Get rid of these 5 distractions to eliminate overwhelm

We're approaching the end of March, which means, if you're a PowerSheets® user, it's time for your first Three-Month Goal Refresh! Many organizations with incredibly-high stakes, from Fortune 500 companies to the military, know this truth: we can only focus intently on something for 90 days. At Cultivate, we're no different.

Whether you've grown leaps and bounds since January 1st or are celebrating small steps forward, you're not the same person you were then. And there's more opportunity for change ahead! Flip to the spring cleaning checklist in your Spring Goal Refresh (page 93) and get ready to eliminate distractions, clutter of all kinds, and the overwhelm that keeps you from making progress on your goals.

An easy and impactful way to do this? Tackle one of these areas each day this week!

5 distractions and 5 ways to reduce them: 

1. Digital Clutter. Much of our lives exist on devices. The internet is unavoidable. Because of this, streamlining our digital presence and activity can pay dividends, even if we can't (and don't want to!) eliminate them completely. 

 

Starting step: Put your phone to sleep when you put yourself to sleep - but in a different room! Plug it in to charge in your kitchen, hall, bathroom, or mudroom -  anywhere except where you lay your head down. Instead of scrolling mindlessly as your eyes close, chat with your partner, read a book, pray, journal, or see our next suggestion...

Bonus: Read 46 Things To Do Instead of Scrolling on Social Media.

2. Mental Clutter. You know those thoughts constantly swirling in your head, like the dust cloud following a cartoon character? They eat up your mental bandwidth, pulling your focus from better things and wasting genius that could be spent finding creative solutions!

Starting step: Place a pad of paper on your bedside table. Before you lay down each night, spend ten minutes downloading. Getting all of the to do's, thoughts, worries, and reminders out of your head and onto paper is the first step to DOING something with them in the morning - and sleeping better in the meantime!

Bonus: Unfollow 5 people who lead you into comparison on social media. They're taking up mental space, too!

3. Physical Clutter. Studies show a direct link between the amount of physical possessions in a house and the stress level of the female homeowner. Physical and mental clutter are deeply entwined; a tidy, simple space sets the stage for every kind of progress you want to make. 

Starting step: Choose just ONE space to declutter this week. Choose a space you interact with every day to feel an immediate boost once it's clean! And keep it small: your shoe collection, your hall table, a bathroom drawer, your kitchen table, the surface of your desk. 

4. Time Clutter. Do you find yourself asking "how do they do it all?" It can be easy to make assumptions about people we know or follow, particularly on social media, but the truth is that every yes is attached to a no. Time is both precious and plentiful—you may say no to something good in order to say yes to the best things.

Starting step: Take a look at your calendar and create a YES and NO list for where you are going to spend your time. When we say yes and no, we are making decisions about the seeds we want to sow. Ask yourself what is essential and what is a distraction.

Bonus: Try these 11 ways to free up time for what matters most.

5. Financial Clutter. So many of us resist thinking or talking about our finances, preferring instead to bury our heads in the sand. The funny thing is that the more you think about money (as in, face your situation head-on and make a proactive plan), the less you need to think about money (as in, worry about whether you have enough).  

Starting step: Pick a day of the month to be your financial "duty day" (maybe the 1st or the 5th). Put it on your calendar now. Use it to cross off all the little tasks that take up mental space so you can rest assured they're taken care of: check in on your budget, enter transactions, make payments, process paperwork, or file receipts. 

Bonus: Fill out our Finance Goal Guide to establish a strong WHY for your financial future.

Tell us, which type of clutter is most overwhelming in your life right now? What distracts you most during the day from focusing on what matters most?