Walking around my backyard after the recent storms, I saw winter’s accumulated litter everywhere. It looks strangely depressing next to the crocuses and yellow daffodils. Everywhere I look, things are budding and coming into leaf—and the winter detritus is more than just useless. It’s cluttering my view from seeing the beauty of Spring, and taking up space where more beauty could grow. It is time for me to spring clean. Maybe it is time to spring clean around your house and also think about how to spring clean your mind.
Clutter is Mentally Toxic
Clutter has a habit of expanding. For some of us, what starts off as a harmless pile of papers or other stuff can grow such that our physical environments become toxic and draining. From there, physical clutter can become part of a vicious cycle not only impacting the beauty and comfort of our environment, but also impacting how we feel—sucking precious energy as we feel stuck, guilty, disorganized, embarrassed or incompetent.
Think about how good you feel when you finally clear out those dead houseplants, the outdated timetables and “useful” notes from the fridge. Consider the relief you experience when you clear off your desk, clean out your wardrobe or put away your filing…
Then consider that we can also clutter and de-clutter our minds…
Mental Clutter
Mental clutter is keeping too many thoughts in our mind, making it difficult to process and focus. Just like the view of the clutter in my yard was disrupting, a cluttered mind is also disrupting and can hinder our productivity, balance and even our mental health.
You know the feeling: you’re forgetting important dates, you feel as if you need to go in many different directions, and you’re unable to finish a project or task from beginning to end. Too much there, too much undone, too many paths to follow. A lack of clarity and unresolved action.
Though clutter is often thought of as physical (things you can see and touch), we can now recognize mental clutter. We have unresolved conflict, decisions not made, actions not taken, and ruminating around our goals.
Who has not shaken their head and said, “Brain Fog”, when you forget something or miss a step. Our world is becoming increasingly busy, and tools meant to simplify our lives somehow have just made our brain more exhausted.
If you are tired of the brain fog, and looking for ways to regain your focus, remember the following six tips. They continue to help me and I think you will find them helpful as well.
6 Tips to Spring Clean Your Mind
1. Keep a Journal
I know we have talked about journaling before, but it is a great way to empty your mind and to organize your thoughts. Journaling can acknowledge and calm negative thoughts. It can free up your mind, and manage stress. Journaling helps process mind clutter and gives you a space to analyze and clarify your thoughts. I provide a Journaling Worksheet you can print to help get you started.
2. Keep it Simple
If you can’t control it, let it go. Holding onto the past, or fixating on things that are beyond your control causes mind clutter. It is important to know how to let go, be it mistakes in your past, what other people might think of you, and all those “what ifs.” The things you cannot change weigh you down. Forgetting them will help your mental health, allow you to be more present, and it will also eliminate unnecessary thoughts and fears.
3. Keep Notifications at a Minimum
Social media is not your friend. Constantly receiving notifications from social media, messaging apps, emails and more can be a drain on our brain. By limiting the amount of notifications, you will enjoy better concentration and fewer things to clutter your mind.
4. Keep Meditating
We have previously discussed the many benefits of meditation. Here we add another. Meditation is a powerful way to clear your mind and boost your attention span. If you prioritize meditation in your daily routine, you can help to de-clutter your mind and regain focus. Here is a link to my short 3-Minute Meditation.
5. Keep a List
If you make a list of your daily tasks and prioritize them with other duties and time restraints your tasks will uncluttered themselves. Grab a pen and paper and write, research suggests that our brains process abstract information more effectively when we read it on paper. Also try using a brain dump, it’s the same thing but you do it at night to unclutter your mind before sleep. Here is a Brain Dump Worksheet to get you started.
6. Keep on Keepin’ on
Start the day off right and build stability into your life by having a daily routine. It will be easier to instill good habits like exercising and having established bed times helping you get enough sleep, which in turn reduces the level of mental clutter.
You Can Spring Clean Your Mind
Any type of mental clutter can slow you down and harm your mental health. By clearing your mind and de-cluttering, you can welcome productivity, focus and most importantly, calmness into your daily life.
Spring Clean Your Mind Quotes
(From https://tidyingmama.com/ )
What I know for sure is that when you declutter – whether it’s on your home, your head, or your heart – it is astounding what will flow into that space that will enrich you, your life, and your family. Peter Walsh
I’m in the mood to do some spring cleaning. Apparently, cabin fever has made me delirious. Maxine
Get rid of clutter, you may just find it was blocking the door you have been looking for. Katrina Mayer
[Please note: We provide this discussion for your information. Obviously, this article does not replace professional therapy. There can be a relationship between trauma and accumulating clutter. A professional can help you with trauma related cluttering.]
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