Happy new year!
It’s been awhile since I wrote a blog post. As usual I’ve been struggling with the highs and lows of being on a self growth journey. I’ve been struggling with the balance of changing my old ways and applying what I’ve learnt to my current lifestyle. It’s not easy but I’m learning to take it one step at a time and be at peace with my pace.
Now back to the main gist. My plan at the beginning of December was to do a mental declutter. The only decluttering that ever happened was in my wardrobe. I didn’t try any mental decluttering till the last week of December when I decided to be intentional about it.
To my surprise, I realized while researching that in many ways I had already started mental decluttering without even realizing it.
Before I delve into ways to declutter, let’s talk about what decluttering your mind means.
It basically means clearing your mind of negativity, letting go of thoughts and emotions that limits you or makes you feel sad or anxious.
Decluttering your mind means you identify your negative thought patterns or limiting ideologies and intentionally stop yourself from having those unnecessary thoughts, fears and concerns.
Decluttering your mind helps you reduce stress, boosts your self-esteem and frees up mental space so you can focus on what’s important. Decluttering your mind is a continuous process because you have to constantly monitor your thoughts so you can replace your negative thoughts with positive ones. This helps you feel happy, at ease and in control which is absolutely necessary if we’re thinking of resetting our goals and renewing our intentions for a fresh start.
There are so many reasons why your mind can feel cluttered. For me, it’s holding onto past mistakes, fixating on things that are beyond my control, constantly overthinking and worrying too much about the future.
For you, it could be focusing on negative thoughts, holding onto resentment, anger or sadness, keeping an endless to-do list and so on.
So what made me think about decluttering?
I’ve always considered myself a fairly organized person but when it comes to my mind, its chaos. My mind gets so occupied to the point of overwhelm. This is mostly borne out of delayed responsibilities piled up from months of procrastination that makes me feel like there’s a lot to do without knowing where to start (like this blog post).
To quote Melissa Eisler
When your mind is cluttered, it wastes your time and mental energy. It also creates mental confusion, distraction, and disorganization that prevents you from creating clear priorities, making decisions, having focus, and being productive. When your mind is cluttered, you are not present, which causes you to lose connection to yourself, your environment, your relationships, and the moment you are in.
It’s time to let go of the mental habits that are keeping you from reaching your full potential. In order to build mental muscles and declutter your mind, you need to become intentional about where you place your attention and how you spend your time and energy. Only then can you unravel unhealthy thinking patterns that are keeping you stuck and your mind cluttered.
Need I say more, it’s settled.
Let’s delve into the ways to declutter your mind.
Like I said earlier, I didn’t realize that I had already picked up some decluttering habits.
So here are some of the decluttering habits I already practice. They include:
1 . Sleep
Sleep became important to me as a university student. I was constantly stressed during the day but somehow could not get enough sleep at night. So when it came down to picking between sleep or late night movies, I chose sleep because it was especially important for my ability to function properly the next day. Also, waking up at dawn to pray is compulsory for me as a Muslim. So when I started praying regularly, I also began to prioritize my sleep so I could have better concentration during my morning prayers. Asides from the fact that, sleeping well puts me in a better mood when I wake up, Lack of sleep makes me very irritable. This is because Scientifically, lack of sleep causes brain “fog”—the general inability to think straight or remember anything.
According to researchers, sleep deprivation disrupts your brain cells’ ability to communicate with each other, leading to temporary mental lapses. So If you want to start decluttering your mind and creating healthy habits, start by getting some restful sleep.
Your body needs sleep to recharge and rejuvenate. You expect a lot from your body every day, so be kind to it and give it what it needs with a structured evening routine and plenty of sleep.
2 . Meditation
I started meditation during COVID and it honestly felt like a white man thing until I experienced the benefits for myself. I started meditating because I lacked focus and was always anxious. I felt so overwhelmed that I was willing to try anything to help me feel better. My mind was cluttered and I felt out of alignment with my soul’s purpose. I was very conflicted about what path I wanted to take in life and was too timid to decide what I wanted. I felt like my life was going in a direction I dreaded and I needed a plan to set me in the right direction and make me feel better. So I downloaded the app Balance and tried it for a few days. As soon as my free trial ended, I knew I needed time to explore more of what the app had to offer. So I wrote them an email explaining to them that I was a broke student who could not afford the app subscription. I expected them to ignore my mail but they did not. Instead they kindly offered me a one year free access to their library. It was one of the most genuine and touching things I experienced during those tough times and I’m so grateful for them.
The soothing voices of the guided meditation coaches helped me improve my focus, learn techniques to cope with my anxiety, become in touch with my present and practice gratitude for the gifts of life I had overlooked. It was the beginning of intentional living for me. I highly recommend everyone tries it.
Although it takes some getting used to, meditation teaches techniques you can apply in your day to day life to counter stress, anxiety, insomnia and so much more. It also teaches patience and consistency because you need both to experience the benefits of meditation in your life.
If you’re ready to release clutter from your mind, start by downloading the app Balance.
How the app works: Each day, you answer questions about your meditation experience, goals, and challenges.
Using an audio library with thousands of files, Balance assembles meditations personalized for you.
The more you share over time, the more personalized and effective your meditations become.
Balance breaks down meditation into concrete, trainable skills, and it tracks the time you spend practicing each.
They have a free year membership for new members so you can start here to find balance in your life.
