Taking time to declutter your mind creates peace and brings clarity to ones every day life. A cluttered mind has many negative side effects, from an overwhelmed life to disapproving physical and mental health issues. Just as physical clutter affects the quality of life, a cluttered mind can affect how we see the world, ourselves, our place, and value in the world around us.

Sounds silly?

Think Christmas morning, tree, presents, pretty bows, beautifully wrapped gifts, and it all goes haywire in seconds. There is wrapping paper everywhere, toys all over the floor, kids screaming, pets eating things they shouldn’t, and you have no idea where the batteries are.

Are you starting to feel a headache coming on? Perhaps questioning if you went overboard? Already rethinking your Christmas Plan for next year?

Above is one small example of how excessive stimuli hijack your ability to think clearly. This is why this post will focus on how to declutter your mind so you can live your best life.

What does Declutter mean?

Declutter means removing clutter. We deserve to live a life that is not overwhelmed. Where we do not spend our time-stressed and bogged down with stuff. This post shares ideas and techniques for decluttering your mind and living a more organized life. Here we’ll dig into ways to declutter our minds.

How can I declutter my brain and think better?

Clutter should not be something that you simply do. If your brain has become clogged with thoughts, you will be unable to focus or concentrate on a task, wasting your energy. Mental confusion also creates distracting mental disorganizations, hindering your ability to establish and manage goals. When our minds are crowded, we don’t feel present. We lose connection to ourselves. Let go of your thoughts and behaviors which prevent you from achieving your best. Try one task at a time to determine which tips are best for your lifestyle.

1. Challenge Negativity

Negativity can be contagious. When we’re looking for ways to declutter our minds, it is important to prioritize positive thoughts.

While negativity may be painful and occupies much of your brain space, feeling disappointed or sad can be a positive experience. Still, the negative self-pity magnifies your disappointment, causing your perceptions to shift- clearing space for positive emotions.

How to challenge negativity?

  • Ask: Is this thought helpful?
  • Ask: How does this thought benefit me?
  • Limit overthinking about things you can’t control
  • Consider your perspective- is this thought rational, truthful, and or reality?

2. Beware of Dominating thoughts

Overarching thoughts often rob us of seeing things clearly. Dominating thoughts prevent our brains from the freedoms that a clutter-free mindset offers. Declutter Your Mind is an amazing book. It was an exercise in thinking about what was important. Reviews agree that It is incredibly well written and provides excellent tips to manage dominating thoughts.

A great tip offered in that book is to stop replaying thoughts in your mind. We can all relate to having a conversation rather in person or via text and replaying it repeatedly in our heads. 

When we overthink, we are less likely to become more at peace with the situation and more likely to add to the brain fog with negative emotions. The more things our brains are worrying about, the less clarity and focus we have on the things that matter.

3. Schedule Time to Worry

Fear is normal; it means that we’re human. Constant fear, irrational fear, and fear out of proportion are anxiety. When worry consumes your mind, you can lose control of your life. To reduce your stress, schedule some “worry time.” For about 15 minutes each week or day, sit with your thoughts or worries and be scared.

When you feel anxious during the scheduled hours of worry, remember to set aside the right amount of time and let them go.

Worry time is only helpful if we reserve our worry for this particular moment. Take those fearful/ frantic/stress-filled emotions and reserve time to address them to avoid thinking about them all through the day.

4. Transfer thoughts to paper

How does this help you declutter your mind and get things in order? Putting thoughts in the notebook will free our minds because we can let go of any obligation to remember them and clear our minds.

I constantly generate ideas, and I forget even with the best intentions. This is why this is my favorite tip. Using a declutter app and declutter phone tools enforces mindfulness regarding our obligations and ensures that we don’t forget our priorities. Use an app or try to write in a notebook to practice releasing the stress of remembering everything.

Bonus, Decluttering our thoughts could also stop us from overcommitting. We can quickly see when we have too many things on our plates and adjust accordingly with a simple note.

5. Journal

There is another option if writing down your thoughts, feelings, etc., does not prevent you from ruminating. The next step is journal writing. Journals are exploratory writing techniques and can help ponder key issues for your solution. Journaling is often therapeutic. Journalists say journaling helps improve mental health by helping patients with their stress levels.

6. Declutter Your Environment

“Clutter makes you distracted and unable to process information as well as you do in an uncluttered, organized, and serene environment.” Whatever energy it takes to see the clutter in our environment can block our ability to think clearly. It’s important to organize and remove the mess that is physically buried.

Work to declutter your home by doing desk organization in the office or properly storing stuffed animals in your kid’s room. Take time to organize the pantry and toss any expired or unused items. Clearing our space clears our minds instantly.

Decluttering our environment essentially removes distractions both mentally and physically.

7. Reduce multitasking

Humanity doesn’t multitask. Multitasking can appear effective on its surface, but research indicates it can reduce productivity and overload the brain with activities. Rather, you should focus on a single task at a time to avoid mental overload. That is how we get the most benefits from the time we have.

8. Meditate

Meditation is a way to relieve stress by putting ourselves on the right track for an important task. We can no longer declutter our mental clutter without thinking about what keeps us stuck. We bring the mind to a naturally effortless equilibrium in the meditation process. Make ten minutes of daily exercise to clear your mind and release negative thoughts back into the universe – let someone else have them because they are not helpful here.

9. Decluttering your relationships

Leave toxic relationships behind. Easier said than done, I know! Challenging? I know that too. Necessary? Absolutely!

Every connection we make requires some form of energy. Our brains store each encounter and begin to create folders that determine how we interact in those relationships. If a relationship is constantly bringing up negative feelings, there is something there.

It is important to remember that it is not always the other person. Sometimes “we are the toxic person.” Sometimes our mental health is not strong enough yet for that relationship, and we must take time to heal ourselves before that relationship can thrive.

In other instances, people are crazy, and it is time to move on. Toxic people tend to lash out when they can no longer take advantage of you. When this is the case, we move on in peace and try our best not to feel bad for doing what is best for us.

They will survive, and we will be all the more joyful for releasing that negative attachment.

10. Enjoy time in nature.

Research shows that nature helps reduce anxiety and depression. Nature restores and rejuvenates our body, mind, and spirit. When our brain is so heavy, take a walk in front of an open window to declutter your mind.

11. Limit your social media use

It’s all a sensory activity that bombards your body. Social media has become a constant source of clutter and can cause depression and loneliness. Monitor your usage on social media.

How to limit social media use:

Truth- social media is addicting. They designed it that way on purpose. However, we don’t have to be chained to the system. It’s possible to simplify our thoughts by reducing some of the stimuli that these apps create.

  • Set a Timer for maximum usage
  • Setup “Do Not Disturb” phone settings that won’t allow access to apps during certain hours
  • Delete social media apps from phones
  • Designate a particular device for social apps (make it a device that is used sparingly and that will take more effort to access – make habit harder to do)
  • Besides creating posts, find other/more personal methods to share your life with your family and friends

Conclusion

Declutter your home, decluttering clothes- getting rid of all of the physical clutter is an important task when decluttering your life. But, ultimately, to reduce stress and simplify your life, you have to declutter your mind. This post includes one task after another that helps take the pressure off of our brains and make space for the moments that matter most.