In his most recent Productive Living newsletter, David Allen shared these thoughts on quieting the noise in your life:

“Over the years many people have reported “transformational” experiences in working with the Getting Things Done^® methodology. I have seen people lose pounds in just a few days, their faces brighten, their countenance and attitude swing way to the positive, and even make tremendous shifts in how they think and work for the rest of their lives.
 
“That is certainly rewarding feedback and testimony to the validity of the methodology. Many people consequently tend to think that there is something mystical and even “spiritual” about it. Here’s my perspective: there is something mystical and spiritual about people, not the process.
 
“Learning to unhook our energies from the past and from incomplete cycles, and then to take charge responsibly about where we put our attention and focus, is about as basic an empowerment process as one could engage in. Of course it can seem transformational, because we move over (or up) into the driver’s seat of our own consciousness when we do those things. Fully integrating GTD will quiet the noise and let you feel in control of the reins of your life in a way you may not have for a long while.

“If that intimidates you, I invite you to take a look at what’s holding you back. If that inspires you, what’s your next action?”

I encourage you to sign up for David’s monthly newsletter yourself.  Subscribe for free now.

You may have already discovered that your head is a crappy office space.  David Allen often says that if you have something saved only in your head, you are going to give it far more attention then it deserves.  Our mind can only effectively hold onto one item at a time in its conscious memory.  Once something new comes to its attention, the odds are your mind will drop the previous item.  This creates huge inefficiencies and potential ticking time bombs if the item that was lost has the potential to blow up later.

The solution is very simple.  Whenever something comes to your attention that is worth saving, write it down immediately in whatever format works best for you at the time.  This can be on paper, or electronically in your phone, or even a verbal message on your home answering machine.  The key is that the place where you store the item has to be somewhere that you know you will look at later.  Otherwise your mind will take it back if it doesn’t trust the system.

So defuse those ticking time bombs by getting things out of your head and into your trusted system.  You mind will thank you for it.

When was the last time you did a good sweep?  No, not of your house or apartment floors, but of your mind!  The Mind Sweep is a fundamental productivity technique designed to get ideas out of your head and into your system.  If you want to achieve a state of “Mind Like Water” where the only thing on your mind is the present moment, keeping your mental space clean is a must.  The Mind Sweep is a valuable tool to accomplish this goal.

The rules are simple.  Start by grabbing a stack of sticky notes or small note paper pads along with a good pen or pencil.  As items come to mind, write them down on paper, following the rule of one thought per page.  Put every thought down in writing no matter how big or small it seems.  Work on it for enough time to clear your mind, whether that is ten minutes or an hour.  Finally, put all those notes into your inbox to process and organize.

David Allen often says that the only way you can feel good about what you are not doing is to know what you are not doing.  So shake off those mental cobwebs and do a good mind sweep this week.  It is worth the effort.