Clutter isn’t just the stuff that sits on a bookshelf or busies your counter-tops. In fact, once the clutter-stuff is gone, you really start to notice the invisible clutter in your day. It’s the invisible clutter that interrupts train of thought and peace of mind.
Invisible Clutter
- Meetings. I am a firm believer that weekly meetings waste time unless there is a very specific reason to meet. Meet individually as needed and trust that people are doing what they are supposed to do. If they aren’t, don’t work with them.
- Email. An early morning email check is sure to clutter up your day. Before you know it, you’ve spent hours reacting to work that is important to everyone else instead of doing what matters most to you. Don’t sign in until after 10 am and save the morning hours for your work or play.
- Worry. If you’ve ever obsessed over “what ifs” or worried about things that have yet to happen, you know how distracted you can become. Worry won’t change a thing. Instead take action where you can and get back to your life.
- Alerts. Ding! Tweet! You have mail! Take part in social media, email and other forms of communication on your time, not when your phone or computer tells you to. Turn off all alerts and schedule a set period of time to respond and engage.
- Debt. The borrower is slave to the lender. This is never more true than opening the mailbox to a pile of bills or avoiding collection calls. Debt can be overwhelming, but you can take action. The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey was the answer for me. Stop spending more than you have, dump the guilt and address the issue.
- Illness. Feeling sick and rundown demands all of your attention and energy. Serious illness requires even more. Take care of yourself. Listen to your body. Sleep well, eat healthy and move everyday. Give yourself every opportunity to be healthy.
- Gossip. Talking about other people for the sake of entertainment is the easiest way to clutter up your day. Don’t you have enough to handle in your own life? When you catch yourself in a gossipy situation, walk away or change the subject. Free your mind of petty thoughts and behavior.
By reducing or eliminating invisible clutter, you will open up time and space each day to do meaningful work and live a life that makes you genuinely happy. You will be more giving and loving and will be surprised at the opportunities that present themselves. Be open to clutterless adventures.
This is a great reminder of the non-stuff clutter that creeps in. For me it’s been mindless email/social media checking throughout the day. Five minutes here, ten minutes there, and it added nothing to my day. I’d often find myself reading an article, when halfway through I’d think, “do I even care about this?” More often than not, the answer was no.
It’s something I constantly monitor now, but just being aware of it has been half the battle. Now I try to keep to set times that work for me. It helps, but I still sometimes find myself halfway down the rabbit-hole!
Brooke, It’s an easy hole to fall into. 😉 It sounds like you are becoming more aware of how you want to spend your day. While you may only spend 5 minutes on Twitter a handful of times a day, it takes that long each time to get back to what you were doing.
When I find myself lost in social media, I know it’s time to go for a walk and clear my head.
Thank you for pointing out the things we don’t normally think of as time vampires. Worry and gossip are the worst as they waste time and are absolutely toxic as well.
Brian, I agree and they are both something that we have all been a part of. As the mother of a teenager, worry is something that I have to intentionally set aside. It doesn’t work all the the time, but now that I am more mindful of it, it’s rare that I am consumed by it.
Thank you SO much for this great reminder! I rule over the physical clutter, but the mental clutter feels like I’m living in a neural episode of Hoarders! If only it were as easy as filling a dumpster!
inch by inch, day by day 😉
I love this post! I can’t tell you how many “oh-ya” moments I had reading this list. I have definitely fallen in the morning virtual vortex. Good insights and reminders! Thank you for your goodness!
Heather, Sometimes I get curious and peek at my email, but every time it turns into an event instead of a glance. Here’s to staying out of the virtual vortex!
Great post! I really like the one about email. You are right checking that email in the early morning can ruin your day.
Ron, It’s so funny how email can not only suck the day away, but change our mood as well. One unpleasant message, and we approach the rest of the day differently. That’s another reason to wait until later in the day to check.
I like the way you put it…your coherent approach on “clutter” n your simple explanations…decluttering is my agenda now, thanks to you and to Leo Babauta.
sweet!
Very sweet Sherifa! I have fantasies of letting it ALL go and starting over, but I’m not sure my family would be along for that ride. 😉
Great advice! #1 and 2 really stuck out for me. My last place of employment had a huge meeting culture. I can’t count how many hours I’ve wasted sitting in on meetings that were either unproductive, irrelevant to my work, or both.
I’m getting into better email habits too – not checking it first thing in the morning like I used to, which gives me time to have a relaxed breakfast and go for a walk.
Thanks for sharing!
Josh, I know I will never get the time back I spent in mandatory meetings. Why don’t companies see that they waste everyone’s time and money, including their own?
I’m loving the suggestion to turn off the email notifications. But I’m also realizing that I have to turn off the interruptions in my job too! Like the jobs queue I’m supposed to clear by the end of the day. I started to get much more done when I only let myself check it once every two hours instead of constantly….
Hi Courtney,
thank you very much for another amazing article. You are part of the several people I find worth following. You help me realize what’s most important in my life.
Have a lovely weekend dear Courtney, keep taking control over your life, you are a sunshine 🙂
Yet another great most fabulous thought provoking work of art in your writing! 🙂
So, the gossip thing. Wow. Why is it that people go to the negative? I’ve been here on the Island just 7 months. I’ve already had what has happened to me before. I get these people who want to be “friends” with me. And then they start talking bad about anybody that I might know that they know, or telling me “stories” about other people.
Yikes. They have already been put in the dream smasher pile. No, I do not want to spend my time with you. Interestingly enough I feel like they get the reason why. I just won’t engage in that kind of talk anymore.
The good news, it has opened up my time for a couple of really cool SeaSistah friends too! Just love the realization. Never thought of it as getting rid of clutter to clear my space for quality… but it is so very true.
Mahalo my SesSistah in the Snow!
Courtney,
Thank you so much for this post. It’s so easy to think that once we’ve cleaned out the clutter-stuff, that we’re done. Unfortunately, sometimes, the less stuff we have, the more time we have to dedicate to the invisible clutter. Clearing out that invisible clutter is absolutely essential to achieving a truly clutter-free day/life.
I read an interesting post by Jonathan Fields where he makes some fascinating observations about why we feel so attached to the invisible clutter in the first place. He called it “intermittent reinforcement”. You might find the article interesting. Here’s the link: http://www.jonathanfields.com/blog/creative-kryptonite-and-the-death-of-productivity/
Anyway, hope you have a wonderful weekend.
Thanks again for the wonderful thoughts.
Brock
I work so hard to minimized tangible clutter and often forget about this invisible clutter, especially social media and morning email checking!
Your articles are great…I had a meeting which lasted all day long + I had a working dinner till 23:00, I feel like my day has been stolen!
Hello! My only other post to you was “42 places to sit at my house ( I live alone)”. Since then I donated my leather sofa ( I bought it used) to a family who lost everything and was starting over. They thank me every time I see them!
Today I wanted to tell you my craigslist adventure. Thanks to your motivation I ventured into the shed and submitted a post for a never used pet door. I met a darling young couple who foster rescues! I ended up selling the door to them for half what I had listed it for AND donated: 3 birdcages, 2 litter boxes, 2 pet beds, pet toys, leashes, a bunny hutch and bowls, treats and chicken wire. It filled their pickup truck and my heart. We stood in the driveway and shared pet pictures as the sun set.
Amazing the stuff I/we accumulate but I am not going to linger in the past! Instead I felt it was FUN to let go and by letting go, help others!
p.s. the pet door was for their pet PIG <3