By Janet M. Taylor
Growing the business, eating healthy, exercising, spending time with family, spending time with friends, decorating my home, speaking, consulting, producing and hosting a podcast are a few things on my mind. There were times when my body was so tired after a long day I crawled into bed but my mind was racing with ideas and thoughts which prevented me from going to sleep. I don’t have that problem anymore. My solution was to clear the ideas, agendas and to-do lists that were cluttering my mind.
Following is my technique to help you eliminate the many things cluttering your mind:
- Write a to-list at the end of my work day– Before I leave my workspace I create a list of the tasks I need to work on the next day. I take it a step further and organize information, files, etc that relate to the tasks on my list.
- Write a to-do list for my personal errands– When I have personal errands I sit down and write a list (pick up clothes from cleaners, deposit check in bank or pick up stamps). This helps me save time and I get things done without going to bed and realizing I forgot something which in the past would keep me up at night.
- Refer to my calendar before scheduling appointments– This has empowered me to say no. My schedule is no longer so full taking on too many requests and trying to think of ways to juggle them all. Someone told me that saying no to others, means saying yes to yourself.
- Use Evernote– Evernote is a great tool that allows me to record every thought or idea that pops in my head and organize it in a way that when I need to refer back to it I can find it.
- Keep a notepad on the night table– When a thought or idea pops in my head I grab the paper and pen, write it down and rollover and go back to sleep. No more sleepless nights.
