Mental Decluttering to Improve Focus

Oct 27

For this blog post in video form, please head to my YouTube channel or check the bottom of this post.

This post about minimalism is not just about minimalism— it is also about decluttering and the effect of decluttering on your mental health. I call it mental minimalism: a state of mind that helps to curb anxiety, make you more productive, and really free you of mental clutter. Whether you are an emotional clutterbug, a decluttering king or queen, or a mental minimalist already, read this post for my top tips and watch the video below.

I am all for decluttering your space, digital world and, above all, your mental world. The first three chapters of my book Decluttering for Dummies is dedicated to mental decluttering, and I guarantee being mentally decluttered will help you be more focused, happier and get more done!

Focus is nothing more than mental declutter. And yes, this is really possible to achieve. Read on to find out how.

1.make lists.

Lists are like the Container Store for the mind—they help you compartmentalize your mental clutter in a thousand different ways. Sounds simple, yes, but adding a few lists to your life really works.

2.Automate away.

The beauty of this kind of automatic delegation is that you can simply set it and forget it—majorly cutting down on your to-do list. So, instead of interrupting the flow of your workday with little tasks, you can concentrate on the high-impact stuff that requires your full focus and attention.

3.brain dumps.

Clear out your brain every now and then. Start by dumping your thoughts onto an electronic page with a tool like Evernote. This allows you to shove all your brilliant ideas, notes, lists, and saved articles that don’t have another home into one digital place, which will help you clear out some valuable mental space—without adding papers and notebooks to your actual junk drawer.

4.MANAGE YOUR INBOX.

I know I get more done when I don’t have to cringe every time I open my email. Knowing your inbox isn’t overflowing can save you a lot of mental stress, which can help you focus on other, more important tasks. So, save yourself from slowly drowning in subject line by subject line by doing some inbox spring cleaning (click on the link to get some of my top tips).

First, unsubscribe from promotional emails (that you never actually open) and turn off those clogging notifications from LinkedIn and Facebook. Then, filter and funnel different types of nonessential email into specified sections of your inbox, so that you can have them on hand if you need them—but don’t have to see them every time you log in.

I also like to use programs like Boomerang or Followup.cc to schedule emails and send reminders, so I can deal with emails on my own time.

5.take time to reflect.

Time spent reflecting may seem counterintuitive—more thoughts will just add to the mental clutter, right? But, in my experience, charging ahead without taking time to reflect will just make the mess worse.

Turns out, regularly reviewing how you’ve been spending your time will give you insight into how you got to your present state, how to move forward strategically, and how you work best in general.

CEO’s program reflection time into their calendar.

That’s it! Follow these five tips and you’ll be right on track to mental decluttering.

As a thank you for reading, I want to give you a bonus resource you can start using right away in your business that, when implemented, guarantees productivity in your home office. This resource will help you digitize your receipts. Never miss or lose a tax write off and save hours weekly and during tax season. Download below! And remember they don’t have to be perfect but organized, findable and in a system that helps you not to forget what the write off was for!

If you’re looking for even more extra productivity, use this time cube.

Book your free 30-minute office declutter call with me here.