[PODCAST 199]: The Practically-Unbelievable Joy of Mind Sweeping

Last week, Eric and I had a Zoom meeting with Taryn, one of our STEP coaches and an amazing team member here at LearnDoBecome. When we started the call, I asked how she was doing. She let me know that she had a lot going on, but right before our call, she did a mind sweep, and she felt much better. Then I told her that I had ALSO just done a mind sweep, and we held up our papers together and took a screen shot.

A mind sweep is an incredibly powerful tool, but most people don’t really know when and how to do them—and what to do with the mind sweep once it’s completed. So today I’m just going to share a few principles:

A mind sweep is simply a process that helps you take all the commitments, ideas, worries, projects, tasks, reminders, etc. out of your brain and onto a piece of paper or a digital note. David Allen always talks about how our brains are great for having ideas, but not holding ideas. So when you feel like you can’t focus on anything and you’re feeling stressed about a bunch of things you need to/want to/wish you could do, it’s probably a great time to do a mind sweep!

But you don’t have to wait until you’re feeling flustered to do one. I do periodic mind sweeps in the following situations:

• In the morning when I wake up, and I’m thinking through a particularly full day ahead
• After a series of meetings, errands, events, etc. when a lot of new information has come my way
• As I’m closing up my work for the day
• After an enlightening conversation, class, or time spent reading a book
• During my Weekly Review

When you actually do a mind sweep, you essentially ask yourself what details are floating around in your head. We have a full mind sweep trigger list inside our STEP program, but here are a few questions that can get you started:

• What do you need to do to prepare for upcoming events?
• Who do you want to contact?
• What insights do you want to remember?
• What past events need some kind of follow-up?
• What opportunities do you want to pursue?
• Is there anything you need to buy, return, clean, organize, drop off, pick up, coordinate, etc.?
• What’s weighing on you?
• What feels exciting to you?
• Where can you best direct your energy?

But the most important part of the mind sweep is what you do with it afterwards.

I used to just make a long list and then look at it a lot and try to check things off. But really, that list could have been taken apart and put into a STEP Command Central, and that would have made all the difference.

We have lots of other podcasts and videos on our YouTube channel where I walk through what a Command Central actually IS, and, of course, if you’re a STEPper, you have access to the core modules that will teach you how to build one, step-by-step. I’ll link a couple of resources here at the bottom of this post.

But the main idea is that there are things you focus on daily, weekly, and “as needed.”

The “as needed” section is probably the best place to start when you’re processing your mind sweep. This is where you can file things, put them in “Someday” or “Incubation,” create calendar triggers/utilize your Tickler file, or put things in your Support Cubbies. Essentially, you’re creating a specific filing system that will make things REALLY easy to find (or let go of) when the time is right, but there are no time-specific, pending tasks. An example would be if you had a page of notes from a book you read—and you don’t want to lose them, but you don’t need to do anything about them right now. They would go into your filing system.

The weekly section is next—this is where you could take anything that can wait until your Weekly Review and just put it in your inbox (or in a digital note with a calendar trigger reminding you to look at it during your Weekly Review). An example would be a list of all the new projects that came into your mind—or a bunch of goals, attributes, etc. that you want to achieve and develop. We don’t always have time for the higher-level thinking during a busy week, but during a Weekly Review, we have the chance to prioritize our projects (Current, In Process, Next in Line, and Someday), and we can update our “Goals” file and think about our life from a broader perspective.

Once you’ve extracted the “as needed” and “weekly” items from your mind sweep, what’s left will either be calendar-specific tasks, Next Actions, or 2-minute tasks you could knock out right then.

I know it sounds kind of silly or simplistic, but it is the best feeling when you take a chaotic mind sweep and then put everything into your Command Central within minutes. Your brain will feel calmer, you’ll have more confidence in your ability to get things done, and you’ll see that no matter how hectic life can feel, YOU can transform that into peace and mental clarity.

And then just think how you’ll be able to love and support the people in your life when your mind is calm and clear.

Sending lots of love!

Related Links:

• [PODCAST 193]: 4 Principles for a Solid Weekly Review
• Elements of a Functioning Command Central
• I use Evernote to house my digital files, and it has been a wonderful tool and addition to my Command Central!
• Are you new to LearnDoBecome and the STEP Program? Click here for our free introductory training: How to Finally Stop Drowning in Piles.
• Ready to join our program and become a STEPper? This link has all of the information in one place for you!
• If you’ve been following along with LearnDoBecome for the last little while, now is the perfect time to become an ARISER! This membership is full of amazing community members that are using their Command Centrals to refine relationships, health, finances, individual purpose, and more. You can sign up for a free, 7-day trial here.
• You can find all of our podcasts and media content in our LearnDoBecome Directory (linked here!).