Task after task, at work and at home. Your head starts to spin when you think of everything you want to do and it is hard to remember where you have written everything down and what has priority over what? Your head feels messy and you need more headspace.
What can you do?
Ryder Carroll, known from the Bullet Journal, believes that writing down everything that goes on in your head, including your to-do lists, your worries, and your ideas will create room in your mind. You outsource your thoughts, your head feels cleaner and you are more productive. Clutter in your mind can cause you to be overwhelmed and limited in what you can achieve in a day. So, let’s write stuff down!
- Make an inventory: What do you have to do? What do you want to do? And what should you pick up first?
- Consider the ‘why’: Why do you do what you do? And, why do you want to pick up these things? “We burden ourselves with unnecessary responsibilities,” says Carroll. “We are so distracted by all the things that we should and can do, but we forget to ask ourselves: Do I want to do those things?”
- Ask two questions: Is it essential? Is this important for me or for someone I love? If the answer is no to these two questions, it is a distraction and you can therefore remove it from your list! This way you get your focus back.
- Take what remains and cut it up: If all goes well you now have an overview of all your important to-do’s, projects and wishes. If there is something new on your list, such as learning a language or starting a project, split it up into smaller tasks. This way it remains well-arranged and achievable. This also helps with keeping you motivated.
- Take time every day to go through your inventory: Even if it is only for 5 minutes. Carroll says: “We must devote ourselves to keeping that map updated with all the new things we discover. If we don’t do that, our map will become inaccurate and we will wander. If it turns out that something that was important to you, is no longer important, cross it out and let it go. “
By keeping your journal up to date, you can literally see what you are doing well, what’s not going to great, what you have already learned and what is really important to you. These self-insights help you to get to know yourself better and ensure that you are less easily distracted!
In addition to keeping track of all your tasks and your wishes for new projects and fun ideas, it is also good to keep track of what you are grateful for. This increases your sense of happiness and also promotes peace and space in your head. There you go, some extra headspace for you.
