Block out Clutter and Focus on What Matters

Earlier this week, I had one of those days that simply caught up to me and got me worked up. Because I’m a time-tested veteran of battling through worry and fears, I was able to identify the problem right away- I was far too anxious about little things that weren’t urgent and could easily wait for another day. I was wasting time and energy on clutter. Little, insignificant worries and problems that are better met with a clear mind and a wisely planned approach to knock them out.

I wrote last week about Stephen Covey’s time management quadrants. Truly, this is a baseline that is very valuable when considering how we should invest our time each day. This quadrant is a great tool that allows you to use your analytical mind to diagnose each task or aspect of your day. You can then determine whether that something is an activity worthy of your time, or simply clutter that will waste your time.

As Covey points out in his book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, we all have to spend time doing important- or unimportant things that have to get done. No matter how well we plan our days out, there will be fires to put out- that’s just a fact of life. Trust me, once you have children, there are even more fires to put out. In a good way, sort of. Remember that when you’re changing a diaper at 2:45 in the morning and standing tall in the face of a 16-month old child’s screams, as he pounds your ear drums like Nirvana-era Dave Grohl.

The point is, there will be difficulties and critical things we need to focus on that we may not want to. The key is to minimize the time we spend on unimportant activities- clutter- and maximize our focus on what really inspires us and deserves our attention.

Eliminate Clutter And Find Your Quality Time

Maybe you’ve been there, getting worked up over insignificant things that can destroy your day or even your week. Negative thoughts, anger, worry and envy are common emotions when we get distracted and frustrated. These enemies of our mind prevent us from focusing on the, “Quality Time,” in Covey’s quadrant. What he describes as the, “Sharpening the Saw,” time where we learn, read, imagine new ideas, explore our creative side and spend time in prayer, boosting our faith and hope which leads to love.

The times that I get down are when I’m doing things I don’t enjoy or thinking of nonsense that irritates me. I waste my time focusing instead on little nuisances that can morph into large obstacles that dominate my thoughts with negativity. I fall back into old traps of envious or lazy thoughts. These time wasters eat away at the precious minutes or even hours of solitude, creativity and mindfulness I have. They threaten to damage and damper my mood around my loved ones and colleagues.

I want to maximize the time I spend with my family and show them all the love that I can. I want to focus on my goals in life, becoming better at my job, improving relationships and surrounding myself with positive energy and belief. The thoughts that enter our minds can permeate our being and rapidly change both our emotional and physical states. Norman Vincent Peale addressed this beautifully in his mammoth bestseller, The Power of Positive Thinking:

“We are beginning to comprehend a basic truth hitherto neglected, that our physical condition is determined very largely by our emotional condition, and our emotional life is profoundly regulated by our thought life.”

Thrive With Positive Thoughts

We have to remind ourselves that we’re better than whatever anger, worry, doubt or envy creeps into our mind. The surefire way to block these thoughts out is to dominate our subconscious mind with positive thoughts, rooted in belief of self. Our values, self-confidence and things that matter help give us that view.

When I find myself in these moments where I feel like I’m stuck, anxious and my mind starts drifting, I think of my beautiful family. I focus on my dreams, the things that light the fire inside of me and inspire me to keep moving forward with confidence, energy and hope everyday. I think of my, "why," for writing, coaching and making a difference in people’s lives. Those things lift my spirit and produce tidal waves of positive energy inside of me.

I think we all experience the proverbial peaks and valleys for a reason. The down periods help us to make better sense of what brought us to moments of exultation and powerful, emotive feelings of self-satisfaction. The clutter is such a waste of your time and mine. Our thoughts and our being are much bolder than that! I’ll let Mr. Thoreau’s wisdom finish this piece.

“As a single footstep will not make a path on the earth, so a single thought will not make a pathway in the mind. To make a deep physical path, we walk again and again. To make a deep mental path, we must think over and over the kind of thoughts we wish to dominate our lives.”
Henry David Thoreau

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