How getting rid of stacks of old newspapers as part of a declutter helped me improve my focus (FQ)
Where do you sit on the minimalist vs hoarding spectrum?
I am firmly a person who holds onto items and takes the philosophy of “if it still has some utility, then why throw it out?” [my siblings may tell you that is because I’m a cheapskate but don’t listen to them 🤣]
Recently however (as some of you may know), I moved flats and that led to a downsizing of space so it very much challenged the above philosophy.
I had to look at each and every item in my flat critically to determine whether it had sufficient utility to make the move with me.
As I moved from room to room, items leapt out at me:
- Did I need those pots that were dented and missing half their coating?
- Did I need the t-shirts I kept hold of in the hope “I-might-be-that-size-again” someday?
- Did I need so many plastic bags and cardboard boxes that I’d kept from all the deliveries I’d received?
One of the items that immediately came to mind was a stack of old newspapers (some of which I’d had for over 4 years 🙄).
Why did I have so many newspapers?
When I was growing up, my parents used to get 3 newspapers every day. The Financial Times (for my dad’s work), the Daily Telegraph (for general consumption) and the Daily Mail (we used to swap the FT for the neighbours Daily Mail the next day).
As such, I grew infatuated with reading all 3 everyday; not only to learn new things but fascinated by the different ways to tell the same story.
Because I enjoyed this so much, even when I moved out of the family home, my mum would save the week’s newspapers for me so I could flick through them at my leisure.
However life moves on and nowadays, I regularly read papers online to keep up-to-date with the world so, when it came to the physical newspapers, I skim through each one looking for interesting articles I may have missed or useful knowledge I can apply.
In any given week, it would usually take me a few hours to look through the previous week’s papers but once I’d set up Shiageto Consulting, I found I was time-poor and weeks would go by without me having looked through that week’s papers 😬.
Instead of skipping weeks, I let my pile grow and grow with some belief that I would find the time to catch up eventually.
Occasionally, I would make the most of a spare Saturday afternoon where I’d blitz through some papers but definitely it was a battle I never seemed to get on top of… yet, I would never admit defeat.
In my mind, in that ever-growing pile were nuggets of great knowledge about scientific breakthroughs I may have missed, leadership studies to embed in my work, expert interviews to inspire me in life and much more.
It doesn’t matter what’s in the papers if you don’t read them
That became the reality; I no longer had a pile of infinite wisdom. Instead, this twisted pile soon took on a life of its own.
It became a fire risk; a running joke for friends; a sisiphean challenge to my ego (“I can get back on track”).
What I didn’t realise though was that this pile had also become a focus drag. By being distracted by this pile (even if I didn’t read them), I was limiting my FQ as my thoughts (and physical space) would be occupied by the papers on a semi-ongoing basis.
So, overnight, as part of my move, I finally took the bold move to bin them all in one swoop.
[Now, I should say reaching that point wasn’t easy as I ummed and ahhed, finding reasons to give them a stay of execution. There really was an emotional threshold to pass.]
How does it feel 2 weeks later?
It’s been amazing; not only do I not feel like I’m missing out on the knowledge but the removal of guilt from not having this stack lying around the house is liberating.
Rather than ring-fence time to make dents in reading some of it, I find I’m reinvesting that time in other, more beneficial activities.
I think the best way to describe it is a bit like doing some gardening; sometimes you need to cut back certain plants to let other, better plants grow in their place.
For me, the key now is to make sure that I don’t slip back into a similar situation with the newspapers and to address any other areas of my life where a backlog has developed.
The question for you is: What aspects of your life could do with a bit of pruning to help you improve your FQ?
Faris is the CEO and Founder of Shiageto Consulting, an innovative consultancy that helps firms and individuals sharpen their effectiveness.
Success = IQ x EQ x FQ
