Many people make lists of things to do, but their minds are frequently filled with other thoughts. They’re not all things to do. Those thoughts can get in the way of a clear mind that has the ability to focus on the task at hand. You might find that you need to clear out your mind so that you can GTD (Getting Stuff Done).
If you find yourself having a difficult time getting things done, even if you’ve captured all your to-dos, perhaps you need to clear out some other things, too.
Try this:
Sit down, take a deep breath, and write out everything on your mind. If it’s something to do, fine, you can transfer that to its proper place later. Now keep going. Write down everything you’ve been thinking about this day. Be honest. Don’t censor yourself. Write it ALL out, everything you’ve been thinking about at this moment, in this day.
Now step back and take a look at what you’ve written. Is this everything? If not, get it on the page.
Now read your list.
Take another deep breath.
Now that your mind has been emptied and you are feeling the release of all those pent up thoughts that have been rattling around in your brain, you should have a better capacity to GTD.
Now see if you can set your mind to doing something productive. It might not be something you set out to do. It might be something on this list. But it most likely will be something that you need to do.
