Our mind is a fantastic thing. It is full of immense possibilities and has unlimited capabilities. However, in today’s overstimulated and fast-paced world, our minds can quickly become overwhelmed. Read on to learn how to declutter your mind and gain mental clarity.
Many people feel that their minds are never at peace. There is a constant commotion that never stops, with an out of control banging of thoughts that can leave them feeling nervous, worried, sad, or troubled. They are never at peace with themselves and can never seem to get out of their ruts and move forward to accomplish their goals. Often, they feel unfocused and disoriented.
These are all clear signs of a cluttered mind. When our minds become overworked, it can lead to an inability to think straight, which can result in a loss of productivity. If you feel like your mind is racing faster than you can keep up, it is essential that you take care of yourself and find a way to declutter your mind so that you can gain mental clarity and achieve greater success.
Fortunately, there are ways that you can train your brain to slow down and focus. The first thing that you need to understand are the various things that can lead to a cluttered mind in the first place.
Too many people spend their lives carrying around baggage from the past. We hold on to things that were beyond our control and past grudges and worries that we can’t change. However, it is essential to understand that the past is gone and if you want to gain mental clarity you have to learn to let go of the past. The burden of the past can be incredibly heavy and will influence the present if allowed, and will impair your actions and judgments and keep you from achieving greater success.
Another problem that people face when it comes to mental clarity is the constant, unremitting chatter that fills our heads. It can render you incapable of experiencing the real joys in life and impairs your cognitive abilities. It can slow you down, and affect your decision-making abilities and leave you feeling confused, bewildered and absent-minded. When you can learn how to quiet this constant chatter, you can start to clear your mind and gain the clarity you need to succeed in your business.
Negative thoughts can also affect your abilities to process constructive ideas. Unfortunately, if they are allowed to remain in your mind, negative thought patterns will eventually become a part of your personality.
They will begin to influence both your thoughts and actions and keep you from accomplishing your goals. You need to gain a clear understanding of the mechanisms of negative thought patterns so you can learn the different ways to break them.
When our minds are cluttered with things from the past and negative thoughts we can’t find happiness.
The negative thoughts that we have cause us to complain about our shortcomings rather than counting the blessings in our lives. We end up forgoing the simple joys in life without giving it much thought. However, you can change all of this by developing a greater sense of mental clarity and space.
The reality is that mental clutter, when not dealt with, not only will influence your mind, but it can also lead to physical manifestations as well. Taking the time to clear your mind of all the clutter, and develop strategies for success is incredibly important if you want to enjoy greater success.
The Different Kinds of Mental Clutter and What Can Trigger It
Before you can learn how to fix your mental clutter and gain mental clarity, you have to know the different types of mental clutter and the various ways that it can manifest.
There are five kinds of mental clutter that can end up causing you to lose focus and keep you from greater success. The information presented in this chapter will help you determine what type of mental clutter consumes your mind.
Negative Self-Talk
The majority of us have a voice in our heads that dictates information to us. It could be a voice that prompts you to say something during a conversation, or the voice that tells you what it is that you truly want in a given situation. It is the voice that speaks to you about how you look when you look in the mirror or the voice that talks to you in terms of your self-esteem. It can be both positive and negative.
This type of self-talk, when it is negative, can create a significant amount of mental clutter in our heads. When you tell yourself that a specific goal that you’re trying to accomplish is impossible, it can end up actualizing a situation where you end up failing.
On the other hand, if you can cultivate positive self-talk, the results are much more likely to end up being the opposite. Instead of failing, you succeed. Negative self-talk ends up creating a negative mental environment that impacts every aspect of our lives.
Some common signs of this kind of negative mental environment include feelings of inadequacy, feelings of self-doubt, and feelings of ugliness. If you can relate to these feelings, you’re not alone. This is a common type of mental clutter that many people deal with, and many don’t even realize that it is occurring until they stop and think about it.
Worrying
Another kind of mental clutter that many people deal with involves worrying. For some people, this worrying can be chronic. While it is fine to worry about certain things every once in a while when the worry starts to take over your life it becomes chronic and can even become addictive or compulsive.
For example, those who worry excessively it might be challenging for them to recognize that certain situations are out of their control.
