Free yourself from the draining effect of mental clutter

I need to do this. I should do that. I started this and never finished that. …
 
Sometimes it's hard to keep track of all the different projects swirling around my life. If you’re like me, you’re always in the middle of writing a novel, reading a novel (or two), working full-time, producing content, and balancing life’s many dishes on your head.
 
All of this is well and good if juggling is something you have a talent for. But even if you take it all in stride, it will benefit you to eventually come down to earth and apply some order to the chaos.
 
Do you really have time to write that new online course you’ve been wanting to put together for a year and a half now? When do you plan to set up the rest of your author pages? When will you put into action your library and bookstore sales campaigns. (Yes, I’m talking to myself right now!)
 
So many ventures, not near enough time to tackle them.
 
Like me, you may feel like you could really use an assistant, but finding one and figuring out how to work well with one will take time as well.
 
Neglected projects don’t just fade into the background. Many of the tasks that you’ve started but never finished still occupy mental space. They hang over your head or sit so long on the backburner that they cook to the bottom of the pan.
 
Every once in a while, you have to clear those things out. Put them to rest, so to speak.
 
For me, it’s the online course I want to write. But it’s less-lofty projects too. Like unfinished reading. And unwritten emails. Unwritten book reviews. Unmade phone calls. All of these things pile up and weigh me down. They mentally cling. And in the clinging, they hold me back.
 
It gets to a point where I need to Marie Kondo my brain! Say thank-you for each idea and ambition, and then toss it, at least for the time being.
 
One of the best ways I find to get "the unfinished" out of the way is to make a long list of all that’s hanging suspended out there, and then accomplish as many as quickly as I can. Then scratch off those that no longer matter—a birthday gift you never bought and is already a month overdue? Too late; better luck next year.
 
I’ll spend an hour or so, for instance, sending lingering email replies and shipping packages that have been waiting to go or doing that quick bit of research I’ve been meaning to do. If it’s not something that can be ticked off right away, I’ll open my calendar and block out some real space for it. Otherwise, I’ll probably never do it, and I should admit that to myself so I can move on.
 
Get some closure.
 
Accepting that some things fall through the cracks because they’re not high on the list of importance isn’t easy. Some things are more important than others. That’s just  a fact of life. Let it go. Free up the brain space! Move forward. Move on to the things that will make a difference when you get them done.
 
Remember your priorities. You’re a one-person show. A writer, a publisher, the CEO of a business. You can’t possibly do everything you want to do. So you’ll have to make some hard decisions … and while you’re at it, think about getting that virtual assistant.
 
What’s most important to you?
 
Next week, I’ll reveal Best Ways to Build Your Subscriber’s List


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