Photo credit: Word From The Bird
Have you been feeling anxious recently? Does it get difficult to focus? Or, are you feeling dejected, worn out, or don’t know what you are doing with your life? Do you keep wondering How to clear your mind? We have all been there at some point in our lives. When you are feeling like the whole world is about to collapse on you, take a step back, pause, and breathe. Yes, just breathe. Take a few long breaths and feel your breath entering and leaving the body. Feel the calmness slowly spread across your body.
In today’s competitive, busy world, it is important to take some time out for yourself to clear your mind, even for a few minutes every day. Remember, your mental health is just as important as your physical health. Regardless of your method, learning how to clear your mind and find the right balance allows you to have a better sense of your surroundings and prioritize self-care, thereby prevailing a sense of peace.
What does Clearing Your Mind Mean?
Clearing your mind can be incredibly helpful for reducing stress, eliminating distractions, and streamlining your thoughts. When you take the time to clear your mind, you create a space for new perspectives to emerge and flow. It is a great way to recharge your mental batteries, so to speak, and feel more focused and productive throughout the day or tend to relationships.
Whether you prefer meditation, journaling, or simply going for a walk, there are many ways to clear your mind and cultivate a more peaceful, centered state of being. You can choose whatever method works best for you, but the goal is always the same: create some breathing room in your mind.
How does Clearing your Mind Help?
Our world is full of distractions with media and information saturation, from OTT to TV shows to constantly buzzing phones. Everything simply strains our attention and we feel tired, more often than not. You may end up finding yourself longing for some peace and tranquility. Yes, I feel that too, and no, you aren’t alone. The task of clearing your mind may seem daunting at first, but it gets easier over time.
Let’s have a look at the positive impacts a decluttered mind has on us.
● Improved focus and motivation: A clear mind results in better focus and motivation. When your mind is engrossed with stray thoughts, ideas, and concerns, you can struggle to do even the mundane things. But when you mentally declutter, you stop your mental energy from draining out, thereby helping you feel energized, motivated, and get on with the tasks at hand.
● Improved physical health: Clearing your mind also greatly impacts your physical health. Having mental clarity decreases cortisol (a stress hormone), lowers blood sugar levels, improves metabolism, and stimulates better sleep. These changes can significantly improve your physical health. A clear mind can also improve both short and long-term memory.
● A renewed sense of passion towards life: A clear mind will not just help you to focus better and improve your overall physical and mental well-being; it will also help you to relax and enjoy your leisure time. Decluttering your mind can actually help you enjoy all the good things in life.
● Managing stress better: Mental clutter is often a reason and a symptom of varied kinds of mental disease and distress. Clearing your mind helps you in tackling anxiety, depression, stress, and addictive behavior.
● Developing a profound connection with yourself: When you are free from random thoughts, can you practice self-care and self-love.
There are many things that can clutter the mind without you noticing them
Think of your mind as a big bowl of cereal. When you put too much milk, it is bound to overflow. When your mind becomes cluttered, just like the bowl, it overflows. Some of the things that can clutter your mind and cause you to burnout:
● Too many items on your to-do list
● Too many meetings or appointments and too many decisions to make
● Dysfunctional workplace dynamics or work-life imbalance
● A constantly full schedule
● Spending an excessive amount of time on social media
● A sense of lack of control
Clearing your mind means opening up the corners of your mind, reducing an untoward and unwanted flow of thoughts, and untangling your mental process.
How to Clear Your Mind in 7 Ways
As you explore how to clear your mind, remember that different ways work for different people. Explore them all and practice what works for you.
1. Learn to say No
You cannot always possibly say yes. It is so important for your self-care journey to understand and accept where to draw the line. We have limited time and resources, and we cannot spend it all on people. However, making a commitment you cannot keep is even worse than saying no. That is why prioritizing becomes significant, as it helps us be decisive. Saying no will decrease the overwhelmingness and stress and will leave you with valuable time to focus on yourself. You cannot stay mindful and efficient if you don’t take care of yourself first.
2. Make a to-do List
This is another very effective tool to clear your mind. It is always a good idea to write down what you need to accomplish. This simple habit can help you stay organized and on top of your daily tasks. By putting your thoughts on paper, you can free up space in your mind and reduce mental clutter. For example, if you need to make a doctor’s appointment, buy groceries, or finish a project, writing it down will help you remember to do it, and prevent the thought from popping into your head repeatedly. So grab a pen and paper, and start jotting down those tasks!
3. Meditation
This may seem pretty common, but I have found that meditation is a great way to attain a tranquil state of mind and improve physical well-being. You can try an array of mindfulness techniques that use mental focus, observation, awareness, and breathing exercises, which can help. Meditation can also help you process your emotions and thoughts, ultimately leading to a more fulfilling and present life. I highly recommend incorporating meditation into your daily lives.
4. Stop Procrastinating, Practice Mindfulness
Trust me when I say this: procrastination has never helped anyone. Not long ago, I used to do that, and it took me a lot of work to stop procrastinating. When you procrastinate, it only increases your stress and distracts you from the tasks at hand. In fact, delayed tasks or missed deadlines will only add to your guilt and clutter your mind. Practicing mindfulness comes in handy. I take a few mindful minutes each day to de-stress and stay focused. It helps me to be present in the moment and be aware of my surroundings. Try it and see the difference!
If you are doing something that you don’t enjoy, try taking breaks in between. If you work from home, try finding a quiet corner where you can concentrate and complete your tasks. Putting on ‘do not disturb’ on phone and email notifications can also help. And if you are physically at your workplace, tell your colleagues you need some uninterrupted space to work. Setting boundaries is essential and healthy.
5. Take a Break and do Whatever Makes you Happy
Trust me when I say this, the world will not collapse if you take a break. Research shows that even if you are too busy, you simply cannot afford not to take a break.
There are many ways you can take a break. If you are feeling stuck, try one of these:
● Go for a quick walk. It always helps.
● Play your favorite tune, it has surprising benefits.
● Practice guided meditation – YouTube has a plethora of such videos. Try some.
● Read a chapter or two of your favorite book.
● If you enjoy doodling or painting, grab that pencil/colors and let your creative mind take over. You can get mandala coloring books. They are super fun actually.
● Take a break from your gadgets. Technology detox is important. In today’s all-consumable world, it is so hard to separate ourselves from our gadgets. Let’s not watch that one reel.
● Take a nap.
The bottom line is to do whatever helps you to declutter your mind.
6. Cleaning your Physical Space
I have learned the benefits of this quite late in life. I used to be more of a messy person when I was younger, but having a messy environment can make it harder to concentrate and think clearly. For me, I found that when I keep my workspace clean and organized, my productivity skyrockets! So, go ahead and clean your work area or your room, get that clean sheet out from your wardrobe, buy some flowers and put them in one corner of your room, or light that scented candle – all of them have surprising benefits in creating a healthy space in your mind.
7. Journaling
You might have already heard this time and again, but let me tell you that keeping a journal is a fantastic way to attain mental clarity. Recalling your day’s events and writing them down creates a wonderful chain effect. There are no rules to journaling or no one way. Go ahead and try journaling and see the difference.
Bottom Line
Clearing your mind is easier said than done, but it is not unattainable. If you are experiencing extreme burnout and nothing is helping you, then please seek help. Make sure that you are eating good food and getting enough sleep. Listen to your body, it will tell you what you need.
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