Dare to Live Without Limits

By: 
Bryan Golden

Is it time for a spring cleaning of your mind?

You already know the problems created by physical clutter. It takes a long time to find anything. Stuff gets lost. Efficiency drops. The mess grows on its own. Mental clutter affects you in the same way. You can't remember things, your emotional state is dragged down, and effectiveness drops.
Decluttering your mind helps you declutter your life. It's a great habit to develop. Start by letting go of all useless mental garbage. This includes negative thoughts, fears, anger, bitterness, anxiety, and stress. Release any thoughts which don’t lead anywhere positive.
These destructive thoughts undermine your emotional state and inhibit your accomplishments. Your mental garbage is an anchor which drags you down. It clogs your mind by taking up valuable space which should be used for positive energy.
Stress and anxiety are always attempting to clutter your mind. Any positive steps you take to reduce stress and anxiety go a long way to decluttering your mind.
An effective decluttering action is breaking through the logjam of procrastination. Procrastination fills your mind with tasks that you can't let go of because they haven't been started or they have not been completed.
Tackle a pesky task by working on it for just 15 minutes. This gets you started, and often finished. Once a task is completed, it can be purged from your mind. This approach is an easy and effective method of quickly decluttering your mind.
Make decisions. Indecision creates stress. Make the best decisions possible based on what you know today. Putting off decisions clogs your mind because you are worrying about what you should do. Avoidance isn’t an effective strategy.
Fix problems as soon as possible. Problems tend to grow over time when ignored. Small problems are easier to deal with. Unresolved problems are a constant mental burden. There is a solution for every problem. Solving a problem provides immediate mental relief. Each resolved problem is one less mental burden.
Prioritize what you need to accomplish. Eliminate non-essential activities which accomplish nothing meaningful. Create a targeted to-do list which contains just your three most important objectives. Complete your number one objective first. Maintaining a focus on what’s most important purges mental clutter.
Breaking each goal into small, manageable steps helps defeat procrastination. You will more readily start something which is easy to do, versus anything you perceive to be overwhelming. Your mind becomes cluttered with incomplete tasks and expanding to-do lists.
Distinguish between productivity and activity. You are productive when working towards a specific goal. You are active when you are busy with no results to show. Productivity declutters your mind. The more you accomplish, the better you feel. Each accomplishment motivates you to complete your next objective.
Avoid multitasking because it erodes your effectiveness and creates stress by attempting to do many things at once. Your brain can only concentrate on one thing at a time. You wouldn’t want the pilot of your flight to be texting, talking, and watching a video while attempting to land the plane.
Multitasking requires you to continually switch gears as you alternate between tasks. Thoroughly completing each task before moving on to the next one is less stressful than trying to do numerous things simultaneously.
Stop worrying. Worry is draining without accomplishing anything. Replace worry with positive action. Do something to deal with the situation you are concerned about. Let go of any circumstances which are beyond your control.
Each step you take to declutter your mind boosts your emotional state. Carrying around mental garbage is exhausting. Your mental clutter has been a companion for so long you consider it a normal part of life. As you start to declutter, you will experience an amazing feeling of relief.

NOW AVAILABLE: "Dare to Live Without Limits," the book. Visit www.BryanGolden.com or your bookstore. Bryan is a management consultant, motivational speaker, author, and adjunct professor. E-mail Bryan at bryan@columnist.com or write him c/o this paper.  2021 Bryan Golden

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