How to Clear Mental Clutter
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If I have something hard to do, the first step is always to tidy up my space. I can’t focus on anything complicated when I’m sitting in a messy or cluttered room. The same is true for mental clutter.
Do you know what it’s like to have a cluttered mind? There’s so much going on in there you can’t think straight. It’s hard to focus on a project and get anything productive done. It’s hard to remember details. It’s hard to quiet down the self-talk. It’s hard to sleep.
It’s time for a mental declutter!
It can be hard to keep our minds uncluttered. We are constantly bombarded with information to process and remember. The notifications on our devices come through thick and fast. The news cycle is relentless.
What can we do about it? How can we declutter our minds? Here are some steps you might find helpful.
TIPS FOR CLEARING MENTAL CLUTTER
brain dump
This is the best strategy if you have a lot of tasks to do. Grab a notebook and a pencil and start a list. Get everything out of your head and onto the page. Don’t worry too much about the order. It doesn’t matter if it is big or small, important or trivial, just get it written down. Once everything is in black and white on the page, your brain doesn’t need to work on remembering it.
When everything is on the page, you can sort out the list. I often mark everything that will take five minutes or less and get as many tasks finished as quickly as possible. It feels great to cross multiple things off the list. I then prioritise what’s left, estimate how long each task will take, and time block my calendar.
When I was working, I went through this process every Monday morning. I added to the list throughout the week, then started fresh every Monday, transferring anything still on the list from the week prior.
2. journal
If you have a mind full of swirling emotions, journaling a stream of consciousness is a great way to declutter your mind. Grab a notebook or journal and a favourite pen and begin to write. Just write whatever comes into your mind. Write about how you’re feeling and why. Writing it out in longhand forces you to slow down and put words to your emotions.
You might find it helpful to write it as a letter, like a Dear Diary entry. I often begin as an emotional vomit and end up as a prayer, asking God to intervene, forgive and bless.
I often begin a writing day with a few pages of journaling. Just getting all the swirling thoughts out on the page helps me focus on the piece I’m working on.
3. talk
If you’re a verbal processor, you might find talking it out to be a great way to get your mind decluttered. The practice of talking it through and articulating what is on your mind can bring clarity. Talking through a problem can help you find a solution. Talking through a project can help you find structure. Talking through an impending difficult conversation can help you find the words to express yourself clearly. Talking through a difficult memory can help you find closure.
The person you talk to needs to be safe. They need to be a good listener, and they need to respect your confidentiality. It helps if they are wise and can help you gain some perspective without giving you unsolicited advice or trying to solve your problems for you.
4. solitude
When’s the last time you spent some time alone? Television off, radio silent, phone out of reach. It doesn’t happen very often. It’s easy to be constantly distracted and never give our minds a chance to decompress. Solitude is an ancient spiritual practise that is rare in our modern lives. Time alone to let our thoughts wander can be uncomfortable. Many of the thoughts, feelings and memories that surface can be painful. And yet, when we allow ourselves the time to think and feel and remember, we can find peace once again.
Uninterrupted time alone to think can help us untangle our crowded thoughts. Make yourself a cuppa, find a comfortable place to sit and spend ten minutes alone. I find sitting outside best.
“Be still and know that I am God.”
—Psalm 46:10
5. exercise
I can’t remember where I heard it first. “If you are physically tired, exercise your mind. If you are mentally tired, exercise your body.” Physical exercise releases hormones that combat stress. Walking (running or cycling) keeps our physical bodies fit and healthy, but they also do wonders for our tired minds.
When I am stressed or overwhelmed, a long walk outdoors creates the circuit breaker I need to find my happy place again.
6. craft
I recently read an article about the mental health benefits of knitting. During the COVID lockdowns, there has been a resurgence of the old-fashioned crafts we associate with our grandmothers: knitting, crochet, macramé, watercolour painting. Keeping our fingers busy with repetitive tasks while letting our minds wander is good for us.
I am working on a crochet knee rug at the moment. The pattern is relatively simple, the colour is pretty, the feel of the wool is soft. Doing a few rows at the end of the day is a great way to wind down and settle my mind.
7. mindfulness
When practised regularly and consistently, mindfulness is a powerful tool against stress. The key is to practice on our good days as well as on the days we feel like we need it most. Its benefits are accumulative as we teach our mind how to settle down, let go and be present. Like many skills, we get better at it over time.
There are many resources and some great apps to help us practice mindfulness. There is the ‘breath’ reminder on my Apple Watch. I also love the Pause App and Headspace. Choose one that suits you and do it every day. Don’t wait until you feel overwhelmed. Work out where you can make mindfulness part of your routine every day.
8. transition routine
I hadn’t thought about this until I read Get Your Life Back by John Eldredge, but I think he’s on to something. We live in a world that jumps from one thing to the next to the next without any time to catch our breath in between. We have no transition time. We don’t stop to celebrate our wins or grieve our losses. We don’t pause between projects to reflect and learn before the next deadline looms large. We book meetings back to back and pack our calendars full to squeeze the most productivity out of every day. Our minds never get a chance to process what we are going through.
John Eldredge suggests we build time into our routine to give our minds a chance to process and transition from one thing into the next. It can be as simple as going for a short walk to make a cup of tea between meetings, turning off the radio in the car on our way home from work or stopping for a minute of deep breathing before starting a new task.
We can put these things in place to help actively declutter our minds, but it also helps to limit the clutter we expose ourselves to.
9. turn off the news
The news can be a reel of distressing images and stories. And while it is important to keep up to date with what is going on in the world, we don’t need all the details all the time. Watching or reading a daily bulletin is sufficient. When you’ve seen the top stories, turn it off. If something significant happens in the world, someone will let you know.
10. limit social media
While I love many aspects of social media, there are a lot of angry people out there spreading angst and misinformation. There are several people and pages I have unfriended and unfollowed. There are also tools that help limit my time on social media that are easy to set up.
I know a number of people who have uninstalled all social media from their phones and only check-in while on their laptops. This builds a natural limiter to its accessibility.
11. technology
While we can’t live in our modern world without technology, it is easy to get too much of a good thing. Too much tech is not good for our minds and bodies. We can be intentional about setting limits to give our brains a break. I’ve heard lots of good strategies. No screens for the first and last hour of the day. No tech for an hour a day, a day a week and a week a year. Do whatever works for you in your circumstances.
Sometimes we have to be the grown-up and parent ourselves. If you were a teenager, what limits would you set yourself to be healthy? Be realistic and flexible, but be wise as well.
As I have made big changes in my life over the last year, I have been able to implement many of these strategies. My mind is healthier and I am happier. I didn’t recognise how stressed I was until I stepped away from city life and started spending a lot more time outside. I hope you find something helpful in this list. Let me know how it goes.
