Swab those decks! Empty those holds!

What an empty hold looks like

What do pirates spend most of their time doing at sea?

They swab the decks.

And what do they do when back in port?

They empty out the hold.

If they didn’t swab the decks, and keep things ship-shape all of the time, then sailing around would be a lot more difficult.

And if they didn’t empty out the holds when they got to port–selling the treasure they’ve plundered and getting rid of all the empty barrels–they wouldn’t have room for any new treasures. Or rum!

Treasure Hunters are also really good at keeping the decks swabbed and the holds empty. Often, we think this is a huge project. But if you do a little bit here, and a little bit there, before you know it, the going will be a lot easier.

The real power isn’t that you’ve thrown out the old, broken salad spinner. It’s that you don’t have to think about it ever again. You’ve made space in your cabinet, and in your mind.

You get freed up to notice things that you would otherwise have missed.

And you’ll have room for lots more treasure.

Here’s a quick Treasure Hunt you can go on in under five minutes
Spend the next few minutes looking for one thing you don’t need, haven’t used in ages, doesn’t work anymore, is in the way, is no longer relevant, is past the expiration date . . .

Get rid of it. Right now. If it’s small enough throw it away. Or put it in the car to take to a donation center. Or put it in the shredder. Or delete the file.

Make it disappear forever.

And when it’s gone, what do you notice?

That’s it!

And over the next few days . . .
let this phrase percolate in the back of your mind:

swabbing the deck
swabbing the deck

Just let it float there.

And as you see little (or big) things to get rid of, clean up, or handle, just take care of it on the spot.

You can also swab the deck and empty the hold in your to-do list. What about that call you’ve been meaning to make? Or scheduling the plumber to fix the leak?

And all week long, let that phrase swabbing the decks percolate in the back of your mind.

And notice what treasures begin to appear!