Circuit Overload

M ental clutter. It's an occupational hazard for independent sales agents. Stuff that needs to be remembered is offset by stuff that you want to forget. And, many times, the worries and stress-centric details of the day are so overwhelming that the business items and information that need to be remembered are forgotten. Your mental hard drive does have its limitations, and too much data can result in a cranial crash.

If your head is telling you it's time to delete files, listen to it. Let go of some of that mental clutter, and you'll free up space on your internal hard drive for creative thinking and productive results. Here are some tips to start the process:

- Breathe. Take some deep breaths, exhale and maintain a steady and slow flow of oxygen as you begin hitting the delete key. - Make a list of absolutes. Keeping it short and simple, create a list of items that absolutely, positively must get done within the next 24 hours. - Address the immediate to-dos. Take action today on that short list. It not only will give you a sense of accomplishment, it will set the stage for more long-term mental clutter control. - Transfer information. Download data from your poor overworked head to a piece of paper. Start a journal. Put all the stuff that is short-circuiting your system - emotions, worries, etc. - in a proper place. Cathartic writing is not only cleansing, it's mentally calming. - Recognize the culprits. Once you've transferred all those mental post-it notes to paper, review them. Discard those items that are just taking up space. - Repeat. Information management is an ongoing process. Set time aside every week to examine your mental gigabytes and get a handle on your internal hard drive.