This is a great exercise if you are feeling
overwhelmed or having trouble focusing on what to do in your life. When
you're done, you will likely have lots more energy and feel more focused
and less stressed.
1. Do a Mind Dump Onto Paper
With lots of blank paper on hand, create a list of
everything you've been holding in your mind. This includes your entire
mental "to do" list, all of your dreams of things you might
do, become, experience, or acquire (from childhood to the present),
things you have ever thought you would do someday (like travel to a
certain country, learn to dance, etc.). To get more ideas, walk around
your house and look in closets. Then review your life year by year to
uncover more items.
2. Sort Your List
When you can't think of anymore, go through your list
and sort your items into the 3 following categories:
Done or Dropped
- Things you consider to be complete enough to drop, that are no longer
working for you in your life, that you no longer want to do or that
don't feel on-track anymore, that you are content to let other people
do, or that you just choose to consider "resolved to my satisfaction."
[Cross these off your list and consider them "done."]
To Do
- Things you absolutely plan to do or take steps towards in the next
6 months. [Transfer these to your official To Do list, and mark the
top 10 on which you plan to take action, starting this week.]
Someday Maybe
- Things you would perhaps like to do sometime in the future. [Use
these to start a "Someday Maybe" list that you keep for
future reference.]
3. Out with the Old and In
With the New
When you are done, shred or burn your "clean sweep"
list you started with, as a way of releasing those old things that you
no longer choose to hold in your mind. This exercise usually frees up
a great deal of mental energy that you were using to hold your mental
"to do's" - energy that will now be available to focus in
your new, chosen directions.
