Simplicity… Clarity… Peace of mind… When was the last time we experienced that in our lives? When was the last time we felt truly happy just being in the moment? When our thoughts were not occupied by planning, prioritizing, analyzing or worrying?
There are some days when I just want to step back, close my life, take a long deep breath, and feel tranquility and peace wash over me.
If lately you too have been yearning to bring simplicity and clarity into your life, here are 7 easy steps that will help you to do just that:
1. Get rid of clutter.
I recently stumbled across a funny picture of Albert Einstein who appeared to be looking for something on his extremely messy desk. Below the picture was a quote “If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, of what, then, is an empty desk?” – Albert Einstein.
And although, Einstein’s witty comeback made me smile, an empty desk does not necessarily imply an empty mind. Very rarely does clutter help us think and be more productive (like in the case of Einstein).
Usually it is quite the opposite. Psychologists have noticed that working at a messy desk impedes concentration and noticeably decreases productivity. Just as living in a cluttered house, may drain our energy and negatively affect our mood.
The first step to simplifying your life and to bring peace into your soul is to simplify the space you live and work in. Everything that is old, unneeded, unused, broken or spare needs to go! Be honest with yourself about what you truly need and what you have been holding on to without much thought. You will be surprised how refreshing it feels to reclaim your space back.
2. Get rid of mental clutter.
It is not only our homes and offices that get cluttered. Our minds get overwhelmed too with new ideas, important dates that we need to remember, things we must do and all the “where did I put it?” questions. Our mind works non-stop. Processing. Prioritizing. Remembering…
In reality uncluttering our mind is not that different from organizing our office desk – you bring order into your thinking, by not trying to keep everything in your head. This is what I do to organize my thoughts:
1. Make to-do lists, where I write down important tasks or events that I am afraid to forget.
2. Keep an idea journal for all the good ideas that I might have. I just write it down and take it off my mind.
3. Have “junk-thought” sheet by my computer, where I dump all of those negative, meaningless and distracting thoughts that keep cycling over and over, junking up my mind! Sometimes I can fill up the whole page in 15 minutes, with all those random thoughts that come to my mind. But after I am done, I always feel much more focused.
For some reason writing your thoughts down works like magic when you are trying to calm an overly agitated mind and gain clarity.
3. Separate your family from your professional life.
When we have to sacrifice our family time in order to finish an important project – we feel guilty. Whenever we are spending time with our family and think about how much we need to get done – we feel anxious. In any case life gets complicated, because you are not focusing 100% on work and you are not really being with your family. Keep your professional life separate from your personal life. When you are at work – work, when you are with your family – enjoy it to the fullest! And you will see how much simpler life gets.
Spring has long come, bringing along the aromas of wild flowers, freshly cut grass and morning sun. With sunlight streaming through the windows and the change of season our houses suddenly start to feel stuffier and more cluttered than ever.