Not everything in life is predictable, but for some people, this fact can sometimes prove to be unbearable for them.
This results in a cluttered, worried mind.
Another reason why worrying can take up a lot of valuable mental space is that unpredictability means the future is uncertain. Worrying is a prime example of the fact that mental clutter is often caused by anxieties that are beyond your control.
By shifting the focus of your mind onto more positive aspects of life, it is possible to evade and eliminate a large portion of mental clutter that has built up.
Fear
Fear can also clutter your mind and prevent it from effectively processing information. If you have ever experienced the feeling of dread in regard to a situation that you’ve never dealt with before, then you’re aware of the fact that fear can stop you in your tracks. Fear can prevent you from being able to accomplish what should or needs to be performed while also being able to manipulate your brain in the process.
If you allow fear to penetrate your mind to the point that it’s preventing you from doing something to move you closer to your goals, then it should be clear that fear is an important kind of mental clutter that you need to eliminate from your life.
Guilt
Guilt or shame typically manifests in the mind when we’re not happy with the decisions that we’ve made that we aren’t excited about. This becomes twofold when the choices that we’ve made in the past end up hurting people we care about or people who have trusted us in some way. Guilt can end up taking a lot of mental space up in your mind when you aren’t able to let go of your poor choices.
Instead of letting these poor decisions go and allowing them to become a learning experience, people can sometimes cling to their feelings out of guilt, or even shame. This kind of clinging fuels a situation where the individual allows their self-worth to become tarnished and allows low self-esteem to develop.
Additionally, guilt and shame can end up opening up your mind and letting negative self-talk through. For example, if you feel guilt or shame about a situation from your past, you can start to become resentful or angry toward yourself. Once you become angry and resentful, negative thoughts can start to form and take hold of your mind.
Being able to acknowledge feelings of guilt and shame is the first step toward relinquishing your mind from the grasp of guilt. Once you can recognize these kinds of emotions in yourself, you can then start to work on forgiving yourself and forming a more positive relationship with your mind.
Regret
The final kind of mental clutter is regret. It is essential to realize that every single, self-defined, happy person in this world has more than likely done something that they regret. Making a bad decision is just one of the unfortunate realities of being human. It is not about the decision itself, but rather it is more about how you deal with the decision when the outcome isn’t what you expected.
It’s common for people to focus more on the result of a situation and less on what was learned from a single experience. Being human involves being able to objectively look at what went wrong and where you can improve, however, it is entirely possible to become caught up in the past, rather than being optimistic about your future.
There is a common thread that runs through these five types of mental clutter and can be best described as an inability to let go. If you identify with any of these kinds of mental clutter, the chances are high that you are sometimes too hard on yourself, which can block your ability to gain mental clarity. The ability to release yourself from the burden of knowing that you could have done something differently is essential if you want to find mental clarity.
Now that you know some of the most significant kinds of mental clutter that could be causing you to lose focus, it is vital that you understand some of the specific triggers that can lead to a more cluttered mind.
The News
For many people, the daily news can be a trigger point that ends up causing unnecessary worry, guilt, and stress. These days, it can sometimes seem as if everything on the news focuses on violence, controversy, or negativity. If you are used to watching the nightly news, you can determine if it is a trigger point for you by keeping track of how you feel afterward.
Either write down how you feel, or you can use your phone to record your feelings. It’s essential to take note of the emotions that might arise that are associated with the types of mental clutter discussed previously.
Once you’ve recorded your feelings after watching the nightly news, take a few nights off from watching it. Take a step back from the chaos and see how you feel. You may find that your mind is a bit clearer when you refrain from watching it.
While this doesn’t mean that you should completely hide from current events around the world, by recognizing that the news can sometimes clutter your mind in unexpected ways, you might be able to protect it better when necessary.
Money
Another trigger point that may cause you mental clutter is the subject of money. It doesn’t matter where you are in regards to your career; money is something that causes everyone a lot of fear, worry, and even regret. If you continuously think about money and how to get more of it, there are a few things that you can do to help you think about it less. Start by altering your mindset.
Rather than being anxious and worried about the lack of money you have, try being grateful for the money that you do have. Then you need to be upfront with yourself about where the money you do make is going. After you determine where you spend your money, you can start to cut costs wherever possible.
