- Purchased: Physical items for which you pay money to bring into your home.
- Acquired: Physical items you bring into your home that come from your mailbox, gifts, school and work, freebies/giveaways, inheritances, and other people's storage.
- Allowed: Time and communication clutter like overscheduled calendars, unnecessary activities, emails, and phone calls.
To the category of Allowed clutter, I would like to add that mental clutter can be as time-consuming as e-mail spam messages and even likely more damaging. There are a few kinds of mental clutter that I will be writing about in future posts. Today's focus: WORRY.
Two months ago I received a notice from my bank about some terms that were going to change regarding one of my accounts. I did not like what it said! But I had some time to contact them and choose whether to accept those terms or to close my account. I was mad about it and stewed about it for a while… and it really bugged me. So I finally sat down to make the dreaded call, bracing myself for an argument. And guess what? When I re-read the top part of the page, I realized it was regarding an old dormant account I hadn't used for years! It had nothing to with anything I currently was using.
I felt like such a fool, a total sillyhead, for letting this bother me so much, when it was all a mirage! As my mother says, I had "made a mountain out of a molehill." I wish I could get back all of the energy I expended worrying about it and being angry.
Consultant Dan Zadra said, "Worry is misuse of imagination." Amen, brother. Would much rather have been creating something constructive with all of that energy!
What could I have done differently? Taken action sooner. I am a big believer that action conquers fear. Do SOMETHING, don't wait. Make the call, grab the bull by the horns, git 'er done. Sometimes having all of the information becomes the cure.
Next week: Another kind of mental clutter that I see people suffering with all the time, and my favorite tools for combating it… What have you done to effectively combat WORRY? Share in the comments!
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Lorie, I agree.
Most things that people worry about never come to be.
Action is the best cure for fear. Tasks left to sit only get worse with time. In this case, they just take up more and more mental worry when they could have been done or addressed.
Great Post .. Many times I feel like my mental space is just incredibly cluttered with arbitrary thoughts ..
When I find myself worrying making my mind calm down is the first thing I try to do. The other day I found that my laptop was not booting up. It was about the 20th time it has happened. I began to panic and worry about my data and all the consequences that I would need to face. Then I decided to switch my attention to another unfinished project of assembling a new shelf. The shelf took about 20 minutes to put together. By this time I felt much better and I was able to go back to the laptop and try a system restore and thankfully it worked ! and then I backed up all my data on my friend’s external drive till such time I bought my own.
To live in the moment is an important one. What’s happening right now? Worry is that movie that happens in your head. When a disaster strikes make an action plan and get moving. Think of what we could accomplish if we aren’t full of worry!
All the best,
Amy
http://www.thehatchedegg.com
I keep paper and pencil handy on the bedside table — if I lay awake worrying about tomorrow’s tasks, I take a minute to write down what I’m worried about — then I can fall asleep. Just seeing it in black and white shows me it’s not un-doable!
My favorite Worry quote is, “Worry is interest paid on a debt that has not yet been accrued.” Thanks for your blog.
One of my favorite worry quotes is”Worrying is like rocking in a rocking chair. It gives you something to do, but doesn’t get you anywhere.”
I totally agree with taking action to organize yourself. I always joke that for the time spent worrying I could have cleaned up my whole house by now!
Worrying… My fiancee is a big proponent in talking things out. He tell me all the time “If you talk it out, it takes 50% of the power it has over you away.” If one of us has a problem we sit face to face on the couch and discuss.
Genny
http://www.connectionsforwomen.com
I get a lot of gifts from friends and family and I never want to throw them away… I have a cabinet full of acquired clutter