Escaping the Daily Grind: Decluttering Your Mind Through Information Organization

“I’m so busy every day, so why can’t I get anything done...?”

Have you ever felt that way?

For me, this “information organization” was the catalyst for starting my own mental diet.“information organization”was the catalyst for starting my own mental diet.

Common issues when information organization isn't going well

• There is too much to do, and I don't know where to start.

• My mind is cluttered, and I can't organize my thoughts.

• I blame myself for not being able to take action, which makes me even more tired.

If this state continues, your daily life will be occupied by“busyness.”But in reality, the root cause was in an unexpected place.

Factor 1: Failing to grasp the current situation (= lack of material)

Even if you try to organize information, it won't go well if you don't have the material to make decisions.
This is the same asdecluttering.

When you try to clean a room, you start by taking everything out, right?
If you can't see the big picture, you can't decide what is necessary and what is unnecessary.

The same applies to your brain.

“What am I thinking about right now?” “What anxieties or wishes do I have?”
The first step to organizing is to

“visualize”everything.

Factor 2: Trying to do “organizing” and “tidying up” at the same time

This is something I heard from a friend who is a decluttering trainer, and it really resonated with me.

Even professional trainers apparently have clients who struggle, saying,
“I have nothing left to throw away...”
But in reality, the goal isn't just to “throw things away.”

What is important is the perspective of
“arranging necessary items to be easy to use”
after letting go of the unnecessary ones.

Organizing (selecting/sorting) and tidying up (arranging for ease of use) are separate steps.

In a mental diet, you don't have to do everything at once; just practice by separating “taking it out” and “sorting it.”

Tidying up comes after you have “taken it out” and “sorted it.”

To sort is to understand.
There are many things you won't understand until you sort them out.

My practice: Once I wrote it all down, the true nature of my “busyness” became clear.

A while ago, I was convinced that I was just 'busy every single day'.
However, the true nature of that 'busyness' was so vague that I was left with nothing but a lingering sense of exhaustion day after day.

So, I decided to try recording exactly how I spent my days.

And then... a surprising fact emerged.

My total time spent on mobile games was over 3 hours a day, and when you add in web surfing, I was spending
over 4 hours just 'mindlessly staring at my phone'.

It would have been fine if I had actually been enjoying those games, but
I realized that
'I was only playing them out of a sense of obligation to complete the daily quests'.

So, I took the plunge and uninstalled them all for a while.

As a result, that 'feeling of being chased' I used to have decreased significantly, and
I was able to use that time for 'my own happy time,' such as reading or exercising.

Information organization is time to be kind to yourself

When we can't organize information, we tend to blame ourselves, thinking we 'lack the ability'.
But the problem isn't 'ability'—it's 'order' and 'perspective'.

Take out the materials for organizing, then tidy them up.
Gently spread out what is in your brain and take a look at it once.
Just by doing that, your perspective on yourself will gradually soften.

For those who want to know more

In 'Brain Diet,' I explain these 'ways to organize your brain' in five steps.
I have written about this 'Step 2: Information Organization' in more detail in a paid note.

Also, there is a magazine version where you can read all 5 steps together, which is a better value than purchasing them individually.
If you feel like you want to organize your thoughts and emotions, please check it out.

▶︎ [Step 2: Information Organization]

▶︎ [5-Step Summary Magazine]