The Past
Another trigger that leads to mental clutter for many of us in the past. Sometimes the past is simply a reference point as we move through life. However, this doesn’t mean that we should allow the past to define our future.
When you focus on the past, it can seem like your inner demons shine brighter than they should. We’ve all made mistakes, taken others for granted, and have done things that we are not proud of.
When you focus on these negative aspects of your past, rather than the positive ones, you are more likely to be overly hard on yourself.
If you can start to think of the past as being less defining to who you are today, it can lead to a less cluttered mind when you are making important decisions.
Your Current Habits
It is entirely natural to get stuck in your current ways, even if the circumstances don’t make you particularly happy. If you feel as if you have an attitude that you can’t change things because it’s just the way it is, then this is a great place to start decluttering your mind and gaining mental clarity.
If you think that your current circumstances are causing a significant level of mental clutter, in your life, then you should look at your associates, your material possessions, and your job to see if any of them need altering. Then make a plan to address these things so you can get rid of the mental clutter and gain more mental clarity and achieve greater success.
Letting Go of the Past
While the present can plague our minds when we have a lot on our plate, the past can take a hole of our mental facilities when it comes to dealing with people around us.
Additionally, it is safe to say that we all have had bad things happen to us in the past that we wish we could forget.
Life can sometimes leave the emotional body with scars, and then it’s up to us to heal them in the best way we can. Letting go of the past is important because when you can’t let go of the past, it can dictate how you react to things in the future.
Recognize Why Letting Go is Important
Say you were hurt by a friend in the past, and you feel as though they left an emotional mark on you. Because of what happened you don’t feel as though you can trust anyone now. This general sense of distrust, while you believe it is protecting you from getting hurt again, is actually limiting your ability to form positive relationships with the people around you.
You continuously go back to the situation, and you can’t let go. In turn, this creates emotionally-driven mental clutter that dictates how you live your life.
This is why letting go of the past is so important and recognizing his fact is the first step when you are looking to let go of negativity from the past. In this way, you can start to think about being able to let go of the past as a positive thing for yourself. To this end, thinking about some of the following aspects should be able to help you deal with any issues about your past.
Releases You of a Burden
Carrying around the weight of something in that past that has hurt you can be incredibly tiring emotionally. By forgiving these circumstances and letting go of the hurt caused by the situations, allows you to be able to strengthen your own psyche.
Releases You of Resentment
It is crucial that you understand that when you choose to let go of a hurtful past situation, it doesn’t mean that you have to mend the relationship with the person that hurt you. Instead, you need to focus on letting go of your sadness, anger, and pain. This will help you to become a better version of yourself, without having to focus on the other person.
Brings You More Understanding
Many people who cause others pain often are hurting themselves. If you can recognize this fact and find it in your heart to be a bit more compassionate to others who hurt you, it might end up being easier for you to let the past go.
Requires You Forgiving Yourself
When you hold onto the past, there’s a chance that you also blame yourself for the circumstances that occurred. Similar to finding compassion for the people who hurt you, it is also essential to find compassion for yourself. Relationships are complex, and it is entirely possible that you could be the victim, as well as having some responsibility in the matter.
Stop Playing the Victim
We all know someone that has hurt us in the past, and that was their decision, their choice. Similarly, you are choosing to dwell on it, and that’s your choice. To learn how to let go of the past, you have to recognize that you are making yourself the victim.
Playing the victim is a sign of weakness and allows the person who caused you pain to have control over you in some manner. Instead of continuing to play the victim, remind yourself that you are in the driver’s seat and don’t let your brain dwell on the negative thoughts of the past.
Exercise Your Mind with Positive Affirmations
Once you’ve realized that you are in control and are starting to refocus your mind on the present, you need to work on your selfesteem if you want to let go of the past finally. When you dwell on an adverse event from the past often enough, it is likely that your self-confidence has been negatively influenced.
To counteract this by-product of holding onto the past, you need to repeat positive affirmations regularly. Doing this will help to train your mind to see yourself as being worthy of success.
