People who feel that their lives are out of control have a clutter problem. Not 100% of the time, but very close.

And that clutter isn’t usually just one area. It’s a clutter of life. A life that’s disorganized, a life that feels out of control. Because it is.

Clutter is a problem of wealth. Your ancestors had no such problem. Their closets weren’t stuffed with clothing they couldn’t take care of because they couldn’t afford that many clothes. They didn’t have a large house filled with junk they couldn’t take care of because, again, they couldn’t afford it. You get the picture.

So how do you resolve this? First, get your physical environment under control. You have stuff stacked on the floor? Pick it up. Find a place where it needs to be, or throw it away if you haven’t used it in a year. Be ruthless about this. Your physical environment messes with your mind. The physical is where you live, where you work, your car, and any other spot under your control where you spend a lot of time. If your environments are a real mess, you won’t be able to do it all at once. That’s ok. But again be ruthless, this time in making time every day to clear out the clutter.

It’s worth your time because this will make your life so much better.

Next, get rid of mental clutter. Do a list every day, and force yourself to get more done than you thought you could. Especially don’t let nagging tasks that you don’t want to do hang around. You’re always going to need to do certain things that you don’t like. If you can pay someone to do that task, find somebody, and pay them. But if it’s something only you can do, then get it out of the way. There are annoying things that need doing, and people waste time fretting about them. Don’t fret. Just do it, and make it a rule in life that you will get similar things done as soon as they come on your desk.

Likewise with relationships. It is never a good idea to get rid of friends. Friends are valuable, and not easy to replace. But there are old acquaintances (everyone has them) who are no longer someone you want to be around. Truth be told, they probably don’t really want to be around you, either. So let them go. We get lazy, and because, say, we’ve gone out for lunch every month with Jane we keep that habit up. And habits can be a big help, but they can waste your time. Don’t keep up marginal relationships that are just cluttering up your life.

Every one of us has a limited amount of time. Don’t waste that time. Get your life under control, and make it better. Start right now.