3 . Journaling
I figured out the therapeutic nature of journaling since my moody teenage years. We all know that phase when you feel like the whole world is out to get you. I used to write out my feelings anytime I was upset and it was cathartic. I felt a world better ranting in my diary, especially after a fight with my mum. With tears and snot dripping onto the paper, I’d cry and write out everything I could not say. I usually burned them later when I was feeling better but it was mostly because my mum would disown me if she ever read any of those and my sisters kept blackmailing me.
According to the University of Rochester Medical Center researchers, journaling is a helpful tool in managing mental health. It helps you organize your thoughts and understand your emotions, which is a healthy practice for your overall well-being. For journaling tips and best practices, check out this article.
4 . Jotting my ideas
As a Jill of all trades, my mind is singularly the best part of my personality. Ideas fly in and out randomly. The worst part is, my mind works on its own time which means I find it difficult to think of ideas on the spot but the ideas come to me at random times of the day. For instance when I'm cooking, taking a bath or worse, praying. It’s almost like my mind craves the challenge and loves to work while I’m doing other things. So once it comes, I grab my pen and paper or my phone and jot it down before it evaporates. I started this habit because I realized that I usually lost concentration on my current task anytime this ideas came in and my mind would be occupied with this idea until I wrote it down. If I didn't write them down, I'd forget and then use up so much time and mental energy trying to recall what I had written. Infact this induced a poem I wrote called as elusive as my memory. Almost like it loves to play hide and seek with me. So I’m quick to catch the ideas on a piece of paper or I’ll never remember what it is (until weeks later doing something totally random) which tortures and overwhelms my mind.
Get your thoughts out of your head and write them where you can see them clearly, prioritise and action them. Check out this post on how to brain-dump to declutter your mind.
5 . Taking a break
This is very necessary in order to reboot and reset your focus (although I’ve been known to sometimes abuse this). Once my mind gets overwhelmed, I grab my phone, find a comfortable spot and watch a comedy to unwind. It works wonders. When I get back, I’m calmer and more level headed. Your brain needs to rest and recharge in order to perform effectively. You can decide to use your phone for recreation or switch it off. Just do something that makes you feel happy .
6 . Address negative thought patterns
Negative thought patterns can be unconstructive and depressing. Work on shifting your mindset so you can deal with patterns of behaviour and thinking that are not helpful to you such as perfectionism and procrastination.
Others tips that I haven’t incorporated
1 . Set and complete priorities
Although I’ve developed the habits of creating to do lists, I still struggle with completing the tasks on my list. Oftentimes, I work on the least important things instead of focusing on the important tasks ie procrastination. A good example is my to do list to write this blog post. It survived at least 3 to do lists before it got done. If you’re like me and you struggle with an overwhelmed mind, try writing a to do list. However, don’t be like me. Arrange your list in order of importance. If you still feel as though everything on the list is important, arrange in terms of urgency which is an advice I’ll be taking myself. Prioritizing will help you get clear and organized. The last step is to start doing them and crossing them off your list for the ultimate relief!
2 . Limit your screen time
We live in a technology age where almost everything you have to do happens via a screen. We can't live without our phones. I know I can't. My work and my pleasure lies within my IPhone. However, it's important that we focus on the world around us and limit the time we spend staring at the blue light that comes from our screens.
Tune out of social media and tune into your world instead. - Balance through Simplicity blog.
3 . Reduce Multitasking
This is something I’ve struggled with since university days. I knew early on that I was a Jill of all trades so I made the conscious decision of learning to multitask. Little did I know the mental crisis that was about to ensue. I had to learn the hard way that humans are not multitaskers by nature.
Multitasking may seem efficient on the surface, but studies have shown that multitasking actually reduces productivity and fills your mind with too much activity. In fact, a study conducted by Stanford University showed that heavy multitasking lowers efficiency and may impair your cognitive control.
What I have learnt to do instead is to focus on one thing at a time and only multitask on activities that aligned. For instance, an activity that requires your mental effort with one that doesn’t eg cleaning while cooking or listening to a podcast while on a bus.
To do multitasking right, write down your list of priorities and focus on one task at a time to avoid mental overload. Set a timer for how long you want to spend on any given task to ensure you manage your time well.
4 . Practice being decisive
This is a new one for me. I still struggle with making decisions and I think it comes from not trusting myself enough or not giving myself permission to make bold moves.
“Mental clutter is simply delayed decisions.” –Barbara Hemphill, SpotOnOrganizing.com
This is so true because I overthink a single decision, others pile on top, then I get overwhelmed.
Life is fundamentally a series of choices. Some decisions are simple; others are difficult and can stir an uproar of emotions, causing you to avoid the decision-making process completely. In fact, procrastinating is one of the greatest culprits of mind clutter because it causes your brain to become overwhelmed by all those pending decisions you have put off. It can be an honest mistake though—we are all constantly bombarded with so many options and “what ifs?” that it can quickly turn a decision into analysis paralysis. If you need help making decisions, here are six tips to help you next time you are faced with a set of options. For more important decisions, you can try the WRAP method, a technique discussed by the Heath brothers in Decisive: How to Make Better Choices in Life and Work.
5 . Enjoy Time in Nature
Studies have shown that being in nature is associated with mental health benefits, including decreasing anxiety and depression. In a lot of ways, nature restores, refreshes, and invigorates you and your mental energy. Next time your mind feels heavy, take a stroll outside to clear your head.
There's so much you can do to declutter your mind and I'll be sharing more over time. Let me know which ones you already practice and others that I haven't mentioned.
Sending you lots of love of ligh
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