What’s a Mindsweep?

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What’s a Mindsweep?

Sometimes the best solutions are so simple and obvious that they’re completely overlooked.
Take the whole notion of accomplishing tasks. People build up all sorts of complex systems for accomplishing their tasks, but quite often that amounts to putting the cart before the horse. Why? Because before you can set about doing a really good job of accomplishing tasks, you’ve got to know what they are.

Sure, you may identify 5 or 6 red-hot things you’ve absolutely got to do today or this week, writing them down and crossing them off one by one. But there are probably dozens and dozens of other tasks waiting for your attention. Things at home or at work that you’ve been procrastinating about. Things you intend to do and want to do, but which somehow get pushed to a back burner. Things you don’t want to do but really must do. And they’re all lodged in your consciousness, sapping bits and pieces of your attention every moment of the day.

So, then: one of the best ways to maintain focus is to know what all those niggling tasks are. Once you identify them and have them secured tightly into a list, they can’t nag you or dilute your concentration.
The way you keep track of those pesky tasks? With a Mindsweep!

There are various ways to accomplish a Mindsweep, but one of the most popular is just to spend quiet time alone with a pencil and notebook (or a computer), writing down each and every task you can think of. The first time you do this, it might take an hour or more. Over the next few days, maybe even weeks, other tasks will occur to you. Standing in your kitchen you might remember that you have to change the faucet’s washer; entering the produce market, you’ll be reminded to buy a sustainable cloth bag so that you don’t keep polluting the planet with the store’s plastic bags. It will take a while, yes, but once your major task list is accomplished it’s just a matter of maintenance.

You’ll find many “trigger lists” on the Web that can help you identify tasks. Here’s a good one from GTD Portal.

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© Suzanne Rodriguez
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