Our busy lives can sometimes feel like a never-ending cycle of work, obligations, and errands. Even if we figure out how to declutter our homes, if we don’t make time for ourselves, it can lead to stress and negative consequences.
But with the help of a few tools and habits, you can quickly declutter your schedule, create a mindful routine, and find the best way to focus on the important things.
What to Expect:
- The Benefits of Decluttering Your Schedule and Creating an Organized Routine
- What is the Best Decluttering Process to Declutter Your Calendar?
- What are the Fastest Digital Decluttering Solutions?
- Next Steps: Resources to Declutter Your Schedule
The Benefits of Decluttering Your Schedule and Creating an Organized Routine
In the age of digital distraction, it can be difficult to get anything done.
It’s easy to find yourself saying “just one more thing” while you spend too much time checking your email, social media feed, or other apps.
The problem is that this is an endless cycle that can obliterate any free time you might have, in addition to leaving your family members (as well as important tasks) neglected.
You will never feel satisfied with what you have accomplished and you will always have unfinished daily tasks unless you take a good look at your daily life and make a positive change by decluttering your personal life.
It’s time to declutter your daily schedule and create a mindful routine so that you can finally spend enough time enjoying life at home and at work.
The first step is to declutter your schedule by removing unnecessary tasks from your calendar.
The next step is to create a mindful routine for yourself that includes activities like meditation or exercise so you can start to develop habits that will help you stay on track with your goals.
What is the Best Decluttering Process to Declutter Your Calendar?
According to David Allen, author of Getting Things Done, the most important step you should do is get everything out of your head when decluttering your calendar.
Make a list of every time commitment, appointment, high priority and urgent tasks, mental clutter, etc. so that you have a starting point. Follow the instructions in the Ultimate Guide to Doing a Brain Dump for step-by-step guidelines to clear your mind.
Once you’ve finished making your brain dump, the next step is to finish all tasks that take less than two minutes to complete.
Once that’s complete, you can prioritize your list and work through all your tasks.
After prioritizing your remaining tasks, the best decluttering method for your schedule is to start with the most difficult tasks. This way, you will be able to finish them first and then move on to the easier ones.
In addition to decluttering your schedule and to-do list, take your time to really evaluate and declutter your calendar.
You may need to do a time audit to really capture everything you do in a single day.
It’s important to review your calendar from both a long-term perspective and a short-term perspective. Make sure all meetings, commitments, appointments, and upcoming events are both necessary, important, and help you reach your long-term goals.
We have a tendency to assume that we’ll have more time in the future, but that just isn’t true.
As you review your current schedule, you should start by looking at all of the meetings and events that are recurring.
- Are they really necessary?
- Do you need to do them as often as you currently do?
- Is there a way to simplify, streamline, or get rid of them?
Look at your schedule for the following week. Again, ask yourself the above questions.
Related Reading:
- How to Get Motivated to Clean and Declutter
- Can You Declutter Too Much?
- How To Declutter When You Are Feeling Overwhelmed
- The Best Decluttering Books for Your Home and Your Life
- How Clutter Causes Stress (and 4 Easy Ways to De-Stress by Decluttering)
What are the Fastest Digital Decluttering Solutions?
Here are some of the most popular ways to declutter your digital life.
1. Scanning: Scanning documents and photos can help you get rid of physical clutter and digitize important documents for future reference.
2. Purging: Purging your online storage can help you get rid of all the unnecessary files that are taking up space on your hard drive, slowing down your computer, and making it more difficult to find what you need at a moment’s notice.
3. Recycling: Recycling old electronics can save you money and all the energy that goes into manufacturing new ones while also helping reduce our impact on the environment by keeping toxic materials out of landfills and water supply systems.
How to declutter important documents
There are several ways to declutter digital files and documents.
You can also use a file management software like Evernote, Dropbox, or Google Drive to organize your files and folders.
The fastest way to declutter your documents is by using an AI document scanner.
This tool uses optical character recognition (OCR) technology and AI-powered algorithms to scan your documents, convert them into PDFs, and store them in the cloud for future reference. It saves time by eliminating the need for manual scanning, sorting and organizing of paper documents.
For more information about going paperless, check out the Paperless Made Simple course, which will walk you through exactly how to declutter your important documents and create a paper-free home.
The best way to declutter your digital calendar
The digital clutter problem is a common issue among people who are always on their phone, computer, or tablet. But it’s not just the amount of time we spend on these devices that is the problem. It’s also the content and notifications that we receive on these devices that contribute to our digital clutter.
The best way to declutter your digital calendar and inboxes is by using a few helpful apps and services.
Digital calendar services like Calendly let you schedule appointments and meetings without having to worry about the back and forth emailing that often comes with scheduling.
With Calendly, you can just input your availability and they will provide a link for your clients to book time with you.
You can also use the service for yourself if you want to schedule appointments with others or have some free time in your calendar. They work across all platforms so it’s simple for anyone who is looking for an easy way to declutter their digital calendar.
If you are looking for a quick and easy way to declutter your digital calendar, then try these solutions.
- Delete all the email newsletters that you don’t read or need in your inbox.
- Unsubscribe from websites and social media accounts that you no longer use.
- Turn off notifications on social media accounts that you don’t use enough or at all.
More tips to declutter:
Declutter and Reduce Stress With These 7 Steps to Organize Papers
How to Declutter Your Life and Reduce Stress
Next Steps: Resources to Declutter Your Schedule
Reduce unnecessary stress by creating the kind of life where you take care of your body, focus on mental health, and create work life boundaries that feel good for your season of life.
Don’t forget to check out these resources to declutter your schedule and calendar: