What is Clear desk, clear mind?

I often wondered how the expression, clear desk means clear mind, because I could never understand the exact link between the two. Was it a magical, mystical link, was it a representative link? I have been quite puzzled.

Then one day, doing something completely random and unassociated, a thought came to my mind, “why is it I have this list of things to complete, but sometimes, it is as if my brain has its own idea of what it wants to do, and it is not following my idea of what I want to do?

Then a thought struck me, but then why is it that some people will have a hundred things to say when you are ready to sleep, or when they are just about to leave? Mmm, what is it about these factors that could link them together?

So, as I quite naturally do, the ideas….. slipped away into another part of my brain. Perhaps I was missing some piece of information that had not yet been correctly categorised.

Then one day as if I had just compiled a trifle and was placing the cherry on the top, that missing piece of information found me, perhaps it also liked trifle?

I have long since learnt that life is all about priorities, where your priority is, that is where your focus is. Priorities are not always necessarily long-term or short-term goals, it could be something that needs to be completed today, tomorrow or within the month. The other thing about priorities is they can shuffle and change like the wind.

You may be wondering, how do priorities link in with clear desk, clear mind. Well, ahah, magic moment. It is all about what you need to do, and how you get things done. Have you heard the expression, “something weighing on your mind?”, that weight is a dirty desk.

Let’s put this into an example that makes sense.

Your list is as follows:
- 3 work items
- 3 home items
- 1 social item
- 1 family item

This is pretty easy, just complete these items in order of necessity. Nope, what if one of the items causes you to procrastinate? How can you move along your task items if your procrastinated item is weighing on your mind? Are you aware of what you are procrastinating? Do you go through your list and say, oh I think I will add that one to my procrastinate list? No we don’t. A procrastinate is something that causes us an upheaval, either because we are scared, worried, or feel we can’t face that challenge, whether its an essay, a presentation or a social meeting. This item, the procrastinated item, the heavy item, is the clutter on your desk. The item that keeps getting in your way of other items.

Hence, if your desk is busy or has items on it, it is like a list of things to still complete, and they are there on your desk as a constant reminder to complete. Where, if your desk is clear, you can successfully and easily go through and complete all your items.

In my next item, I will be looking at the interesting facets of motivation and procrastination.

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