Say What You Feel
When you bottle up your emotions, the problems from the past that are making you angry and upset, won’t simply disappear into thin air, but instead, they stay inside our brains taking up valuable mental space. This results in us creating scenarios in our heads because we never expressed our displeasure with the person that caused us harm in the past. Since we don’t know what the outcome of the situation would have been if we simply stated our feeling at the moment, our mind starts to race with ‘what if’ scenarios.
To get out of this habit of playing the ‘what if’ game, you have to force yourself to become more open about what exactly you’re feeling when you’re feeling it. Not only will this help you relieve your mind of anxious thoughts, but it will also allow you to be less resentful of the situations.
Look to the Past for Positivity
Finally, if you want to let go of the past, then you have to reorient your relationship with it. Rather than looking at the past and seeing the negative things that have to lead you to your current situations, instead look to the past and find the good things that have come from it as well.
Remind yourself of the good times that you had in the past and everything that it has brought with it and allow your mind to clear out the negative aspect of your past.
Letting go of the past is the only way that you will ever be able to move forward and gain more mental clarity. Holding onto the wrongs that have been done to us and the mistakes that we’ve made on our journey will only keep us from realizing our full potential and gaining the mental clarity we need to succeed.
The Power of Positive Thinking
Positive thinking isn’t merely about making you feel happier or providing you with a more optimistic outlook. While these two outcomes are by-products of thinking positively, there are far more benefits that can change your mental clarity and help you achieve greater success.
Recent studies have shown that positive thinking is directly linked to your brain’s reward system and pleasure stimulus.
This means that once your mind feels the pleasure that positive thinking or happiness brings, it is going to reward itself in the hope of receiving more of this type of feeling. Positive thinking can have a snowball effect on the brain, and once you start thinking positively, your brain isn’t going to want you to stop.
Instead, positive thinking will entice your mind to continue to think this way so that you feel good more often. The manifestations of being able to think more positively about your behavior in regards to your interactions with people you encounter throughout your day will include being more optimistic.
The Brain and Optimistic Thoughts
From a more scientific perspective, positive thinking has been proven to influence growth that takes place in the brain. Specifically, positive thinking has been linked to stimulating the growth of neural connections in the brain. Of course, even if you are someone who doesn’t typically think positively, these connections will continue to grow, but they will grow at a faster rate when you think positively.
This is important because as you get older, your brain’s ability to develop these connections will inevitably start to slow down. When you can begin to think positively, it means your mind will be able to function more efficiently for a more extended period.
Along with being able to motivate the growth of neural connections in your brain, two other benefits that come with positive thinking are related to doing output and analysis. Thinking positively has been linked to bringing the mind the ability to process thoughts more quickly and being more alert.
Along these same lines, it has also been linked with being able to solve complex problems in less time more efficiently. When your thoughts are negative, it can sometimes seem like we are only thinking of the poor outcome regarding a particular situation.
However, when our thoughts are more positive, we are more likely to be open to experiencing a variety of results. This allows our brains to think of broader scenarios when it comes to finding solutions to our problems.
You Are What You Think
Another way that you can look at positive thinking in regards to decluttering your mind is to recognize that our thoughts often lead us to action or inaction. For those who think positively, they are able to see the world as a better place, where there are more opportunities and where they can accomplish anything they desire.
On the other hand, negative thinking often leads people to believe that the world is a place where their current circumstances are the only circumstances that they will ever realize. While the positive thinkers use their positive thoughts as a platform to take a leap and strive to achieve their dreams, those who think negatively will use their negative thoughts to limit what they produce and ultimately stops them from growing.
It is essential that you remember that everything is always in flux. Take the time to understand that as a human, you are continually evolving. To settle and think negatively when it comes to your personal growth is something that you should avoid. This is why positive thinking is critical because people often become their thoughts.
How to Become More Positive
Now that you know why thinking positively is so essential for your success, it’s time to discover how you can become a more positive person. While some people seem to be born with a greater sense of positivity, it doesn’t mean that it isn’t something that you can learn yourself. The first thing that you need to understand is that people who are optimistic aren’t always positive. These people fully understand that being too positive can also be detrimental to their health and mental clarity.
