Clutter, clutter everywhere fills your mind with all despair! I personally find that my mental health is affected when my physical environment is cluttered.
It is good to keep a home organised, and clear of clutter to maintain good mental health. I have a ritual of decluttering, to keep my mind clear, as it is not good to keep everything stored in your brain. I tend to write things down to release my mind and I keep a journal when things are crazy in my life. A cluttered mind never helps, it is unfocused and restless, it moves in so many directions at once. I never seem to get much done when my mind is in this state of imbalance. Mental clutter can be a result of worrying too much about the past, the future or present.
There are strategies to help with decluttering of the mind. Some of the techniques I have used to clear space in my head are as follows:
- Learn to let go – To fly in life you have to let go of what weighs you down. A good way to do this is to monitor your thoughts regularly and to replace any negative thoughts with positive ones.
- Keep a journal – to allow yourself to analyse, reflect and organise your thoughts. It can aid as an anti-anxiety coping mechanism, as it’s a way to outlet one’s emotions.
- Work out what matters to you most – and Prioritise. This is a great way to take charge of your life, by working out your goals both short and long term.
- Simply breathe – This can help to relieve stress, and to promote concentration. A simple technique to follow, that works, and one which I guide my clients to try: is to picture the waves of the sea and to say “Breathe in, breathe out, waves in, waves out, calm down, chill out”. Deep breathing is an effective way to clear the mind, to create tranquillity and to enhance one’s mood.
- Limit to single tasking – Juggling between tasks limits one’s attention span, increases stress and creates added clutter by making it difficult for your brain to clear itself of useless information.
- Be decisive and take action – when I have put off decisions it has only made my mental health decline. Constantly avoiding making any decisions makes for an overwhelmed brain, as a result of all the clutter that has been created by those impending decisions. Procrastination can make you mentally unwell, so stop it and choose to make decisions. Top tip: Don’t look back once you have made up your mind, as focusing on the past will clutter your mind again.
Most importantly for self, I must find time to ‘relax’ and take time out from all forms of technological devices, and social media, on a daily basis. This allows my brain to rest, relax, recharge and to fully recoup for the next day ahead. My brain will perform smoothly when recharged. I can tell the difference when I have not rested, so I find time to do what makes me happy like going for a daily walk in the woodlands.
Have a go at the 6 techniques above to try and help declutter your own mind. What is the worst that can happen? You become less stressed, more chilled and a lot happier within yourself…that is worth a go!
