Psychological Benefits of Decluttering

Disclaimer: This is an unscientific opinion piece. I could be full of beans.

It turns out that, exactly one year ago, I was hand-wringing my way through a major transition from Evernote to Standard Notes and the issue then was the huge volume of notes.

This evening, I uninstalled GloboNote after importing just two dozen random notes. What a difference a year makes! So, in celebration, let's look at the psychological benefits of decluttering.


Don't Put Off Until Tomorrow ...

One of the biggest decluttering benefits I've obtained is Inbox Zero. By simplifying how I interact with my Gmail account, along with unsubscribing from a ton of useless email notifications, I can rip through my daily email in less than 15 minutes!

Ideas Really Are a Dime a Dozen

Next up on the benefits list is the peace of mind that comes from letting things go. About two years and three laptops ago, I counted 76 projects in various stages of pre-abandonment. LOL I was really going to get to them...someday.

Thanks to some shaky backup software, half of those projects simply disappeared. They had support notes in Evernote but, there was no way I was going to rebuild them.

Out of Sight, Not Out of My Mind

For years, my angst grew from the fact that  I always thought, "I know that data is somewhere." Since embarking on the Digital Diet, I now think, "I know that data is somewhere." 

I spend very little time seeking files. First of all, I'm no longer flitting from one unfinished project to another. I'm working on a puzzle book and everything is a shortcut away. For the occasional file unrelated to my work, I just use Everything.exe and a nifty tagging system to find it.

Journals Are Fun!

My friend, Mitch Mitchell, enjoys using his journal. On a whim, I bought a little blank notebook to store my new ideas. The cover has an inspiring inscription:

FIRST YOU DREAM

----------------------

THEN YOU DO


A small thing, but it really does bring out the intention in me! If I get an idea in the shower, I don't exactly run to the notebook, dripping wet, to record my thoughts. However, that level of exhilaration keeps the thoughts foremost in my mind until I can jot them down.

Final Thoughts

Decluttering is a living, evolving concept. It means different things to you and me. But, however we wend our separate ways through the digital morass of our lives, I believe we eventually meet up in the same place: peace of mind.




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