Let’s talk about how to de-clutter your mind
In this podcast, Barbara Clifford speaks with me about strategies specific to project management that can help to declutter your mind.
Barbara has spent more than 20 years in time-precious industries such as film, hospitality and marketing, assisting professional business people to find clarity in their working environment, take control of their time and alleviate stress.
She provides project management consultancy, time management and productivity coaching and stress management. As a student of the Stress Management Institute she can provide coaching solutions to help stressed individuals identify the causes of stress.
As a talented speaker, Barbara has spoken for the Global Productivity Institute, Logan City Women in Business, Key Business Network, Entrepreneurial Mums, School Hours Business Mums, Leading Aged Care Services, Brisbane Speed Networking and Live Your Legend Brisbane.
Points raised in this Podcast:
- Project managers often get caught up in things that don’t add value to the project/task at hand.
- While apps such as Evernote can help project managers us organise our tasks, we also need strategies to help us organise our thoughts.
- Shifting the way we think about stress can help us lead healthier lifestyles.
- Project Managers often experience anticipatory stress, which relates to things that will happen in the future. The key to resolving anticipatory stress is to separate what is important from what is not and what is within your control from what is beyond your control.
- Being able to identify what you can do, with what is within your control, will help declutter your mind.
- Quadrant mapping can help us identify tasks that will deliver the biggest return for the least amount of effort. Prioritising these things and resolving them quickly will mean you no longer have to worry about them.
- Most project managers are organized, detailed and systematic and often allow little organic or creative process in their planning. Physical and tactile processes, such as mind mapping with post-it notes can allow you to de-clutter your mind.
- Shifting perspective from a spreadsheet to a wall filled with a post-it note mind map can help project managers see things differently by changing how the brain processes the information. This can help to identify the root cause of the concern or distraction.
- Once the cause of concern or distraction is identified, you should make sure it aligns with the purpose and the mission of the project you’re doing or company you work for, so you can decide if it warrants your worrying time.
- Give yourself permission to think about certain things at a later time to help declutter your mind in order to focus on the task at hand.
- Taking a short 10-minute break between tasks can prevent the stress of one task being dragged into the next.
- The more we shift back and forth between one task and the next the less effective we are. A short break can help you be mindful and present in all tasks.
- The brain only works well for 90 minutes at a time so setting an alarm to go for a walk or have a stretch can also help declutter your mind.
- Being stressed all the time is detrimental to your health and productivity.
For more information check out Barbara’s website The Time Tamer and download a free Productivity and Time Management Audit.