Today’s episode is entitled Declutter Your Mind in Space: An Organized Environment Fuels Productivity. We’ll mostly discuss mental focus, mental space, and organization because, to me, that’s where most of the hard work is done. Let’s jump right in. If you are like me, then you probably have trouble staying organized and productive when you are dealing with a lot mentally.
Declutter Your Mind
When you have a lot on your mind, whether that be stress, worries, or a really long to-do list in your head, you just need to get it out onto paper. Let’s discuss about some ways that we can mentally organize and focus.
Brain Dumping
One of my favorite ways to declutter my mind is through brain dumping. If you have a lot on your brain, and you need to get it out. It’s all these things you’ve got to do, whether they are personal, like calling the doctor, or business-related, like creating a new product, or doing the books, or whatever. Writing it all down in one big brain dump and not really organizing that, just writing it out, is wonderful to get it off your mind and on paper and then you can organize it.
Journaling
Another thing that you can do for mental clarity is to journal. I have been a journaler since I was 14 years old, so that’s about 30 years now, and journaling is a daily activity for me. It helps me get things out of my mind onto paper, and as a Christian, I present those things to the Lord in prayer.
This helps me reduce my stress, stay focused, and quickly feel better about the situation. I recommend brain dumping and journaling. Both are wonderful for mental clarity.
To-Do List
Another thing to do that’s similar to the brain dump is a to-do list. I make a to-do list on a regular basis to help me know what I need to get done, and I also take it one step further and give myself due dates. Whether it’s a self-imposed due date or a client has imposed a due date upon me. If you’re an author or speaker and you have a book proposal due or a book you know that’s due to your publisher. If you’re speaking at an event and need to have the speech ready, whatever the case may be. Imposing some deadlines or setting some milestones for yourself can help you to be more productive.
Create Routine
Create an ongoing routine for yourself. There are some daily and weekly habits that you can create or do that will help you to be more focused, more organized, and have a clearer mind. One of these things is to learn to delegate. Maybe you need to hire someone on your team to help you. A virtual assistant, for example, or a bookkeeper, whatever the case may be. It’s important to delegate to other people and take smaller or bigger tasks off your plate so you can focus on what’s most important to you.
Eliminate Distractions
We talked about this in last week’s episode but also eliminate distractions in your life and business. Separate your tasks into daily and weekly tasks. This will help you stay more organized. Maybe even wake up a little earlier. Keep a planner. Plan ahead. Regularly review and update what’s working versus what is not working.
Breaks and Self Care
Schedule in breaks. It is not lazy to take a break, nor is it lazy to take care of yourself. Self-care is also important. These are some routines or habits that you can do that will help you create an ongoing maintenance routine. Think back over what I’ve talked about. Do your brain dumping, do your journaling, and structure an effective to-do list.
Set some deadlines, create a daily or weekly routine, and then create some habits, whether they’re daily or weekly habits, that will help you take better care of yourself. I hope that this series on productivity and organization has been helpful to you. It has truly helped me over the years as I’ve bettered my organizational strategy and done more things to help me be more productive.
