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10 Ways to Declutter Your Mind

Mind Your Mind

What a wonder the mind is. The average human brain weighs around 3 pounds but is a marvel in its efficiency and production.

That 3 pounds has the capacity to absorb information, store that information, and retrieve that information. The mind fills our nights with dreams and can solve amazingly complex problems. 

Your mind's complexity fascinates even more when you consider it controls thought, memory, motor skills, body temperature, emotions, breathing, touch, hunger, and every other process that regulates our bodies and makes you human.

With all that at stake, protecting and nourishing your mind would be wise. You cannot run over to Walmart and pick up a replacement. You cannot use your Amazon account to have a fresh one delivered.

"You cannot have a positive life and a negative mind." 

-Joyce Meyer

The mind does a large amount of its wonders behind the scenes. You don't have to keep track of your breathing, heartbeat, and many other systems that your mind regulates.

However, you can exercise control over other parts of your mind. You choose what to introduce it to, and what to do with that data once it's received. 

Do you ever feel like you've saturated your mind, much like an overstuffed chair or your midsection after one too many helpings of Thanksgiving deliciousness? Have you ever been sorry for something you inputted or believed one more piece of data would cause a meltdown?

Or am I the only one who has encountered sleepless nights because my mind continued to race around an infinite track of thoughts, worries, and problems?

Declutter Your Mind

Just like a cluttered kitchen or workspace, a jumbled mind wastes your time and lowers your mental efficiency. Your life becomes disorganized, confused, and distracted, and you are unable to focus. Maintaining productivity, self-esteem, relationships, or enjoying your surroundings becomes difficult.

As in most areas of your life, you need to prioritize your mind's well-being and create good habits that provide health care for your thinking. Just like your house needs regular cleaning, your mind can benefit from a mental broom and dustpan.

The onslaught of social media, television, texts, endless to-do lists, and notifications has created chaos that should be addressed.

Time to put your mental house in order.

10 Ways to Declutter Your Mind

1. Get enough shut-eye

*Make getting enough sleep a priority. In addition to feeling lethargic, lack of sleep reduces your ability to concentrate, and make sound decisions about what's important.

*Sound sleep allows your mind to sort memories, restore your synapses to peak levels, and clear out waste from your central nervous system.

2. Guard the gateway

*In the early days of computer programming we were reminded of "GIGO", garbage in - garbage out. You couldn't input bad data and expect good solutions. Give your mind good data to process.

*Be selective in what social media, television, videos, and reading have access to your mind. You can't fault the outcome if you don't filter the material.

"You must weed your mind as you would weed your garden." 

-Astrid Alauda

3. Set a physical example

*A cluttered physical space like a disorganized desk can contribute to your mental clutter and inefficiency.

*When you choose to live in a chaotic environment, your mind is partly occupied by those messes, dividing its attention, and keeping you from thinking clearly.

4. Find inspiration in nature

*Science has shown that by simply exposing yourself to nature and its beauty, you decrease stress and depression significantly.

*Nature is uncluttered, and taking a stroll within its symmetry refreshes your mind and renews your mental energy.

*Exercising, whether in nature or indoors, delivers similar benefits, so doing some outdoor activities doubles the dose of goodness.

5. Download some of that data

*A great way to declutter your mind is to take all those random thoughts and transfer them to paper. Moving them from your mind to the written word frees you from keeping track of them, allowing mental focus to be directed elsewhere.

*Journal. If you are the kind of person who is always thinking of innovative ideas, having a go-to place to jot them down and keep them organized is a wonderful way to keep your thoughts organized and your mind clear.

6. Move from multitasking

*You've seen me discuss this in other posts. Multitasking is a myth. It sounds great, but multiple studies provide evidence that it decreases productivity and clutters your mind with an overabundance of activity.

*Make up your mind about what to focus on and get it done. 

"Mental clutter is simply delayed decisions." 

-Barbara Hemphill

*You will have a torrent of choices to make in your lifetime. Continually putting your responses on the back burner will inevitably leave your mind's room looking like a landfill.

* Set goals and mark off their completion. You will get a mental boost from the accomplishment and have one less item to clutter your mind.

Read: 7 Ways to Accomplish Your Goals

8. Practice mindfulness

*Mindfulness is the practice of being in the present. Being in the present without the regrets of yesterday or the worry of tomorrow is an excellent habit for reducing stress and mental clutter.

*Learning to meditate, removing outside static and influence, allows you to take your mind to a place of tranquility where confusion is eliminated. 

9. Promote the positive

*Negativity and worry are both stifling and occupy a lot of space in your mind. Since negative and positive thoughts cannot occupy the same space, kick the negative to the curb and make up a fresh bed for the positive. 

Read: 40 Positive Affirmations...

*Negative thoughts enter all our minds. But with practice, they won't get to stay long as you learn to challenge those thoughts and replace them with positive ones. You're the landlord of your own mind. Be a strict one.

"The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another." 

-William James

As regular readers know, I love quotes and Bible verses. They allow us each to gain strength from others and realize others have endured the same challenges we have.

10. Restart with recess

*Just like a well-timed recess in school helped you avoid a mental meltdown amid one-to-many math problems, a regular break in your routine will recharge your mental batteries.

*Put down the phone. Walk away from the computer. Spend some well-deserved time alone with yourself and return refreshed and motivated. 

Read: Strategies for Better Self-Care

Be purposeful about your mind's health. It's time to let go of the mental propensities that have held your success and happiness at bay. Free your mind to fully function as it was designed to do.

Bonus

Exercise your faith. Fear, doubt, and worry take up a lot of space in your mind unless you choose to evict them. Since they can't occupy the same space as trust and faith, replace those nasty homesteaders with prayer and Bible verses.

Read: 

7 Reasons to Choose Faith Over Fear

and

A Matter of Faith

"Casting all your care upon Him; for he careth for you." 

-1 Peter 5:7

Final Thoughts on Decluttering Your Mind

Barb loves her reality shows. Sometimes she watches one about hoarders. The level of disarray, filth, and debris filmed in some of the homes is heartbreaking. But the floor-to-ceiling bedlam didn't appear overnight.  

The clutter in your mind is the same way. It took time for the piles to stack up, and it will take effort and desire to remove them. When you get to review the before and after pictures in your mind, the transformation will motivate you to keep the spaces clean.

Over time you will notice your inner thoughts becoming more controlled and your ability to maintain order strengthened. This will allow you to function at a level that will help you achieve the future you seek.

Now go live your best life,

Dan