Before I address this prompt, I have to have a cantankerous old man moment: “Bloganuary” is a terrible, ugly portmanteau which we did not need. Ugh. It’s like trying to make “fetch” happen.

And now, we return to our regularly scheduled program.

Reducing clutter has been on my mind a lot lately. In November, I wrote about how Sweetie and I are digging out from two decades of accumulated belongings. We’ve tried and discarded a lot of hobbies, together and separately, but we never got rid of the stuff. It’s difficult to let go of the thought that we might get back to it, or to acknowledge that we aren’t going to get our money back by selling it. We’ve made progress, yet we still have a long way to go.

Clutter is not limited to things. Clutter can also be mental debris. Similar to the way our closets can be filled with belongings that are no longer wanted or useful, our minds can be cluttered with thoughts and behavior patterns that are no longer helpful–or never were. Hiding your feelings might have been an adaptive habit when you were a child, for example, but it sabotages your adult relationships. Some people learn not to trust their skills, or devalue them, and it keeps them from doing things they want to do.

Tasks are another form of mental clutter. We’re all busy. There are so many things to do, and the list never seems to get shorter, does it? Little tasks that will “only take a few minutes” multiply like tribbles, and “a few minutes” can wipe out an entire afternoon. We lack the time to think. We lack the time to focus. This is where I most need to reduce clutter in my life. I add tasks to the list without thinking about whether they are really worth doing, or asking if I am the one who ought to do them. I try to do everything.

When I was told my job would be eliminated, I thought at first that at least I would “get things done.” I deluded myself that what I needed was time. No longer tied to my desk, I would become a dynamo of accomplishment. To a degree, that was true. I did get a lot done. But I forgot that there would be other “to dos” and I found myself just as overwhelmed as before.

I have been working on cutting down that clutter. I started by switching to a paper calendar and managing my time. Something about writing tasks on paper helps me be more realistic about how much time they’ll take. With a context-free list of reminders on my phone, it’s easy to underestimate how big a task is. Or to flat-out lie to myself. “I know that’s an hour, but I’ll just have to do it in fifteen minutes.” I’m not joking there–I have literally told myself that, countless times. For whatever reason, blocking time on a paper planner forces me to be more honest about what I can do.

It also makes it easier for me to evaluate my capacity. How much time can I spend? When I see appointments, it forces me to reckon with how much time I’ll need to travel to and from them. Or if they are online, to allow time to clear my head before and after them.

With an honest view of how much time I have, I make better choices about how I want to spend it. Instead of trying to churn through as many tasks as I can in as little time as I can, I’m evaluating what is really important to do. I also reserve time for focus and defend against the intrusion of “just a few minutes” tasks that have nothing to do with what I’m focusing on.

Cutting down on that mental clutter isn’t easy, but doing it reduces stress and increases satisfaction. I’ll continue eliminating physical things I no longer need, but the most important clutter I can reduce is the need to feel constantly busy.