Instead, positive thinkers are typically those who see both the good and bad in any given situation, yet they choose to focus on the good instead of the bad. This is an excellent place to start when you want to try and be more optimistic.
It is essential that you fully understand that there is a difference between someone who is blindly optimistic to the point of harm and someone who is realistic about what could go wrong and what could go right. Finding this kind of balance is incredibly important, especially if you tend to have more negative thoughts than positive thoughts.
Rather than going all out and trying to be as optimistic as possible, it would be better for you to learn how to recognize both the good and the bad in a particular situation before you consciously turn your focus on the positive aspects of the situation at hand.
Volunteer Your Time
When you can discern the difference between being blindly optimistic and being realistic, you can start to look at ways to become more positive. An excellent way to do this is through volunteerism. You can volunteer your time in a variety of ways.
Write Down What You’re Grateful For
If volunteering your time in your community isn’t something that you enjoy, you can become more positive by keeping a gratitude journal. Every night before you go to bed or when you first wake up in the morning, spend some time writing down everything that you are grateful for in your life.
When you do this, you want to only think about the current day if you are doing this at night, or the previous day if you choose to do this exercise in the morning. This will help train you to think more about the positive details in your life rather than the negative and will likely help you see that your life has many amazing aspects.
Be Kinder
A great way to shift your mindset from negative to positive is to be kinder to those people around you. When you are trying to be more positive, it is essential that you create an environment where you are kinder to the people in your life. Not only will this allow you to see your world from a different perspective, but you will also start to reconsider how you live your life on a daily basis.
Learning how to think more positively isn’t just an essential exercise for your sanity, but it can also help to improve your health. You have the power to change the way you think and thinking positively can help you clear the clutter from your mind and gain more mental clarity so that you can enjoy greater success in your business.
How to Improve Your Focus
Along with learning how to think positively, another way you can limit the amount of mental clutter in your head and regain control of your mind is by improving your focus. There are a number of external factors that can lead you to lack focus and some ways to help you focus better and more consistently.
Why Focus is Important
Having the ability to focus is a tool that every successful person needs to learn to cultivate to some capacity. When you are focused, the chances are higher that you will be able to achieve these mental capabilities:
1. Set goals that are based on your own preferences and desires.
2. Make choices with more certainty, based on what you truly want and what your goals are.
3. Be able to figure out the path to take that will lead you to what you want. 4. Find greater motivation from your daily tasks because you know you are working toward achieving your larger goals.
In contrast to the way, mental clutter can keep the brain from accomplishing straightforward and predetermined tasks, training the mind to be able to focus on a given task that will lead to something great brings with its drive, confidence, and enthusiasm. Unfortunately, sometimes all the mental clutter in our heads makes it seem like finding focus is a dream that can’t be reached.
What Causes You to Lose Focus
If you want to be able to clear your mind of the mental clutter and gain more clarity, then you have to determine what is causing you to lose your focus in the first place. For example, if you are someone who is self-described as a “scatterbrain,” it is critical that you understand that there might be more happening than you simply being the type of person who can’t keep track of anything.
If you have been going through life, losing your house keys or completely forgetting that a significant deadline is coming up at work, there could be a more significant problem at play. If you’re struggling with a lack of focus, you have to be honest with yourself about any significant stressors in your life that could be contributing to the problem.
Habits That Can Lead to a Lack of Focus
Along with the external experiences that can lead to a lack of focus, your habits could be contributing to the issues. Some of the habits that you have can be easily changed if you want to improve your focus.
Overeating Sugar
Overeating sugar has been linked to a number of chronic problems like obesity and diabetes, but too much sugar can also contribute to other complications when it comes to mental clutter.
For example, recent studies have shown that too much sugar in the diet can increase your chance of developing Alzheimer’s disease when you’re older. This just shows that sugar can have a negative impact, not only on your physical health but on your brain’s ability to organize and focus on information.
Not Eating Enough Fat
While consuming too much trans-fat can lead to obesity, not consuming enough good fat can be bad for your brain, because most of your mind is made up of fat. Based on the findings of recent studies, some doctors believe that if it doesn’t find the proper nutrients that it needs to thrive, it will begin to consume itself.
Without fat, your brain is unable to produce the necessary chemicals to operate the body properly.
