{"id":1447,"date":"2015-03-09T05:56:15","date_gmt":"2015-03-09T11:56:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nosidebar.com\/?p=1447"},"modified":"2024-03-01T06:12:18","modified_gmt":"2024-03-01T13:12:18","slug":"mental-clutter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nosidebar.com\/mental-clutter\/","title":{"rendered":"The Importance of Removing Mental Clutter"},"content":{"rendered":"

Stray thoughts, fears, worries, details to remember: they all add up to mental clutter. What could you accomplish if all that mental space were freed up?<\/p>\n

Are you focused and present, or are you mentally running through your to-do list, thinking about email replies, and debating where to go to lunch while also catching up on online reading (like this article for example)?<\/p>\n

All those thoughts may be getting in the way of your focused work and progress. This is what we call mental clutter.<\/p>\n

We wake up in the morning and check our phones, letting email and news and texts swirl around in our brains before we even brush our teeth. Then the pings start. Someone\u2019s talking to you on Facebook. You want to thank those people for sharing your message on Twitter. You have a bunch of Instagram likes.<\/p>\n

The car needs an oil change, the kids need haircuts, the dog needs to have his teeth cleaned at the vet. Did you schedule any of that yet? Do you have a grocery list? What\u2019s for dinner, anyway?<\/p>\n

And oh hey, remember that blog comment from yesterday? What did that guy really mean? Should you have replied? Maybe you should have ignored it. Maybe you should go back and delete your comment. Or his comment. Or both? Or neither, it\u2019s probably fine.<\/p>\n

And then there\u2019s that project at work\u2014will it be finished on time? Will it work? Will it be as good as that other one? Will your audience get it?<\/p>\n

We\u2019re rehashing the past, we\u2019re worrying about the future, and we\u2019re letting administrative details overrun our important ideas. We let digital distractions in, and we try to do everything at once. It isn\u2019t working.<\/p>\n

All that stuff takes up so much space that there\u2019s hardly room left over for the work you\u2019re meant to do, whether that\u2019s designing a killer app, or writing the great American novel, or dreaming up a business that the world needs yesterday.<\/p>\n

Mental clutter pulls us out of the present moment, out of the projects we\u2019re working on and the people we\u2019re working with.<\/p>\n

What if all that mental space were freed up?<\/p>\n

What if we decided to become more aware of our distractions? What if we started filtering those distractions, and emptying some of the mess out, too?<\/p>\n

What if we set out to conquer that mental clutter? What could we do with that mental space, instead? Here\u2019s what we would do:<\/p>\n

We would have more clarity, and more focus.<\/p>\n

We\u2019d be able to be more productive and more efficient, and we\u2019d have more bandwidth for creative breakthroughs. We\u2019d be less stressed and less prone to forget details.<\/p>\n

We might sleep better, without the chatter keeping us awake. We could focus on the important work, instead of being distracted by the details.<\/p>\n

Further Reading:<\/h4>\n