Decluttering deferred decisions
Not only are the computers and formats obsolete, so is the data itself. (SDASM Archives)
When we think of decluttering, we might think of removing physical objects from our lives.
It’s a process that has to happen periodically. That’s because the default is to hang onto the things we’ve purchased or gained that are or were useful.
But we need to declutter not only the physical objects in our lives, but other things, too: time commitments, broken systems and processes, relationships, and even plans and dreams (what my friend Maria Granovsky calls "mental clutter"). There is also what Seth Godin refers to as project debt. Each instance of clutter represents a deferred decision.
We can begin to train ourselves to spot this clutter in our lives, careers, and organizations and develop a framework for dealing with it. This can help to make our businesses more profitable and our lives more fun and free.
Now, you may be imagining a major overhaul or audit of all of your systems and stuff. But we’re not going there for a few reasons:
Clutter represents a deferred decision, and decisions are exhausting.
Decluttering requires focus. It is essentially a process built out of decisions, and such intense work cannot be sustained over a long period.
Plus, you have enough to do already. You probably don’t have the resources to literally or metaphorically pull everything out of your closet and deal with it.
Another reason we are not doing a major overhaul is that big changes are stressful—and usually, not sustainable. Big changes trigger fear and resistance and lead us back to just being the way we’ve always been.
An overhaul is a top-down process that might equally touch things that are important and relevant and that don’t need to be disturbed. Sometimes, it’s like reading the whole dictionary instead of just looking up the one word you want. We have to give ourselves permission, sometimes, to work from the bottom up, starting with what is most relevant and urgent and gradually working our way through the entire system as necessary.
We are constantly making decisions about what we add to our lives. It makes sense that we need to make parallel decisions about what to remove. This is an ongoing, never-ending process that needs to become a habit, not a one-and-done project.
From decluttering expert Dana K. White at A Slob Comes Clean, I learned that it is possible to do this work and make only progress.
One of her key rules is to start with visible clutter first. This means that the first step in a home decluttering process isn’t to take everything out of the closet. It’s to do the dishes, then clear off the dining room table, and so on. In the process, you are improving things.
So as we put out fires and solve problems in our daily lives, we are already engaging in our decluttering. As my friend Mandi says, breakdowns lead to breakthroughs. Whatever we’re dealing with is giving us clues about what we can address.
At this moment, you may be thinking of something that you know you need to deal with: something you need to get rid of, someone you need to let go of, a product or service you need to discontinue, a request you need to say no to, an email you need to answer. Take a moment and write it down. If you do that every time you think of one of these things—and then, per David Allen, you put these things into a trusted system that ensures they will be addressed—you're "decluttering" in realtime without making a bigger mess.
Our junk drawers, email inboxes, calendars, and the open tabs on our browsers are full of deferred decisions. Acknowledging to ourselves each decision we need to make is half the battle. It doesn’t mean we need to make the decision or act on it right now. But if we go too long, we have an integrity issue.
Therefore, let me be the evil coach and ask: For one thing that's nagging you today, whatever it is, when will you take care of it? What is your commitment?
Sending the uncomfortable email, telling someone no, firing a contractor, and so on—these are the steps to decluttering our lives and businesses.
You can declutter simply by paying attention to what’s coming across your plate and deciding how to deal with it, day by day. How is that different from what you're already doing? Well, it requires a certain kind of noticing—to see what is right in front of you that has grown invisible as you've become habituated to it. Then, you need the will to spend at least a few minutes at a time following through with what you know you need to do instead of putting it off once again.
Decluttering of all kinds requires the courage to let go of our previous beliefs and the fortitude to make tough decisions. But it doesn’t have to take over our lives and businesses. It can be an ongoing process, another tool in our toolkit that can transform us and our work.
