At any point in time, there's a lot going on in my head, and a fair proportion of it is a running to-do list.

Sometimes I actually remember to write this stuff down, but most often it's a case of "I must remember to..." as I walk around my house, or drive to a meeting. And then within seconds it's gone from my brain, only to recur when I least expect – or want – that thought.

I also procrastinate on many of these tasks, partly because I keep forgetting to write them down, but also because they're often boring. It's never fun stuff – it's usually remembering to descale the shower head or write a sales email (my worst).

And the thing with those tasks you keep putting off, is that when you finally do get around to doing them, so often they take minutes to do. And when that happens, I kinda want to slap myself, because really? All that thought space for a job that took three minutes to do?

So, recently, I sat down and did a mind dump of all the things that were floating around in my brain. Then I took that list with me and walked around my house and noted anything I'd forgotten about – nothing like a visual reminder. I noted it all under "Irritations" in my notebook. And then I started working on the ones I had captured, and adding any latecomers to the bottom of the list.

And the results have been remarkable. There is an enormous amount of satisfaction in completing the tasks at the moment of completion. There's an enormous amount of smugness (well, I can only speak for myself) in walking past the repaired hinge or the hung picture and there's a reduction in clutter.

But that reduced clutter isn't just phsyical – it's mental too. Now, instead of trying to remember a long list of tiny things I need to do, I have space in my brain for creativity, for fun, for joy!

And so while there's a time not to sweat the small stuff, sometimes it's good to get those things out of the way to make space for better, brighter, more beautiful things.

Try it and let me know how it goes!