procrastination and entrapment.

I’ve started my mental task list…hopefully it’ll translate into some serious actions.
LifeMadeGreat | Juliet

Nov 17 08, 4:16 am PDT

42
Hi Tina

Good to have you back.

Juliet
Liara Covert

Nov 18 08, 5:29 pm PDT

43
As each person discerns thoughts that no longer serve them, this is an invitation to stop thinking those thoughts. The universe works in simple ways. Human beings often make life more complicated than it is.
Nanomedicine

Nov 21 08, 5:18 am PDT

44
As always, an amazing read. Thank you very much!
Jacklyn Ker
Nov 21 08, 8:43 am PDT

45
Great article. I thought I can multi-task pretty well, till recently, I felt every part of my life has been yelling at me for attention. I’ve been slacking on my exercise, always giving the excuse of my busy work schedule. And now, I have to stay home to recuperate from flu and tiredness.

You are right, Tina. I’m starting to feel unbalance, not knowing how that feeling come about. I’m lucky to have come across this article. Have to get my plan out and restart again with new energy.

Thanks!

Love, Jacklyn Ker
Jacklyn Ker

Nov 21 08, 8:46 am PDT

46
God is blessing you…

Have an awesome weekend ahead!
Scott

Nov 23 08, 4:15 pm PDT

47
Wonderful article Tina. I fist came across the idea of weekly planning after reading Steven Covey’s 7 Habits and 8th Habit a few years ago (You can find reviews of both books on my site). Covey has some awesome planning software that helps you keep track and review your goals, mission, core life categories and tasks and then has you schedule them throughout the week in your calendar to be sure they get done. Whichever tool you use, the idea of weekly planning and goal setting is invaluable. At first it felt like spending an extra hour at the beginning of the week just made me busier but I can’t tell you how much I am able to get done now that I schedule everything. And more importantly, my mind actually gets to be clear (most of the time…) while doing my tasks.

Unfortunately the Covey software is not offered for Mac so when I switched, I changed my system which has turned out to be awesome (and kind of fun). I use iCal to jot down my random to dos that I think of throughout the week, then each Sunday I spend an hour looking at them, putting them into my life categories and then just dragging them right onto my iCal onto the day and time that I want to complete them. I also color code them by life category. Doing this with iCal forces me to think about how much time each task will take up so that I don’t find myself totally overloading my schedule, which can easily happen if you just list things. I recommend trying this system if any of you have Macs. You could obviously do it with a pc but it might not be as fun ;)

Also to make it a little more fun and to elicit some emotion behind my life categories, I have given them some descriptive names. Have a look.

My life categories:
1. Flying out of the gym- personal fitness and nutrition
2. Give it away!- giving back to others and to the community
3. Making ears ring- doing nice things for others, keeping up with my relationships
4. $$$ while I explore- non-work projects that I hope will make me extra cash that I can use while I travel and explore. i.e. working on and writing book reviews for Reading For Your Success.
5. Enjoy the Slow Dance- relaxation and mediation, spritual
6. Expand the mind- reading, writing, journaling and other personal development
7. Discovering businesses- working on my investment business

Thanks again for the new ideas Tina!

Have a great week,
Scott
Harry

Dec 16 08, 2:53 am PDT

48
That’s a great post. For tracking time, I use a web app called GoalsOnTrack(free) which can track your goals and to-do lists and the amount of time you spend on them.
quang

Dec 18 08, 2:06 pm PDT

49
i love reading your blog. i love lists reminds me of cracked.com, that’s probably why reading your blog is so enjoyable :p. oh and i love the hex color you’re using for as your font color.
Mark S

Mar 05 09, 6:50 am PDT

50
After a few years of getting into heavy burnout, I have managed to have a few months of complete insanity where things have been pulling me in a half-dozen directions. I’ve completely let all of the circumstances around me dictate how my schedule runs.

Let me give you an idea. You know those spinny things in the playground that kids sit on and you run along side and make them spin fast. (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lilhlfpint/2330901463/)

OK… so I put all of the things that need attention in my life sanding on around that thing, and then I sit on it, and I let them spin me as fast as I can.

business, health, kids, blog, socialize, family issues, interruptions, alone time, business, health, kids, blog, socialize, family issues, interruptions, alone time, business, health, kids, blog, socialize, family issues, interruptions, alone time, business, health, kids, blog, socialize, family issues, interruptions, alone time, FASTER, FASTER business, health, kids, blog, socialize, family issues, interruptions, alone time, business, health, kids, blog, socialize, family issues, interruptions, alone time…. until it seems like becomes one big businesshealthkidsblogsocializefamilyissuesinterruptionsalonetime blur.

