Clearing the Clutter From My Mind

My head is exploding with ideas, I have a million things that must be done, and I am constantly bombarded with information -- much of it valuable. How do I get the clutter out of my mind so I can think straight? I have found a few inexpensive tools that have helped me organize my thoughts and actually get things done. So while I am decluttering my house, I am also going to work on clearing the clutter from my mind. Here's how:

My Spiral Notebook
The first step is to get all that stuff out of my brain and onto paper. Some people call this a brain dump. I take a simple spiral notebook and write down everything I have been thinking about -- things I must do, projects I would like to start, products to purchase, books to borrow or buy, people to call, websites to check out, questions to research -- everything. And in no particular order. This could take a while, initially, but once I have cleaned the jumble of information from my mind, I can see more clearly what needs to be done. I keep this notebook nearby and add to it as more thoughts come to me.

Looking at what I have written, I will see some things that can be done at the moment, if they will only take a minute or two. And some of what I wrote down may be deemed unimportant and can simply be crossed off and forgotten. But there will be other items that require some sort of special attention.

My Calendar
As I run down my list, I see some things that can be written down immediately in my calendar. If I need to remember something in six months, I write a note on my calendar page for that month. Now I can cross it off my list. My calendar is filled with reminders -- rotate the tires in March; fertilize the trees and shrubs in March, June, and October; start on the Christmas cards in November. If it's not written down, I am likely to forget these things when life gets busy. Now that I have these reminders, I can rest assured they won't be forgotten.

My Project Notebook
Some things, such as projects, are more involved. Those things will go in my project notebook. Here, I have dividers for each area of my house, including the garage and yard, plus personal projects and goals. I move the items from my brain dump list into the appropriate section for future review.  Now I can cross those things off my list, as well. When I am working in the foyer, I will look at my project notebook and see that the paint on the front door needs touched up. When I make my plans for the week, I may choose to get out those brushes and paint.

Now that I have cleared my head, I can see what actually needs done. I am not wasting energy worrying about things that don't need to be done for months. I have a list of things I would like to do, and may think of even more lofty goals. What now? All these lists won't get my house looking good or move me toward those goals. But now that I know where I want to go, maybe I can figure out how to get there. Coming up next: Purposeful Planning: No More Flying By the Seat of My Pants.