How I Declutter My Mind — Get More Clarity And Stop Feeling Overwhelmed
11 practical tips that will help get rid of the brain fog that robs you of a clear and focused mind and the essential things in life.
For more than two decades, I lived my life with a cluttered mind, feeling overwhelmed most of the time, struggling with my daily tasks. This led to many worrying, negative thoughts, and anxiety.
I see so much of myself in my students. Most of them feel overwhelmed from the day they begin their studies until they graduate.
85 % of them do not make time to examine how their cluttered minds and thoughts negatively impact their lives.
We live in a world where it's easier than ever to have a cluttered mind.
If there is one thing that is worse than having a cluttered home or workplace, it is having a cluttered mind.
When I had a cluttered mind, I felt restless and unfocused, always moving in many different directions at once. Not surprisingly, I didn't get very much done, and it felt exhausting when I did get something done.
Mental clutter may include all of the following:
-Anxiety about the future
-Ruminations about the past
-Never-ending mental to-do lists
-Nagging and complaints
-Regret, Guilt, Shame, and Fear
-Negative Self-Talk
Thankfully, you can adopt strategies and techniques to clear out all that clutter in your head and free up space.
In this article, I want to share some ways I use every day to declutter my head so I don't feel so overwhelmed. These techniques give me more clarity, I get more done in less time, and I feel more accomplished in my daily life.
I Declutter My Physical Environment
Physical clutter leads to mental clutter.
Firstly, clutter bombards my mind with excessive stimuli, forcing my brain to use energy in the wrong palaces.
Secondly, physical clutter signals my brain that something else needs to be done, which is nothing less than mentally exhausting.
Clutter in my environment is a reflection of my internal environment
As I started to declutter my physical space, I discovered that my mind got decluttered in the process.
Cleaning up on the outside — cleans up the inside.
Today I always end and start my day decluttering my physical space.
I Write Things Down Immediately
My brain is made for creative thinking, not keeping track of appointments, phone numbers, ideas, and future projects.
The moment a new insight or information reaches my brain, I store it. Here it is crucial to choose a tool that works for you — it can be an online tool, an app, or even going old-school, using pen and paper.
The important thing is to outsource — all information I need to remember in my calendar, journal, or an app I use to categorize all my ideas and ongoing projects.
Writing down frees up working memory, and I am free to use my brain for creative output and enjoy life.
I Keep a Journal
Keeping a journal may sound similar to writing things Down Immediately, but this is more about reflection, depth, and letting go than freeing up working memory.
A journal has allowed me to download the inner chatter that constantly interrupts my thought process when I try to get essential things done.
I write in my journal about the following topics:
-Things that I am worried about
-Important goals and my plans for achieving them
-All types of concerns that's draining my energy
-Things I am grateful for
Journaling slows down racing negative intrusive thoughts, and at the same time, improves my working memory.
Journaling creates more energy for more constructive mental activities, lowering stress, anxiety, and depression.
I Set Priorities Based On My Values
Before I got crystal clear about my values, I had no direction in life. I reacted to stimuli like a dog, always doing, never feeling accomplished.
When I got clear about my values and top priorities, it became easier to ensure that my goals, actions, and decisions reflected my values.
At the end of every day, before going to sleep, I create a bullet-point action plan that supports my long-term and short-term goals, and I make sure to prioritize my time and focus on each item on that list.
Most of the choices people make and activities they engage in daily are rarely aligned with their values. They live primarily unconscious distracting, and numbing themselves- I used to do the same.
To stop falling into that trap, I work on the important and NOT the urgent.
Some of my values and priorities change over time, so I regularly check if my values, goals, and priorities serve my values.
I Let Go of the past
Holding on to the past is the best way to destroy my life and the lives of others.
So, I let go of the past. This helps me reduce stress, free up mental space, and even boost self-esteem.
I let go of all the negative thoughts and emotions that bring me down. I monitor my thoughts regularly and work actively to replace my negative thoughts with constructive ones.
Regret is unhelpful if it does not bring about learning or personal change.
I cannot change the past, but I can influence the future. Letting go of regret is to actively choose to live in the present.
The extraordinary life directly results from my ability to let go of things that do not serve my loved ones and me.
I Limit And Control The Amount Of Information
Too much information is the best way to create brain fog and clutter my mind.
I stopped reading newspapers, blogs, and magazines and watching TV. I don't follow anyone on social media.
I read books instead, a lot of books.
