Overwhelmed by inspirational TO DOs? Mindful decluttering time!

When bringing the up the topic of decluttering, my friends and business acquaintences tend to associate the task to physical objects, such as archiving documents, re-arranging furniture or preparing for a garage sale.  What I notice when listening to their daily challenges is a desire to move out of a state of overwhelm, originating from being constantly available via smart phones, social media and having a global “smörgåsbord” of information via the web at your fingertips.

I have no problem in relating to this, as a collector of numerous tips, e-learning packages and “nice-to-have” articles put into a dedicated computer folder. And my book shelves are full of materials I’d love to digest…later. Occasionally, I decide to put aside time to focus on my favourites, promising myself I will make a habit out of it. Looking back, this has not been a very successful strategy.

The only time it truly works, is when I have made an exercise upfront. It’s so simple: Grab a piece of paper and divide into 2 columns. In the first column, list 3-5 inspirational sources you would be devestated to see vanish the next day. In the second column, list 3-5 tasks you will stop doing to free up time. Make sure the list is visible to you at your desk, refrigirator or anywhere you need to be reminded when the temptation to derail hits you. Congratulations to your effective STOP DOING LIST!

Note: I stopped blogging for a while due to information and inspiration overload. Guess what’s on my STOP DOING LIST as a fixed item as of now…