Clutter Busting Coach

...clearing clutter from your mind, body and space

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Gratitude -Thank you notes

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Expressing gratitude is an effortless way to remind yourself of all you have to be grateful for. Set a goal to write one thank you note each week. It can be a traditional thank you card to say thanks for a gift or favor from someone or it can be heartfelt note that simply says thanks for being a part of my life.

I am sure if you thought about it, you could easily identify at least one person each day who did something that made you feel good or did something that helped you. Your note does not have to be a full letter or page, it can be a short, hand-written line or two giving sincere thanks. Sure, emails are nice, but they are different from a note.

If you need help getting started in the practice of sending thank you notes: [Read more…]

Check In With Others

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In my last post, I wrote about mental clutter which relates to mental health. With the last two plus years of the pandemic, mental health issues have increased. Some may be related to social isolation, especially in our older adults.

If anything good has come out of the pandemic, virtual “meetings” or more FaceTime is one of the best things that came out of quarantine and the pandemic for me. And I am not sure why I never thought of it before. I would call folks or schedule visits, but those tended to be farther in between. A quick chat via whatever virtual platform you use, is so doable now.

Even though we are not as isolated as we were previously, I encourage you to reach out to others virtually or even with a written note. Make it a goal to keep reaching out to at least one person…even if it is for just 10 minutes…checking in on friends and family each week will help with our mental health.

Mental Clutter

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Mental clutter is simply anything floating around in your head that keeps you from thinking straight. It is our mind on overdrive. It could be those things you need to keep track of such as events, tasks you are putting off, negative self-talk, ideas, reminders, information overload, expectations, feelings and more.

Mental clutter can slow you down, affect your productivity and jeopardize your mental health. It can make you stuck by causing you to feel overwhelmed which leads to procrastination or anxiety and poor decision making. The noise in our thoughts can make us feel irritated as we go through the day, distracted and unable to focus.

Here are some ways of calming the noise of your thoughts so that you can focus:

  • Do a brain dump by writing down your thoughts and feeling
  • Make lists including tasks, gratitude/blessings, and accomplishments
  • Keep your work and office space free of clutter
  • Develop a routine or systems
  • Add down time to your schedule
  • Meditate and/or journal
  • Plan catch up days

By selecting at least one suggestion, you can free up some mental space and quiet some of the noise.

Goal Setting Through Mini Milestones

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Goals do not all have to start in January. You can start your goals anytime. Once you have decided on a goal that excites you, just start now. Yes. I know half of the year has gone by already.

To kick-start (restart) a goal today and to avoid overwhelm, break your ultimate or original goal into smaller or mini goals and make sure you are setting them up using the SMART acronym.

By simply changing your goals so that they can be achievable and using mini milestones, you can make forward progress and set yourself up for bigger success. Just because you haven’t yet been successful on your goal in the first six months of 2022, you can still set a goal now for the remainder of the year. For example, instead of saying you won’t buy any new shoes for the rest of this year, set the goal as a limit or mini goal such as buying one pair a month or three pairs for the rest of 2022. Another way to approach it is to set daily goals. I can focus on not buying shoes today by not searching online for 24 hours. [Read more…]

Declutter Your Schedule

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Simplifying your schedule and the busyness of the day may be crucial to avoid burnout.

Many of us have a list of never-ending commitments. Yet few of us can be healthy or happy without regular periods of downtime. While there is nothing wrong with being busy, those of us who over-commit or over-extended ourselves potentially face exhaustion and burnout. When you feel overwhelmed by your commitments, examine your motivation for taking on so many obligations so you can understand why you feel compelled to do so much. You may discover that you are being driven by a fear that no one else will do the job or guilt that you aren’t doing enough.

To regain your equilibrium and clear the clutter from your calendar, simplify your life by establishing limits regarding what you will and will not do based on your personal priorities.

Determining your priorities can be as simple as making two lists: one listing all activities essential to our life such as work, meditation, exercise and a second list that describes everything you do that is not directly related to your well-being. [Read more…]