Instead of focusing on a diet that is low in fat, you should instead focus on a diet that is low in carbohydrates. Most carbohydrates, when they are broken down, they turn into sugar. And, as previously mentioned, too much sugar can become a problem for the brain. Some foods that are full of healthy fats include eggs, avocados, and organic red meat.
Dehydration
Another way that you can help eliminate some of the mental clutter in your head is by drinking more water. More than half of the population of the United States is considered to be continually dehydrated.
Other than the fat in your brain, it mostly consists of water, and like fat, it needs water to function at maximum capacity. Start drinking more water throughout the day to help eliminate mental clutter and gain more focus and clarity.
Low Levels of Essential Minerals
If you want to gain more control of your mind and think more clearly, then you should consider increasing your intake of vitamins D and B12. Vitamin B12 will help keep your memory sharp, but a lack of it in your diet can lead to digestive problems later in life.
You can absorb Vitamin D through your skin from the sun. It is known to improve the mood and has been linked to improving depressive states. If you can clear your mind by just taking a multivitamin daily, why wouldn’t you?
There are a lot of factors that contribute to mental clutter and the brain’s ability or inability to focus on a single task or thought at a time. This includes how you fuel your body and mind and keep it energized.
While writing down your thoughts can help you to slow your thoughts down and eliminate some of the mental clutter taking up space in your mind, you also have to take care of your body and provide it with the fuel that it needs to function correctly.
Ways to Clear the Mind Clutter
When it comes to clearing out the mental clutter and gaining more mental clarity for greater success, there are some small thing that you can do daily that will help you gain control of the thoughts that continually bombard your brain.
These little things will provide you with a particular course of actions that you can turn to when you find yourself in a situation where you are feeling overwhelmed with unhelpful thoughts.
Practice Mindful Breathing
If you start to feel overwhelmed or are experiencing a lack of focus, practicing a mindful breathing technique can help calm your heart and clear your mind. When negative or overwhelming thoughts start to bombard your mind, close your eyes and think to yourself, “inhale,” as you take a long deep breath, and “exhale,” as you slowly release the breath.
When you slow down your breathing and concentrate on inhaling and exhaling it will help you regain a feeling of control. Deep breathing has been proven to help lower stress and blood pressure levels.
In addition to being able to calm the physical body, concentrating on your breathing can allow you to achieve a greater sense of focus. Noticing your breathing forces you to think about only one thing, and this can help you to stop the other thoughts that are vying for space in your head.
Work Out
Another great way to clear your mind of clutter is to get some sort of physical exercise every day. Not only does exercising allow you to focus on the activity that you are participating in, but it also changes your mind in ways that have been scientifically proven.
For one, exercise increases the production of endorphins in your brain, which can help you to calm and relax your body and mind. Other benefits of exercising include:
- Increasing your self-esteem
- Ease the symptoms of anxiety and depression
- Improves sleep
- Provide you with an added sense of control in your life
- Enhances the mood and increases optimism
If you aren’t currently doing much in terms of physical activity, becoming more active can be incredibly beneficial in helping you slow down your mind and eliminate mental clutter. Adding exercise to your daily routine can be as simple as going for a walk in the evenings or practicing yoga when you wake up in the mornings.
Start Writing More Down
Writing down as many thoughts as you can is another way that you can teach your brain to stop moving so fast and declutter the mind. This doesn’t require you to write your thoughts down in a formal journal, but instead performing a brain dump with whatever writing utensils you have available.
When you can regularly decrease the number of ideas floating around your head by writing them down, you can start to establish positive habits that will lead to long-term change.
For many people, once they write their thoughts down, they feel as though the weight of their brain’s activity has been purged from the mind. Some of the things that you might want to consider writing down include:
- The steps that you need to take to accomplish your goals.
- A list of your current worries.
- Details about a relationship that might be straining your mental energy.
There are no set rules about which thoughts you can and can’t write down. The idea is to clear the mental clutter by pulling the thoughts out of your head so you can acknowledge them and let them go.
Read a Book
Another great way to declutter the mind is by reading. A good book will allow you to escape from reality in a way that might not otherwise be possible. While watching a movie or a television show can provide you with a similar feeling of escapism, these avenues of entertainment, however, don’t allow your mind to work as hard as reading a book.
