Ignoring the thing is harder than doing the thing.

This weekend, I’m deciding what to finish:

1. paint something for an empty A1 frame that’s been against the wall for two years.
2. crazy bushes blocking the light that need pruning. (no stable ladder or proper tools.)
3. a complex hi-fi system (with a 1970s amp) that’s been off since I rearranged the living room. Two years ago.
4. bits of a copper pipe ladder that need gluing together
5. bake the gluten free chocolate cake on my phone in the graveyard of recipes

Which do I choose? 

When every seasonal celebration comes round, I’m shocked how much of the year has passed. It can be a useful wake up call. 

And what this reveals, every time, is the pile of unfinished things.

Open loops are one of the biggest drains on our energy.

The unfinished projects and tasks left undone float in our psyche. Because our brains, even unconsciously, remember incomplete tasks more easily than completed ones, a pattern known as the Zeigarnik effect 

This comes from a study of waiters who could recall every unpaid order in perfect detail, but forgot them the moment the bill was paid.

For those of us with ADHD, not only is it easier to accumulate projects but the psychological weight of these jostling for space in our brain and living room – are felt more intensely.

Any task undone creates suspended energy that lives in your body, an unsettling feeling. When you complete, the energy can land and soften.

This weekend, can you find half an hour for one of these?

Remove a loop (less of a dopamine hit but just as liberating)

• Donate or throw away something you’ve been keeping to repair for far too long
• Let a side quest go and donate the materials while you’re at it
• Actively decide not to reply to something

Close a loop

• Finish one small thing that’s been hanging around
• Reply to one message that’s been on your mind
• Schedule the help you keep meaning to get.

And if you can’t do any of them right now, write them down.

Get them out of your head.

Not all loops will ever be closed. Nor will we stop opening new ones.

That’s not the point.

We want to remove some of the invisible anchors that keep us from moving forward.

What’s hanging around that belongs to an old version of you that no longer fits? 

Decluttering lets you look at this and consciously choose to release stagnant energy.

Letting go of what no longer belongs to you is how you make room for what does.

This is the ladder Luca made – lovely but it wobbles everytime you touch it.

If you’d like company to close loops and let go of things, come to Dance N Declutter. 

Dance N Declutter is a free monthly online event for women where we move, let go and make space together. Join the link to hear when the next one is.