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I don’t know what it is but the last few months I have felt completely overwhelmed. My TiVos are filled with shows piling up that I “need” to watch, I have a pile of mail to go through, posts to write, RSS feeds to read, magazines to read, things to do, etc. Regardless – I could not seem to make a dent in any of it.

This past week I decided enough was enough. I know the one way to take care of something like this is to just keep chipping away at it one piece at a time. I started by first with all my computer related overwhelming tasks. I did a full backup (offsite to Amazon), then re-organized. All media is now on one computer specifically for media and all my Apple devices are set up to properly sync with this computer as well. I then went through and archived email from a year ago to cut the clutter from my mailboxes. I also went through my iPhoto library and trashed any junk photos (blurry, mis-takes, etc). Less photos – easier to go through and truly appreciate. I also went through my RSS subscriptions and deleted a good 40%. I probably spend a good hour+ a day going through RSS feeds and hopefully this will give me more time to actually read only about what I truly care about.

After that, I started in with the mail – and have designated a day of the week specifically to go through everything so that I know (and do not have to worry) that this will not build up anymore. After the mail – I decided to take on the TiVos (which may sound silly – but this was causing a lot of overwhelming feelings of not being able to get caught up). I ended up tossing a lot of things I know I will never watch and also decided to cut down on the number of series I watch. There is only so much one can watch – and I just need to pick this more carefully. I am still at 60% full with TiVo – but I can easily knock that down to 40% by next week.

I also went through my magazines – threw away what I had read or “just about finished” but still had laying around (like my October 2010 Astronomy magazine which highlighted Astronomy events in October of last year).

I know I have a little more to go through, but all in all sometimes you just need to clean out the junk and start fresh or simply plan some time each week to go through certain things so you know you definitely will get to it. We are all busy – but a little goes a long way and even with the things I did this week – I am definitely feeling a little less overwhelmed.

Lesson learned: Get rid of the junk so you can focus on what’s important (applicable to just about everything).