Great ways to declutter your mind
Instead of cluttering your head with more thoughts and questions, this article will help you to start clearing away the items that are keeping you up at night. Let's get started!
Begin each day with a plan - The best way to declutter your mind is to set a plan in place the week or the night before, much like your parents might have done the night before school. Laying out your outfit for the next day or making your lunch, putting a plan in place to make sure you meet and clear goals as they arise will help you to destress.
Write it down - Putting a notepad by the bed is preferable to using your phone or laptop at night, as those can allow for distractions. Keep the notepad close by (I use a spiral notebook), and mark off objectives as you complete them. At the end of the week, look back at your progress and anything that is left over, add it to a new calendar date or decide if it's a goal/objective that needs to be reconsidered. After a few days, you'll find you sleep better. Again, writing it down and crossing it off will eventually have you smiling!
Speaking of sleep - Do you often wake up thinking about work at 1am, 3am, 5am etc., and/or can't go back to sleep? Does your mind run away with tasks that you failed to do or things you might have done wrong during that day? We all do this from time to time. Sleep, and specifically deep-sleep is the way your brain cleans itself. Each night while you are in deep-sleep, your brain actually has a chemical reaction. The brain-spine provides a fluid that is present during deep-sleep called the cerebrospinal fluid. This fluid acts like a wash to help the brain get rid of accumulated metabolic toxins. Researchers believe this may flush toxic waste out providing a "cleaning like" process. You'll find you feel better when you get several good nights sleep too. Remember, you will preform 10x's better with a good night sleep. Remind yourself of this before you lay your head down.
Avoid avoidance - We've all done it. We will continue to from time to time. Do you know how to eat an elephant? One bite at a time. The act of "I'll do it later" is one of the biggest things that overwhelm us. We find ourselves drowning in the smallest of obstacles and avoiding the bigger ones, because we don't feel up to task. - Stop - Give yourself a break. Erase negative thoughts and start with the smallest of the task. You'll find if you just take one step forward you'll have a solid flow of work behind you and you're attitude and outlook will improve.
Don't be so hard on yourself - We all have good and bad days. Remember to open the day with a positive thought and a promise to yourself to do your best.
When we don't sleep well, play the "I'll do it later" game, beat ourselves up for not doing as much or as well as we expected, and don't have a mapped out plan we tend to get caught up in our own misery and minds. Take each day with as fresh a perspective as you can. Remember you're not perfect, no one is. Just do your best and things will improve.
