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Inner clutter is our running to-do list, unfinished business, unresolved issues or relationships, and/or any thoughts or feelings that repeatedly come up that weigh on our minds. This includes thoughts about the meaning of our life to thoughts about mundane tasks like replacing a light bulb and everything in between. In the same way physical clutter can prevent us from experiencing a peaceful home, our inner clutter can prevent us from experiencing peace of mind.

 

Think about how heavily seemingly small tasks can weigh on our minds. Have you ever put off going to the hardware or grocery store to pick something up? How many times did you think about doing that chore? Every day until you finally made the trip? And that is just one small errand—imagine how bigger, more pressing priorities can weigh on us.

 

When our minds are filled with unfinished thoughts, responsibilities, and tasks our focus is scattered and we’re less able to experience and enjoy the present moment. All of those nagging thoughts and concerns claim our attention and we have less energy to devote to truly important projects. We are also taking up mental space, thereby preventing new and creative thoughts from coming forth. If you find you’re frequently distracted because your mind is scanning an endless to-do list, or replaying scenes from the past, or obsessing about imagined future events, then it’s time to clear out your inner clutter.

 

Inner clutter can result from a lack of awareness and failure to make a choice. When you bring all the thoughts and ideas in your mind to your attention and make a choice (or a choice not to choose—as we will explain later) they will no longer weigh on you. Your to-do list will transform from energy-draining, unfinished business into inspiring guidelines and next-steps for living the life you want to live.

 

Follow the steps below to free yourself of inner clutter (many of these steps were inspired by a workshop we took with David Allen. We highly recommend his book Getting Things Done).

 

1.   Mind Sweep: Set aside some quiet time when you know you will have an uninterrupted half-hour. Take a blank piece of paper and write down absolutely everything on your mind—from defrosting your freezer to asking your boss for a raise—no task is too small or too big so don’t stop to judge or organize what you’re putting on your list, just keep writing. The simple act of writing down all the things on your mind will help clear your inner clutter and ease your stress. Often we think we are overwhelmed by all the things we need to do, but in fact we are overwhelmed because we really don’t have a clear idea of what it is we should be doing.

 

2.   Organize your to-do list into the following categories:

• Calendar: first identify anything that needs to be done by a certain date or time and put those items on your calendar
• Under five minutes: Next pull out anything that can be done quickly- perhaps in less than five minutes and batch these small tasks together.
• To-dos: Next group errands or slightly longer tasks, such as picking up your dry cleaning or calling a plumber, then set a goal to complete one or two of those tasks everyday.
• Projects: These are substantial tasks that may take time to complete, and require many steps. Write down the first step that would need to completed next in order to achieve your goal. For example, if you want to write a book someday, but haven’t started yet, the first step may be researching your subject, or learning how to write a book proposal, or just thinking of a title. Once you’ve crossed that task off your list, write down the next step and so forth. Breaking down large projects into smaller, more manageable tasks will help you feel more focused and less overwhelmed.  Usually when we avoid a task it is because we do not know what the next step is, or we do not know the location of an item that we will need to finish the task—for example not knowing where our check book is when we need to pay bills. The anxiety about not knowing or thinking that maybe we will not find the checkbook is what keeps us from doing the task.  Just identifying the first step, such as looking for your checkbook, will lead to follow through.
• Someday/Maybe: It is okay to choose not to choose. David Allen calls this the someday/maybe list. These are things that capture our attention that we would like to do someday or haven’t decided if we would like to do, but do not intend to commit to now. These things can account for a great deal of inner clutter. When we write it down we have the best of both worlds; we are allowing ourselves full possibility and creativity, and we are giving ourselves a sense of completion, or in other words, we are processing the goals.  Again it will not be inner clutter if we bring awareness to it and make a choice.
• Life Vision: These are things that relate to your big picture—such as your five or ten year goals, your dreams and aspirations, and values. It is important have this big picture in mind, otherwise it is easy to get caught up in day to day to-dos and details, but not move toward any meaningful life changes or goals. Some of these goals or visions you may want to eventually break down into projects.
• Ongoing goals: This list includes things that are part of your daily or weekly life such as exercising, grocery shopping, or meditating. Some ongoing goals may start out as projects, for example, if you change your diet to become a vegetarian that may require research, action steps etc.. but once it is a habit it will be on your ongoing goal list.

 

3.   Choose what not to do: As you organize your list you may realize that some tasks aren’t as pressing or important as you first thought. You may even decide that some items can be crossed off the list immediately because you’ll simply decide they’re not necessary to complete. It’s amazing how we can carry an idea around in our heads for weeks or even months, just because we never took a moment to really think about it and decide how important it is to us. Our mind makes it important by repeatedly bringing it up– because it is trying to help us not forget it. Only when we write it down to release the pressure of “not forgetting” can we objectively see that perhaps it does not need to be done now or ever. Really use the someday/maybe list—you will save yourself a lot of time because after a month or so many items on this list you will not seem so important after all. They just seemed important in the moment—similar to when you are in a store and get that adrenaline rush of “I have to have it,” these days we have the feeling “I need to do that.”

 

4.   Information: These days we are bombarded with a constant flow of information from televisions, radios, the Internet, newspapers, and cell phones, so frequently we hear or see something that sticks in our minds, but that we never process. Sometimes just taking a moment to think about what you’ve just heard or seen, is all you need to do to get it off your mind.  Also, find ways to limit the amount of unnecessary information you take in.

 

5.   Maintenance: Commit to the process of creating and processing a list at least once a week. If you ever have a moment during the week when you experience “mental overload,” then take ten minutes to write down everything on your mind. You can then review and process that list later during the weekly time you have set aside and can get back to the moment at hand. By clearing your inner clutter, you will be able to identify what is really important to you and then give those things and people your undivided attention. You are then truly free to experience and enjoy living in the moment!  

Photo Credit: Tamara Muth King