Clutter in the Mind

ADHD Education

I just couldn’t take it anymore! I walked into my office and looked at my desk. I realized there were so many different items on various parts of my desk that I didn’t even know where to place my focus. 

It dawned on me; my desk was simply a physical representation of the chaos going on inside my brain.

When I asked myself the question: “What is it that I’m going to focus on?” I was unable to make any kind of choice to take action. So, I did the impulsive thing, thank you ADHD. I went into the storage area of our basement and found the largest garbage can I could, took it into my office and started filling it up with just about everything except the books on my desk. I collected all the papers, which were stacked very high on my desk, and started putting them through my shredder.

As I was doing this, I kept saying, “What’s the worst that could happen?” “What’s the worst that could happen? “What’s the worst that could happen?” This mantra reminded me of a very important statistic I was told, many times, by a professional organizer: 85% of what we file we very rarely use. This statistic gave me the confidence to know I had a very good chance I would not need what I was shredding. I also was relieved to know that in the worst-case scenario, if I really needed something, I probably could find it in my computer files or on the internet.

After all the paraphernalia was placed in the garbage can, I could see just about everything on my desk. I felt a great sense of calm. I realized that our surroundings and environment truly inform us what’s going on inside our heads.

A clear desk represents a clear mind. I am working very hard to keep them both clear. I know when I do; the clutter in my mind will be converted into clarity.

What are you doing to keep your physical world more manageable and clear? I would love your thoughts on this important issue.

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