I attended a Virtual Assistant conference several years ago and I listened to Mary Lou Ashton speak about tolerations. It was one of those talks that stays with you, at least it stayed with me. I refer to it all the time when I am in conversation with people who are struggling to focus and move forward in their business.
Tolerations are those things that are around you that you probably don’t even consciously notice.
A toleration can be a broken step as you walk into your house, or an unfolded basket of laundry, or dishes on the counter, or an unanswered email, or a stack of filing that needs to be done.
A toleration is something that you notice, consciously or unconsciously, and it gets in the way of your train of thought.
By clearing these tolerations away, you can open up your subconscious mind wider and it can actually help you to move forward with other decisions.
Do this exercise: When you drive into your laneway, look at the things that bother you. If you can, get out a notepad and start to write them down. Walk from your laneway (or garage) into your house by your normal route. Keep writing things down that irritate you or that you notice that you want to change or fix. Continue your ‘walk’ through your home to your office. If you’re anything like me, you probably have a full page of notes by now. ☺ Do the same exercise for each room of your house, if your list isn’t too long already!
Now, take that list and stick it up on the wall beside your computer, so you can see it.
These are the things you are tolerating on a daily basis. How easy are some of them to fix and get out of your brain?
When I did this exercise the first time I couldn’t believe how simple it was to just clear some of the things off that list, as a few at a time. I felt such an enormous sense of relief, and I really did have a clearer head by doing it. It was so much easier to focus on my daily work, and my planning and strategy seemed to flow more easily, just because those things I didn’t realize were blocking me, were fixed.
I encourage you to give it a try.
When I am feeling stuck, I do this same exercise again and again. By making the list, it’s easy to plan to do repairs to what needs fixing, or to build a new chores list for the kids so they can help with housework, or to finally pick out a can of paint to repaint that bathroom.
Whatever it is for you, you can clear valuable mind space simply by identifying what it is that you are tolerating. And then you can get on with your business.
I’d love to hear your results by taking a look at what you are tolerating. Do the exercise and then post your thoughts on my Facebook page
Once you have cleared some space in your mind, take time to enjoy it – check out my article ‘What Do You Do With Your Down Time?’