To relax and really get the most out of a book or blog you have to declutter. This is something I have learned well when it comes to reading all the blogs I like to keep up on, and reading the books I have on such a long list.

I hear all the time “it’s important to declutter your work space and home to get the most work done and to be stress free.” This rule applies to my reading list as well. I tend to get anxiety over the amount of books or blogs on my list. There is an easy way to remedy this… I have to delete some of them from the list.

It’s hard, I just want to read everything, but over my lifetime I will get to everything important. The things I set aside become less and less important over time. So don’t worry if you put something at the bottom of your list, you will get to it when you are supposed to. Well I guess unless you are completely procrastinating! And if you don’t get to it, it must not have been that important.

To help keep my reading lists in order and to de-stress my reading time, I:

Eliminate blogs from my list I haven’t read in a while, and books I don’t ever think about reading or keep getting pushed down. This is hard to do, because half the time I think I will want to read it eventually or maybe something good will be in the blog next week. Well let’s face it, if you have had a blog or a book in your list for two months and have been completely disinterested by it, you may never be.

Put books in a list (such as zoho.com or backpack) with a date and subject. By doing this you can read books according to subjects you are interested in at that time, and if a book is on your list for a year or more you can eliminate it. Here’s a look at my booklist, I currently don’t have dates but intend to put a date in next to every book I put on the list from now on.

Put blogs in folder or lists. This way you know which ones to read right now, which ones you like to read for fun, etc. I read once that the best thing to do is create a folder of blogs that says “Read Everyday”. I personally like to just have mine in categories, but figure out what works best for you. Here’s another look into my lists. As you can see I have a lot to read but organizing them helps me keep up with the ones I need to read now.

Lastly, when reading blogs, eliminate the unappealing ones first. When I go through my huge blog list I make a quick scan of all the titles and eliminate those that I don’t think will interest me at all. Then I go back and read the entire blog. If it doesn’t capture my attention in the first few paragraphs I don’t continue to read.

Is there anything you do to keep your mind and workspaces uncluttered? I love all the helpful hints.