Spring Cleaning The Mental Clutter

Hi Everyone

I am so impressed at all the efforts you have been making to de-clutter and clear out. Fine work my friends, I especially love all the pictures.  Keep them coming!

So now that Spring has officially sprung – we are well and truly into that traditional time of year to clean up and throw out.

Ha, we are ahead of the game!

Well…actually,  I don’t know about you but the de-cluttering, chucking out and whittling down is a never ending task…

So I have been tackling a corner here a corner there…

I went through ALL our books and gave a whole lot away…

I ploughed through a few more hideous drawers…plenty to chuck…

And even got out my paintbrush and gave the walls with the most finger marks ( that really show up in the afternoon light ) a quick once over…

But what about the clutter that I can’t put into a bag and take to Goodwill?  You know, the clutter of stuff that you carry around in your head and weighs you down with nagging feelings of guilt.

That letter you know you still haven’t replied to, the phone call that you must return, the eye appointment that is long overdue.  Dare I mention the mammogram…?

Back at my house there is also the small matter of a very large and very dead tree taking up most my front garden – I have been looking at it for about a year now.

A YEAR.

And now that everything is blooming around it, it’s looking extra dead.

That is a full 365 days where I have opened my front door and thought – I must do something about that – I’ll do it tomorrow – OK, definitely next week…FOR SURE before the Spring…

So, what if you tackle all of those things that you have put off, ignored and buried deep for quite some time?

Here’s what I am suggesting…

TACKLING TASKS YOU HAVE PUT OFF FOREVER

1. Make a list of everything you can think of that you haven’t done and know you should…

2. Give yourself a realistic timeframe to tackle the lot – maybe one week with perhaps 30 minutes to an hour given to it for a few days?  If your time is really tight, give yourself a month and try and take an hour or so on a Saturday and Sunday over four weekends.

3. Make sure you make an end date for the list to be done.

Having just made my list and got through a few items, I am amazed at how quickly I am checking those babies off…

I wrote three LONG overdue letters – oh the joy when I put them in the mail box!

Made four appointments for things I have conveniently put off for really…ahem quite some time – not looking forward to at least two of them but feeling smug all the same…

Called Peter Rudy, the fabulously amazing tree man – dead tree removed in two hours.

Took up an over-long pair of curtains that have been dragging on the floor for ten years – yes, I really did say ten years  – took 25 mins exactly.

And that was just for starters…

Highlights still un-checked on my list include:

Nasty horror of my kitchen cupboards.

The prospect of painting above cupboard doors..

And of course there is more.  Am planning to be done by the end of the month…

So there we have it.  I can tell you in all honesty that the time it takes to tackle a job you have spent quite a bit of mental energy dodging and putting off  is nothing as compared to the time that you have allowed it to gnaw away at you.  It is a ridiculous ratio.

So go out there folks and make that list, tackle it head on… and let me assure you that unbridled joy and mental clarity awaits you…

Back soon,

Ros

ps this is how you will feel when you have got through the list…

About Ros

My name is Ros Wyatt and I live across the bay from San Francisco. I moved here from England fifteen years ago with my husband, two children and a dog. Since then I have had added one more child to the line up and work as a painting contractor, color consultant, blogger, and screen printer.
This entry was posted in Cleaning up, De-cluttering, Green Plum Design, Mental Clutter and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.