Declutter Your Mind: How To Organize Your Thoughts
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If you are overwhelmed and stressed out, you might need to declutter your mind. Here’s how to feel peace and calm when everything is uncertain.
This article is a little different from others here on Clutter Keeper®. Instead of helping you organize your bedroom or clear out your junk drawer, we are going to look at how to organize the one thing you take with you everywhere – your brain.
In fact, this one action can really help you gain control of everything else in your home.
Ready to think clearly? Take the Declutter Your Mind Workshop. This meditative workshop clears your brain fog with 8 EASY strategies.
Wondering where to begin? Get our FREE guide, The 30-Minute Organizing Secret, and discover easy ways to overcome the chaos of clutter – even with kids at home!
Benefits of a clear mind
If you are struggling to gain control of your home and your life, then the best place to start is with your own thoughts.
When you have control over your thoughts, you will be able to prioritize tasks and focus more on what is currently important.
It can also help to decrease your internal stress and help you actually feel healthier too!
Symptoms of a cluttered mind
So what does a cluttered mind feel like? We all struggle with this at times. If you have a cluttered brain, you’ll probably find yourself doing any of the following bad habits:
- Focusing on the negative
- Worrying about things that you can’t control
- Trouble focusing
- Constantly distracted
- Always running multiple lists in your head
When you have a cluttered mind full of competing thoughts and emotions, you will waste precious energy trying to deal with all of it. You’ll feel drained, confused, and less productive.
How To Declutter Your mind
The best way to declutter your mind is to start at the bottom – with new habits! This guide will look closer at that, but first, make sure to check out the Change Your Habits Guided Workbook! It takes you step-by-step through forming (and sticking to) healthy habits.
If you want to declutter your mind and gain control over your thoughts, this is how you can start. Just do all of the next 8 steps and you’ll notice a dramatic shift in how you solve problems and accomplish things with more confidence and efficiency too.
1. Don’t Feel Sorry For Yourself
The first place to start is to stop with pity parties. Sure, feeling sad or disappointed is a normal part of life, but feeling sorry for yourself is another experience all together.
When you wallow in self-pity, you start to focus too much on your problems and begin to believe that your problems are worse than anyone else’s.
Look out for phrases that signify a pity party is happening such as “why does this always happen to me” or “no one gets it.”
If you catch yourself in self-pity, stop and turn it around. Figure out the steps you can take to make your life better.
2. Get Enough Rest
Getting enough rest has tons of health benefits, but did you know it’s also good for your mental health too? One study found that when you don’t get enough sleep, your brain cells lose the ability to communicate with each other. This leads to temporary mental lapses.
If you want to start being able to control your thoughts and think more clearly, go to bed earlier and get better sleep.
3. Write Things Down
Next, you’ll be able to keep better track of your thoughts if you write it all down. Put all of your schedules down in a paper planner. Or save yourself money and get an undated yearly planner that won’t be irrelevant in a year.
If you have tons of very strong emotions, start a journal.
Writing things down will give you so much mental relief! You won’t have to worry about remembering everything anymore. When it’s written down, you can go back and find it later when you need it.
If you are someone that has creative thoughts or ideas pop into your head a lot, carry a small notebook around with you and write it all down so you don’t have to try and remember it.
Even better, write down all your routines and thoughts in our already-organized Take Action Printables Binder. When all of your lists and schedules are in one place, you’ll never be confused again!
4. Problem-solve instead of worrying
Another habit you can change that will declutter your mind is to turn your worrying into problem-solving. Anxiety has lots of bad effects on your body. Feel healthier and actually think clearer by handling your anxiety the right way.
For example, if you are having problems with co-workers you have two options. You can either feel anxious whenever you are around them and then let those thoughts keep you awake at night. Or, you can create a plan for handling the situation.
Don’t let your problems cause your mind to clutter up with anxiety-inducing thoughts and feelings. Meet them and solve them.
5. Prioritize Your Tasks
Another common issue with a cluttered mind is having too many things that all need done at the same time.
When you feel like everything on your to-do list is all urgent, you will feel more anxious and have a harder time accomplishing anything.
Instead of one long to-do list, write down the things that affect your health first. This includes paying bills and earning money for your household.
Then, allow things lower on the priority list to be accomplished on another day.
6. Multitask less
Another common cause of stress and a distracted mind is trying to do too many things at one time.
If possible, try to focus on one thing at a time. If you are trying to finish a task at work, don’t check social media in the middle of it. Other people set specific times to check their emails at work and focus on one project at a time.
It might be surprising, but studies show that multitasking actually reduces productivity. Avoid mental overload and do one thing at a time.
7. Limit Social Media Consumption
Social media is one of the biggest causes of cluttered and distracted minds. While you are trying to keep your mind positive and entirely present, social media pulls you into drama and stress. All of a sudden your mind is focused on trivial things that don’t matter as much.
Minimize these competing emotions and only check and interact on social media at certain times of the day when you have the mental strength and time to devote to it.
8. Schedule time to worry
This final step goes along with prioritizing your thoughts and trying to problem-solve instead of stressing. Worrying is a part of being a human, the key is to not allow it to take over your life.
Instead, schedule in time to ruminate and get all your worries and anxieties out. Talk them through with your best friend or find someone you can talk to – such as a counselor or life coach.
Give yourself a specific time and place where it’s safe and ok to worry. Then, don’t let yourself do it any other time.
Declutter Your Mind and Gain Control
There are so many amazing health and time benefits to clearing your mind and gaining control of your life. Sometimes when you really feel overwhelmed, the best place to start is with your thoughts.
Don’t let your emotions control you. Organize them and handle them so you can focus on the most important things first.
Struggling to get motivated? Sign up to get our FREE guide, The 30-Minute Organizing Secret, and discover easy ways to overcome the chaos of clutter – even with kids at home!
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