Tuesday, 8 January 2019

'What’s that ONE Thing I can do...'?

Do the detox on the clutter!

Real overwhelmed by the astounding, or rather breath-taking response I have received thus far, from my students, on this year’s ‘Annual Declutter Challenge’ [ADC] on the go!


Well, for a little flashback, this little initiative started way back in 2009, as a ‘single step’, a ‘simple step’, and a ‘proactive step’ towards enhancing the competence and performance of the vibrant learner who has been faithfully entrusted to our care and guidance! The questions listed down on the post, were then distributed to students to help them work on their strengths and weaknesses!

And slowly, over the years, this challenge has only gained in momentum, from strength to strength!

The question was quite simple and easy!

What is cluttering your life now?

The second one follows from the first!

What is that one clutter that you would like to declutter from off your life, right now, right here, right away? 

Third, can I take a resolve to myself, that I can stay far away from this ‘clutter’ that’s been so cluttering me, pulling me down so heavily, bogging me down from flying high, and making me not achieve my fullest potential?

Fourth, can I do away with this clutter, for a minimum duration of at least a month’s time! (No high-end resolves here, please! Just one month’s time would do, to begin with!)

Yes! one whole month, to begin with!

That would be sane, practical, and modest by all means!

If, for example, if it’s gotta be my addiction to the Television! Could I take a mighty resolve to stay away from this compelling addiction of sorts? Or in other words, can I do a detox on the TV for at least a month’s time?

Or

It could be my compulsive addiction to one or two or even many social networking sites, or the cinema, or that odd videogame that keeps me on tenterhooks even in the middle of the night! Or some apps on my mobile that real drive me crazy all the time!

Or it could be that frivolous friendship or vain gossip that’s draining me of my energy, and my time as well, just whiling away my precious time in their jocund and merry company, without any productive purpose, whatsoever, to it!

Do I really have what it takes, to be far far away from the huge influence of any of this clutter, and focus instead, on the ‘one thing that is needed’!

Yes there is that ‘one thing’ that right now demands all my attention! All my time! All my focus! All my concentration! All my effort! All my hard work! All my sweat! All my toil! All my energy!

Do I have the guts to go ahead, and declutter my life!

In their wonderful inspirational titled, The ONE Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results, Gary and Jay, give such a lucid and elegant elaboration on this ‘one thing’!

The book brings out the benefits of focusing all our attention, all our time, all our focus on a single task, the one thing, with all our concentration and all our effort, and all our energy, with such a singular, committed focus! This leads to the ‘focusing question!’

What’s the ONE Thing I can do such that by doing it everything else will be easier or unnecessary?

I quote –

For me, the Focusing Question is a way of life. I use it to find my most leveraged priority, make the most out of my time, and get the biggest bang for my buck. Whenever the outcome absolutely matters, I ask it. I ask it when I wake up and start my day. I ask it when I get to work, and again when I get home. What’s the ONE Thing I can do such that by doing it everything else will be easier or unnecessary? And when I know the answer, I continue to ask it until I can see the connections and all my dominoes are lined up.

The Focusing Question is the foundational habit I use to achieve extraordinary results and lead a big life. I use it for some things and not at all for others. I apply it to the important areas of my life: my spiritual life, physical health, personal life, key relationships, job, business, and financial life. And I address them in that order—each one is a foundation for the next.

Because I want my life to matter, I approach each area by doing what matters most in it. I view these as the cornerstones of my life and have found that when I’m doing what’s most important in each area, my life feels like it’s running on all cylinders.

The Focusing Question can direct you to your ONE Thing in the different areas of your life. Simply reframe the Focusing Question by inserting your area of focus. You can also include a time frame—such as “right now” or “this year”—to give your answer the appropriate level of immediacy, or “in five years” or “someday” to find a big-picture answer that points you at outcomes to aim for.

Here are some Focusing Questions to ask yourself

FOR MY PHYSICAL HEALTH...

What’s the ONE Thing I can do to achieve my diet goals... ?
What’s the ONE Thing I can do to ensure that I exercise... ?
What’s the ONE Thing I can do to relieve my stress... ?

FOR MY PERSONAL LIFE...

