Mind Clutter

I am totally into Simple Mom and her ideas. Some times something she writes really gels with me. Her post on Wednesday was about GTD. I started reading and she was answering someone's question about GTD and sometimes I am very out of touch and I said aloud part way through this post "What the hell is a GTD?" Simple Mom can read my mind and she very specifically explained that a GTD was:

Some of you might be wondering - what is GTD? If you Google it, you’ll see that there’s quite a pseudo-cult following on the idea, even though GTD simply stands for “Getting Things Done.” Coined by David Allen, his system of productivity spawned a whole generation of people embracing the idea of sticking with a simple system to - well, Get Things Done.

I did all the googling and you have to pay to receive an e-book to get the GTD discussed above. I've never bought an e-book before however I'm sure they are wonderful. But if you read Simple Mom's whole post she challenges every one to do a version of their own GTD by writing down everything on their mind in about 5 minutes. At first I thought I can't empty my mind in 5 minutes and how will I organize this but that's the key just jot down all the stuff on your mind as it pops up in no sort of order. I did this in about 5 minutes.

Simple Mom was totally right, it does make you feel less stressed. I can take this page of my mind and organize it into some sort of "to do" list. I think it will help with the "oh yeah, I forgot to . . . " things that keep popping back up every now and again but as soon as I remember them they are forgotten again kind of thing. I know there's no way I'm doing everything on this page in a day or two or even in a week or month but just getting it down that the garage needs to be cleaned takes off the pressure of constantly thinking about it. I think a lot of my stress comes from the "I need to __________" that I'm constantly thinking all day and all night long.

I've been meaning to do a post on "I wish there were more (awake) hours in a day just for moms". I keep thinking I need about 2 or 3 more hours a day to get all these things done that I never get done. That's riduculous to spend mind space on that idea because it's not happenin' no way, no how, no Obama . . . sorry too much policitical news. Then I saw Brooke Shields interviewed discussing her role on Lipstick Jungle (which I don't watch, but wish I did) where she juggles a career and family and relationships just like her real life. She said something to the effect that everything is not going to be done and great all at the same time and with kids and work and a husband it's going to be stressful and that's okay as long as you acknowlegde that. I need to acknowlegde it more. She said being a mom is about juggling a lot of things and hoping you don't drop any of the balls. Life isn't about getting things done it's about living and learning and loving and enjoying and hopefully you have clean underwear to put on and a place to have a visitor sit if they come over and time to reflect and enjoy the life you create. I need to remember that . . we all need to remember that.

So maybe I'll try to do a little mind decluttering everyday (hopefully at the beginning of the day) and see how it works for me. I'll keep you updated and let me know if you decide to do a little decluttering of your own.

Maybe my new motto should be "Keep on Juggling".