This is the time of the year I am writing my goals and my theme of 2011 is going to be simplify and focus.
I have chosen these themes because there it too much clutter in my life (mental and physical) and I have trouble focusing. I try to do too much.
This post is going to focus on the getting rid of the physical clutter. I adhere to David Allen’s concept that visible clutter in your life creates stress. This stress comes from you feeling you have to do something with that clutter. How many of you have a pile of papers on your desk to remind you to do something? When you are unable to work on that pile you have this underlying feeling that you have let yourself down which creates stress. To add to that, if the pile is too big you know there are things in it you have forgotten but you know you need to do something with them. How many of you use your email inbox as a reminder of things to do? Same concept.
I work with paper a lot. Mainly for notes and easy to carry around reminder; not to mention all of the books and magazines I own. When I use the paper for notes I go back to them later and pull the important info from the notes to take actions or put in reference. Then I just throw the paper away. When I use papers for reminders I just throw them away when I am done.
One these papers create a waste of time and trees. My solution is to move to an electronic note taking medium. I like to write so I would use something that allows me to write vs. type. Maybe an iPad or something like that. By the way, I have not found an ideal tool yet, please let me know if you have any ideas.
I love to save information be it a recipe from my bodybuilding magazine or a copy of Success Magazine I will keep these things. Considering as much as I read I end up collecting a lot of paper. My next step is to start scanning small pieces of info I want to keep like a recipe or finding ways to view my magazine subscriptions electronically, (I am looking forward to the day when all of my magazines are all available electronically).
Essentially, what I am doing is getting rid of paper and making it all electronically available.
What tips and tricks do you have to get rid of the clutter in your life that might help me?
I went through a similar cleaning out process earlier this year. I started with my email inbox. Once I stopped and evaluated what I was doing, I had subscribed to WAY too many newsletters. It was taking up far too much time and, as pointed out here, creating stress. I felt obligated to read each and every one.
I eliminated about 85% of what I had been receiving and now my email inbox is manageable. This same concept can be applied to the paper, the clutter, or the “stuff” in your life.