Removing little frustrations can lead to big gains

We all cope with many little frustrations every day. 

The fridge needs cleaning. “I will do it when I have a bit of time,” you tell yourself. Days pass by, and you don’t get around to clean the damn thing. But every time you open it, you feel frustrated.

Rosebush needs pruning. It is about time. In 2 – 3 weeks, it will be too late. “I will do them when I have a free hour.” But, of course, you never get the free hour. You keep putting up with its long protruding tentacles every time you walk past it.

Little frustrations like that suck energy and make you feel clogged.

The fact is it takes much less energy and time to remove them than to keep putting up with them. And you feel good at a result. Just as a plunger unclogs your sink, cleaning out little irritations unclogs you.

When our physical surroundings are cluttered, we feel clogged and uncomfortable both in our physical space and consciousness. We feel constantly frustrated. Our energy is blocked. Our creativity is squelched.

Now think about the time when you took the pile of stuff gathered in your garage to the tip. Or when you donated clothes from your closet that you hadn’t worn in years.

How did you feel after you finished those tasks? I’ll bet you felt a rush of adrenaline and a true sense of accomplishment.

You walked away from the job feeling more positive about yourself. You felt as if you had accomplished something big. 

Roll up your sleeves and start reducing the physical clutter.

Physical clutter is not the only thing that can clog our system.

Pent-up emotions clog our system too. We don’t realize it, but anger, resentment, and grudges are the constant sources of frustration. We remain emotionally and spiritually clogged when we hang on to negative emotions.

Are you holding any resentment toward anyone right now? If so, your emotional and spiritual system is clogged. You’re devoting energy to that resentment, which “steals” energy you could be applying to more productive things.

Forgive those who you feel have wronged you. Why hang on to something that makes you feel angry and miserable?

What about the digital clutter.

At the moment, my biggest frustration is digital clutter.

Ever since I started using personal computers, I developed a habit of collecting ‘stuff.’ The ‘stuff’ could be self-help articles, free books, images, emails, PowerPoint presentations (remember we used to get many of those via emails), animations. You name it; I have it.

Digital clutter not only takes up significant space on my devices but in my head as well. It distracts me, demands my attention, and is mentally taxing.

This week I decided to get rid of digital clutter. However, since digital clutter keeps accumulating, I made myself a strategy to deal with it regularly. 

Take Away

We all get frustrated from time to time with little things. Instead of keep on putting up with them, work on removing them.

Pay attention to inefficiencies. What wastes your time and money right now? Solving those problems could be more beneficial than you think.

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