In today’s world, we are literally bombarded with information from different sources. One study says we have more information since the last two decades than was there from all of beginning of civilisation.
With so much information coming in constantly, the mind is incapable of processing it all and it makes it difficult to make the right choices, to know what is really true and what isn’t, what is helpful and what is just a time waster.
Alycone in “At the feet of the Master” says, “In all the world there are only two kind of people, those who know and those who do not know and this knowledge is all that matters”
One must practice discernment, and make informed choices, learning to choose carefully that which is useful and ignore all that is not useful.
Excessive material possessions and information lead to clutter, physically, digitally, emotionally, mentally and spiritually.
One of the speakers I heard recently said , “clutter is nothing but postponed decisions and actions”. It made me think. It is indeed true…When we fall into the habit of procrastination and laziness, tasks accumulate and create clutter and then begins a vicious circle of this clutter itself keeping us from doing what needs to be done. Sometimes this mental clutter prevents us from sleeping well and that leads to other health issues.
In this article, I share a few tips to declutter your space: physically, digitally, emotionally, mentally and spiritually
Physically: Clear the things you haven’t used for the last two years. Unlikely you will use them now.
Get rid of the “shelf-esteem”, a term I heard Jack Canfield use in one of his lectures. Read the books, else give them to a library. Someone else can read them and benefit. You still get the good karma. 🤓
Stop collecting things that won’t be used. Unused things are equivalent to stuck energy.
Follow the one- in-two-out rule. If you get one new thing, at least two or more old things have to go out from your shelves.
Digitally: delete emails and messages that are not useful anymore.
Unsubscribe from mailing lists, WhatsApp groups.
Block where necessary.
Avoid the urge to respond to every message.
Emotionally: listen to the inner voice, evaluate it and then decide whether or not you need to pay attention to it. Think, what would be the advice you would give in the same very scenario to your best friend? Apply it to yourself.
Mentally: get rid of thinking negative for yourself, for others and for the world around you. For problems, identify them, then shift the focus to the solution. Always try and be a part of the solution.
Check your zone of influence… It may not be big, but it’s the best you can do. It will eventually expand and even if it doesn’t, at least you have the satisfaction of knowing you did all you could.
Spiritually: watch out for pride. It’s one of the worst obstacles to growth on the spiritual path. It breeds from low self esteem and ignorance and prevents our minds from seeing clearly. Work on removing pride ruthlessly, regularly.
Forgive and let go. Forgive yourself as well as others.
When you find a system that works for you stick with it. Frequent shifting costs you energy and time. Move on only when you truly feel there’s no more to do or learn, or that you are not growing anymore.
Some other useful tips:
Try the Brain dump technique. Write it down. Every single thought, task that you need to do or wish to do. Every blockage you have. Every thing that makes you happy, makes you sad or angry. Things you have been wanting to do but haven’t done.
Then categorise these into: do it now, delegate it, defer it, drop it.
Use the Vitamin N. Learn to say NO. Set healthy boundaries. And don’t feel guilty about it.
Clump similar taks together. Give an hour a day for all tasks that need only 2 minutes. Finish them up.
Move from FOMO (fear of missing out) to JOMO (joy of missing out) Less is truly more in today’s world!
Follow the KISS rule. KEEP IT SHORT AND SIMPLE
For unimportant tasks, “satifice”. Keep the perfectionist attitude for what is truly important.
Get rid of distractions.
Avoid or minimise multi tasking.
Develop skills to skim information. Set up filters.
Delegate where possible.
Most importantly…TAKE ACTION..DO. Sometimes we get overwhelmed and don’t even start. The first step is often the most important one.
“Start by doing what is necessary, then do what is possible and soon you will be doing the impossible” -St. Francis of Assisi.
Give things only that much time as they are worth. Check the input vs output.
Keep the end goal in mind.
Ask useful questions. All the time. For (almost) everything. Know your why. Why am I studying this? Why am I buying this? Is there a need? Is it useful to me? To others around me?
Apply the THINK filter to your thoughts, words and actions. (is it True, Helpful, Inspiring, Necessary, Kind?)
When faced with doubts, invoke and think how would the Guru respond to this situation? How would he think, what would he say, what would he do.
Practice the Teachings.
Master Choa has given so many techniques- the Arhatic Yoga path is complete in itself and just by practicing the Teachings, all the above gets taken care of.
Shift from knowing to doing.
Meditate regularly- it helps remove unnecessary thoughts and clean the energy bodies.
Chant-especially the Gayatri mantra- to invoke for intuitive intelligence and illumination.
Practice Superbrain Yoga to make the brain sharper.
Lastly, be patient. The results will come.
As Master Choa says, “If you have done everything that needs to be done, the future will take care of itself”.
Declutter your life and watch the magic unfold!
Blessings be with all.
Love and light.
Nina 🙂