What’s the ONE Thing I can do to improve my skill at ________... ?
What’s the ONE Thing I can do to find time for myself... ?

Yet another book that’s had such a great impact on me, is DECLUTTER YOUR MIND: How to Stop Worrying, Relieve Anxiety, and Eliminate Negative Thinking!

Written by Barrie & Steve, this book is such an impactful primer for an effective detox! The sentences are so simple, so lucid and so easy on the eyes, that you can be sure done with the book in one sitting, I bet!

I have a few excerpted treasures from this book for y’all –

Our homes are filled with clothes we never wear, books we won’t read, toys that are unused, and gadgets that don’t see the light of day. Our computer inboxes are overflowing. Our desktops are cluttered, and our phones are flashing messages like “You need more storage.”

“We have become such slaves to our gadgets that we’d rather have the quick fix of instant information or entertainment over real-world interactions and experiences.”

We’re filling our homes with things we don’t need and filling our time with a steady stream of tweets, updates, articles, blog posts, and cat videos. Information and stuff is piling up around us, and yet we feel helpless to do anything about it.

All of this extraneous stuff and data not only sucks our time and productivity, but also produces reactive, anxious, and negative thoughts.

Like:

“My Facebook friend looks like she’s living a happy life. My life sucks.”

“Should I buy that FitBit and start tracking my health so I don’t die too early?”

Everything seems important and urgent. Every email and text must be answered. Every latest device or contraption must be purchased. This keeps us constantly stirred up, busy with trivialities, and detached from the people around us and the feelings within us.

We often feel like we don’t have time to declutter because we’re too busy consuming new stuff and information. But at some point, all this busyness is leading us to mental and emotional exhaustion. As we process everything coming at us, we analyze, ruminate, and worry ourselves to the breaking point.

How have we lost sight of the values and life priorities that once kept us balanced and sane? What can we do about it? We can’t go back in time and live without technology. We can’t renounce all of our worldly possessions and dwell in a cave. We have to figure out a way to live in this modern world without losing our sanity.

Decluttering our stuff and cutting back on time spent with our digital devices does help eliminate some of the anxiety and negative thinking.

But we still have plenty of reason to get lost in the mental clutter of negative thinking, worry, and regret.

We worry about our health, our jobs, our kids, the economy, our relationships, how we look, what other people think of us, terrorism, politics, pain from the past, and our unpredictable futures. Our thoughts about these things make us suffer and undermine the happiness we could experience right now if we didn’t have that constant voice in our heads stirring things up.

How trueee!!!

I’m reposting snippets from a post we had done way back in 2009 on this, our academic blog!

Here goes –

Take some time to think about the following questions.

1. If you could choose five things to do that would nourish your soul, what would they be?
2. What is cluttering your life now?
3. What keeps you awake at night?
4. What are you doing so that your family remembers you?
5. What do you want to do more of?
6. Is there something you've always been curious about? What is it?
7. Is there a hobby or craft you'd like to take up? Which ones?
8. Do you have a quiet, safe place to retreat to?
9. Do you surround yourself with sincerely supportive people?

Indeed, people are living, breathing organisms. You would not leave a plant or animal uncared for over a long period of time. Internal human needs require just as much constant attention as external, physical needs.

FOUR EASY WAYS TO SIMPLIFY YOUR LIFE

1. Schedule some downtime every day: Write a journal or take a quiet bath before bed.
2. Leave the TV off at least one night a week: You'll be surprised at the extra time you have. Leaving it off may even become a habit!
3. Don't be a slave to the phone: Keep it far away from you, unless it is on very important business.
4. Have a clean-up bin: Pick up clutter and put it in a sort-through-later bin. A clean room can make your surroundings more peaceful.

Well, personally, I’ve started working on doing the detox on two clutters that have been trying to clutter my life! I’ve started in all earnestness on this detox, since this past Sunday!

Pray, when are you starting? J

Suggested must read –

10-MINUTE DIGITAL DECLUTTER: The Simple Habit to Eliminate Technology Overload by Barrie Davenport & S. J. Scott

Suggested online reads -

Are you game for a 24-hr fast?


Image Credits: 
roseanna sunley 
amazondotcom
happybodyformuladotcom

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