Declutter Your Mind

Hello and welcome back to this afternoon's blog. With so much going on in the world at the moment, it is easy for your mind to become frazzled to the point that you don't know what you're thinking. You can become restless and easily unfocused and unable to concentrate on simple everyday tasks. This leads to a very busy and cluttered mind. Lots of people suffer from various mental health issues and need to keep things simple and their mind clear of 'junk'. Maybe you are worrying about the future, the past or the present. Do you keep your entire to-do-list in your head? Are you stressed dealing with problems and complaints at work? There are so many ways your mind can become like a London train during rush hour (for those non-Londoners, it's not fun). But how do we declutter our minds..?

Start by decluttering the physical environment you live in. Tidy everything from your desk at work to your bedroom and garage. Walking into a room and seeing things all over the floor and piled on top of each other is not healthy for anyone. Your brain goes into overdrive as you ask yourself "How will I ever find that one piece of paper?" when you've got a pile the size of Mount Everest in front of you. Give yourself cleaning time every month or so to sort out the places where you spend the most time.

This next one is something I am very guilty of sometimes. I try to remember everything in my head. And I mean everything! Well that's what pen and paper are for. Write things down, no matter how small it seems. If you need to put the dishwasher on after dinner, write it down. If you need to make a phone call at a certain time, write it down. If you have your favourite TV programme (that reminds me - Love Island Australia 9pm) to watch, write down the time. Just take some small details out of your head to make more room for the important facts.

Instead of writing things down, consider keeping a diary or a journal. Write down your innermost thoughts and feelings. Use it as a place to rant and get things off your chest. Sometimes we don't always have someone to talk to - or don't want to talk about stuff - so writing it in a journal is the next best thing. Paper is your best friend - it won't judge, laugh at you or tell you how wrong you are. It's the best listener anywhere in the world.

The next thing we can do is to move on from the past. So many times I find myself thinking about a negative experience that has already passed that I can't do anything about. Why do we do this? Unless someone invents a working time machine there's nothing we can do. We get stressed about what has already happened and we worry about that same thing happening again. The more we think about it, the more anxious we get. I know it's difficult (I don't always do this myself), but we have to move forward with our lives.

Now the old saying - "girls can multi-task better than guys". Stop! Multi-tasking is not healthy for us. Instead of giving one job or thought our full attention, we try to split ourselves four or five times over. We only have one body and therefore only have one mind. Let your mind make the best decisions for you. It needs to concentrate on one thing at a time. Otherwise (and again I'm holding my hands up here) we start asking ourselves so many questions that we don't answer any of them. The result - more stress and more sleepless nights.

Because our minds can only process one thing at a time, we should limit the amount of information that we absorb. We have got to keep enough room available for the information that we need to know, that will make a true difference in our lives. We can limit the amount of time we spend on the phone, limit how long we spend on social media, and restrict how often we read the newspapers. We read so much online and in magazines that we don't need. Don't flood your brain to the point it overflows.

When we do make a decision, be decisive about it. There's nothing worse than making a decision and instantly regretting it or wishing you had changed something. Every decision we make has pros and cons that we have to weigh up. Take the time to process your thoughts so you only have to make one decision. If we rush into deciding, then we will regret it, and therefore we have to rethink the decision - putting more information in your mind.

We have so many big, life changing decisions to make that it is important we do not allow the routine things to get in the way. Instead of spending three hours deciding what outfit to wear on a night (ladies), just choose the first one that looks half decent and put it on. Don't spend a whole hour doing your make-up (again - ladies). Just make your face look kissable and get yourself out the door. You get my vibe - small fish in a sea full of sharks. Sharks need more thought. Small fish won't satisfy you (unless you have hundreds of them - but that's besides the point).

Something we have to do in life (everything - not just decision making) is prioritize. We all think we can take control of everything at once, so we take on more and more. Do one thing at a time. Choose what is the most important thing to do and put all your eggs into that basket. Once you've done that, choose the next most important thing. And so on. Don't think about what outfit to wear before you choose where you are going. It doesn't make any sense at all!

Finally, and this takes a bit of a different view, but meditate and relax. Give yourself time to enjoy life. Don't come in from work and check your emails. Run yourself a nice bath, order a takeaway and open a bottle of wine (not every night of course - you'll be bankrupt in no time). Life is stressful and sometimes we do need to think about many things and overload our minds with information. But in the free time we have, make the most of it. Treat yourself and look after yourself. Remember - one body, one mind.

Mental clutter can seriously congest our inner world to a harmful level. We can't differentiate between the important and the routine, and everything ends up getting mashed together like potatoes. The only difference is mashed potato is smooth. Life very rarely is.

Declutter your mind and live your best life.

Connor

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