Additionally, a good book can occupy your mind with details that a television show or movie can’t express.
Keep a List
If you find that your mind is always preoccupied with thoughts about everything that you need to accomplish, it can be beneficial to keep a list of the tasks you need to complete. Take some time before you go to bed to write down a list of all the tasks that are currently consuming your mind.
You can either use a pen and paper to compile this list or download one of the many apps for your smartphone so you can keep this list with you wherever you go.
When you compile a list of everything that you need to do to accomplish your goals, you are removing some of the clutter that is floating around in your brain, because it forces you to keep everything in one place. Writing a list of your tasks will also help you to organize them more efficiently and prioritize essential tasks that you need to accomplish.
Say No to Interruptions
Sometimes the best way to declutter your mind and gain mental clarity is by eliminating the interruptions that keep you from getting anything accomplished. There are so many things that can interrupt your workflow, form your cell phone to social media, to chatty coworkers and employees.
Take some time to think about all the potential interruptions that you have to deal with and consider whether some of these interruptions can be dealt with at a later time.
For instance, email notifications on your smartphone can interrupt you multiple times a day. Instead of reaching for your phone to check your emails every time you get a notification, turn these off and commit to only checking and responding to your emails a couple of times of day. If you have an issue with coworkers or employees continually stopping by your office to chat, shut your door and place a do not disturb sign on your door for a couple of hours so you can get work done without the interruptions.
Constant interruptions end up pulling your focus away from the task at hand and can significantly decrease your ability to focus on what needs to get done. Make a list of all the interruptions that could happen throughout the day and come up with solutions to address these interruptions. The fewer interruptions that you have to deal with, the less cluttered your mind will be and the greater success you’ll achieve.
Quit Procrastinating
Everyone is busy, and it is only natural to want to put things off until the last minute, especially when you have a lot going on; however, if you’re someone who tends to wait to do something out of laziness or because you don’t feel like it, then this could directly lead to excessive mind clutter.
The fact of the matter is that completing the tasks on your plate is good for your mind. If you don’t address the things that you need to complete in a timely manner, they will end up occupying your mind until they are completed.
A great way to stop procrastination is by implementing the two minute rule and applying it to all the tasks on your to-do list. The two-minute rule involves asking yourself what actions you can take in two minutes or less that will move you forward in completing your tasks.
The idea is that once you commit to spending just two minutes on completing an assignment, you’re more than likely to continue working after the two minutes is up until you complete the task in its entirety.
This is due to the psychological phenomenon called the Zeigarnik effect, which states that unfinished tasks are more likely to get stuck in your memory, which is why our minds tend to get stuck in a loop thinking about all the things we’ve not yet completed. It is important to remember that even small actions are still actions and two minutes can make all the difference.
Even if you don’t believe that you need to work on all of the different kinds of mental clutter that these exercises pertain to, the chances are high that you can relate to at least one of them. If one of these tips is speaking to you more than the others, try to implement it into your daily routine before moving onto the others.
Additionally, don’t be afraid to experiment with the different tips above. There are no rules stating that you can’t alter these tips and make them work for you to the fullest extent possible. Finding ways to get rid of the mental clutter in your head is incredibly important if you want to be able to gain mental clarity and achieve greater success in your business.
Final Words on Gaining Mental Clarity
Mental clutter is an issue that often gets ignored. It is something that we all have, but many of us rarely pay attention to it. Instead, we attribute the stress in our lives and business to other problems.
Unfortunately, when the mind is cluttered, we aren’t capable of focusing on the important aspects of our lives that allow us to move forward and accomplish our goals.
The next step for creating a healthy internal environment so you can gain mental clarity is to start small.
First, decide which area of your mind you’re going to work on first and then go from there. Implement some of the tactics presented in this book and don’t forget to be patient, decluttering your mind and gaining mental clarity won’t happen in a day.
The most important thing to remember is that you need to be steadfast in your pursuit of a clearer mind, as well as being realistic with your abilities.
The change will come, and you need to be sure to acknowledge and appreciate the small victories that bring you one step closer to decluttering your mind and gaining mental clarity for greater success.
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