Do you remember the last time you had to find something? It was important. It was urgent. You just had it, and then you couldn’t locate it. This happened to me a lot. My desk was piled high with paperwork. My bag was overflowing. Filled with a jumble of stuff. A Laptop, phone charger, credit card machines, paperwork, yesterday’s lunch, product samples. Sometimes it was so heavy with “stuff”, I had to use a trolley to move it!

This frequent searching led me to feel frustrated and annoyed.

I have just finished reading Atomic Habits by James Clear, and he introduced me to the concept of “resetting the room”. It has been a life-changing insight.

I have always been a bit messy, a bit disorganised and guilty of doing things last minute. Bizarrely, I saw this as a virtue. That it indicated, I was busy and hard working with a lot to get done. James Clear’s book punctured this bubble.

“The purpose of resetting the room is not simply to clean up after the last action, but to prepare for the next action.”

So, what does it mean for us in practice?

When you finish watching television, place the remote control back on the TV stand, arrange the pillows on the sofa and fold the blankets. When you leave your car, empty the rubbish away. Whenever you finish work, clear your desk of all files and paperwork.

This might sound like clearing up. But its much more than that. It’s about leaving the space reset and ready to be used for its purpose again.

When you sit down at your work desk the next time, it will be clear and ready for you to focus all your energy on a new task. Not cluttered with yesterday’s files and paperwork.

I cannot recommend this philosophy highly enough. I have been following it for the last three weeks, and it has revolutionised my day. Each time I walk into a space, whether it be my office, my van, my bathroom, my bedroom everything is in place and ready to be used again.

You won’t waste time looking for things, or clearing up an area before you can start using it. Resetting the room is a powerful force that will help you achieve your goals. It keeps your energy levels so high.

The first five or ten minutes of an activity is so important. They set the tone for the whole session. If you waste that high energy moment looking for equipment, or tidying away yesterdays work you will miss the moment. Repeat that mistake in dozens of tiny moments throughout your day, and your goals slip further away.

I hope you will give “resetting the room” a go. It’s going to help you reach your goals. Remember we climb the mountain, not in giant leaps but one small step at a time.

Best Regards and thanks for reading.