I limit information — and create space in my brain by doing the following:
-I use my smartphone to text and make calls
-I don't subscribe to blogs or other things that are not contributing to leveling up the quality of my life or well-being
-I get 90% of all my information from non-fiction books and research papers
-I decide what information is relevant for me and disregard everything that does not support my values and goals.
I don't need to know what is happening in the world- just what is happening in my world.
Useless information is the best way to create brain fog, so limiting the amount of information is the easiest way to declutter my mind.
I Don't Multitask
Several studies have found that just 2.5% of people can multitask effectively. For the rest of us, our attempts to do multiple activities at once hinder our performance and create brain fog.
Multitasking limits my attention span, increases stress, and makes it difficult for my brain to filter out irrelevant information.
Multitasking is a myth. When multitasking, you divide your attention and focus from one thing to another. Therefore, you lose energy and time and make mistakes and errors because you are not attentive enough.
To make the most out of my time. I choose to tackle one task at a time.
I single-task by setting boundaries both private and in my work.
I say NO a lot, in order to free up time — do one thing at a time.
I always list the things I want to accomplish during one day and check them off my list one at a time.
I start with the most critical tasks (not the urgent) and make my way down the list, one task at a time, one moment at a time.
Life only happens one moment at a time. Multitasking creates a distracted brain, a cluttered mind, and stressful life.
I Breathe
Deep breathing is one of the most effective techniques I use to clear my mind.
Breathing deeply induces tranquillity and elevates my mood instantly. I can measure it directly on my wristwatch every single time.
Breathing lowers my heart rate and blood pressure every time, giving me the much-needed relaxed body and focus. Besides that, I have found breathing to strengthen my immunity system.
I rarely do more than 2 min at a time, which is more than enough.
I take a deep breath. I Pause. I Exhale slowly.
I Repeat 5–8 times every day.
That is 60 + days of mindful breathing in one year.
I Make Decisions
I used to put off making decisions and found myself overwhelmed by the clutter created by all my pending decisions.
One day I realized that the only way through life is to stop procrastinating and start deciding.
Some researchers define procrastination as a "form of self-regulation failure characterized by the unreasonable delay of tasks despite potentially harmful consequences. Yep, that was me for many years.
One of the most significant factors contributing to procrastination is the notion that I have to feel inspired or motivated to work on a task at a particular moment.
I call bullshit on myself!
According to research, there are some key reasons why we people procrastinate, and I have found that they all apply to me:
-I am not clear about what needs to be done
-I lack the necessary skills to do something
-I don't want to do something
-I don't care when something gets done
-I think that I can finish it at the last minute
Unfortunately, procrastination severely impacts several life areas, including my mental health and social, professional, and financial well-being.
Procrastination is one of the main reasons people experience a cluttered mind and brain fog, creating a negative loop that generates higher levels of stress and illness, increased burden on social relationships, and resentment from fellow students, co-workers, friends, and family.
How I stopped putting off making decisions:
-I Make to-do lists with a due date next to each item
-I take baby steps breaking down the items on my list into small, manageable steps
-I look for and recognize thoughts/warning signs of procrastination
-I identify and turn off those sources of distraction
Procrastination is mostly me not having made a decision.
The question to ask is:
WHY?
I Share My Thoughts
Most men are masters at not sharing their thoughts, and for a long time, I was no exception.
Today I talk to a loved one about how I feel to prevent a cluttered mind, and as a bonus sharing my thoughts gives me new perspectives, which can help me think clearer and make better decisions.
Sharing is caring and connects you to people.
I Take Breaks
My brain needs to rest and recharge to stay sharp and perform smoothly.
I switch off my phone and all electronics and do something meaningful aligned with my values.
The best way to create a cluttered mind and brain fog is to keep working without breaks, checking your phone constantly, and browsing the internet— this behavior got me burned out not only once, but twice.
Intelligent people know the value and payback of taking a break.
They cut out time in their life to take breaks.
CONCLUSION
Mental clutter causes overload in the inner world and brain fog, robbing you of a clear and focused mind and the essential things in life.
The only thing to stop feeling overwhelmed and gain more clarity is by questioning everything that does not serve your values and loved ones and then letting go of those things.
When I first started decluttering my mind, I looked at there main areas in my life:
-My environment
-My methods
-My mindsets
That helped me diffuse most of the declutter and the overwhelming feeling I had created and called my life.
Over time I gained more clarity, and the fog started to disappear.
I hope this was helpful and I wish you the best friend.
If you like to be the first to receive more articles like this and create the best version of yourself, consider following me.
Follow me on Instagram to receive inspiring quotes and questions every morning.