As much mental clutter as there is physical clutter in my life. This is post is an excellent reminder to with good practical advice on how to take control back. Thanks Tina.
Danielle

Mar 18 09, 11:15 am PDT

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I love the concept of “mental clutter” and I particularly think this a great quote relating to your post: “‘Someday’ is a disease that will take your dreams to the grave with you.” Those words really resonate with me and I really appreciate your thoughts on how to rid our lives of mental clutter so that we can be more effective individuals. Thanks for a great entry!
Meredith

Mar 21 09, 7:25 pm PDT

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I think part of the problem is information overload. Too much information leads to procrastination because you keep weighing your options.
Liz
Jun 23 09, 7:38 pm PDT

53
Maybe I’m alone here, but I find this task even more overwhelming than what I usually do everyday, which is make a list for that day, with tasks under different categories. I’m especially anxious when it comes to committing to a time budget.

It gives me agita just thinking about it!

Perhaps that signals something I need to work on, which is facing up to the fact that true time management is not my strong suit. I just need to suck it up and try to complete this exercise!
N
Jun 27 09, 12:58 am PDT

54
I could relate to your thoughts, but I tried to implement the same action plan as yours, and found it too complicated for me to follow. Any other suggestions perhaps?
I am struggling to strike a balance between work and my other normal life.

Cheers
Nea | Self Improvement Saga

Sep 23 09, 6:41 am PDT

55
Thanks for this article. I agree that the “brain dump” is an excellent idea for just clearing the mind and getting it all out. I find that this relieves stress and helps to clear the way for real organizing.
Janey
Oct 08 09, 5:00 am PDT

56
Thanks for this information. I do tend to make lists when overwhelmed, but this overall, on-going system seems like it will be far more effective. I have emailed this link to a dozen friends and relatives–and I very seldom do that. I have used concept mapping software for projects that will do this job well. Thanks, again . This is really great.
Ashley Cutler
Oct 08 09, 7:30 am PDT

57
It is sort of funny that I just came across this post because I just recently performed this exercise almost exactly. In answer to a few people who thought the weekly time estimation and tracking may not be worth it, I highly suggest it. I think one reason is that many times I complete things on daily lists but when i look at the end of the week, many priorities weren’t addressed at all. If you’re like me, you may be spending 40 hours per week on email and may not even know it.
Susan G
Feb 19 10, 2:12 am PDT

58
Awesome article! Found this when Stumbling…

I would suggest that for your Brain Dumps you use an online tool that you can search and review later, and then copy and paste to further prioritize down the road.

I use Penzu to keep a personal (and private) journal, but when I have a lot going on, I just do a dump of all my thoughts and I instantly relax. I also don’t have to worry that my thoughts are lost or around the house somewhere on a piece of paper—they are in my private diary!
Ray
Apr 26 10, 9:30 pm PDT

59
Not what I was looking for, but an incredible organizational system. The answer to becoming balanced, fulfilled and happy. Congratulations and thanks!
Brian

May 17 10, 7:13 pm PDT

60
I always find recognizing personal behavior patterns is invaluable. As per Tim Ferriss (I saw he was quoted), I think considerable time needs to be spent on deciding what actually needs to be done. Besides external clutter, there are usually numerous facets of internal clutter that are self-imposed responsibilities that may not actually be imposing. Removing the internal clutter may be a more difficult task, but it makes the externalities seem exponentially less daunting.
Mel
May 20 10, 9:07 pm PDT

61
Have to agree with some others, great article, cool solution but I feel overwhelmed just thinking about taking on this approach.

I’ve already got tons of written ideas and actions and plans and I’m only just keeping my head above water .. some of the time.

Maybe putting all this stuff in my head and on paper into an online version where I can trap it and see it and organise it may be the way forward for me.

Thanks for the thought provoking!
merelunacy
Jun 06 10, 3:37 am PDT

62
I liked reading this, thank you. Google Docs in conjunction with Google Calendar is how I personally do this. Mind you it still needs a lot of work, but it’s a start.
Larissa Cookson

Jun 17 10, 5:27 pm PDT

63
Great new way to look at clutter and be more efficient with you time. Thanks for the tips!
Erick Rodriguez B.-

May 27 11, 2:40 pm PDT

64
Its such a great way to display steps to organize mental clutter…..in the personal sense of experiencing life, I would not go that far as to assign the amount of hours to each category of “life” one has…cause then it would become too tedious for me. But for the rest of the chores, furniture repairs, dogs time (or cats), its definitely something I will use as a guide to further organize clutter piled up in my brain, ty for sharing !!! blessings.
Shelby
Aug 17 12, 5:41 pm PDT

65
Thank you so much for this article! I have taken this advice and found it very helpful. These are the words I’ve been needing to hear for such a long time. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Balance has been restored in my life :) Have a great day!!!
Karen R.
Sep 19 12, 11:01 am PDT

66
I am 43 years old and have beaten myself up over my lack of mental organization all of my adult life–this system resonates perfectly with me and I am going to “map the mess” in my brain TODAY! Thank you for providing the way that will finally work best for me!

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