Decluttering a Cluttered Mind
Many unnecessary thoughts clutter your mind and they need to be decluttered. Just like our cupboards and cabinets, you need to declutter your mind from time to time to take out negative thoughts.
The human mind goes through different phases during a lifetime. However, It expresses happiness but sometimes hides sadness from others. Sometimes agony, heartbreak, jealousy, negativity, sadness and pain and many more negative thoughts get buried in our minds. We keep thinking but they don't let us live normally.
To free your mind from mental chaos you need to get rid of all the mental baggage. In fact, a cluttered mind creates low-level stress that keeps on growing.
Characteristic of a cluttered mind
1, Anxiety
Anxiety is a feeling of fear, dread, and uneasiness. It might cause you to sweat, feel restless and tense, and have a rapid heartbeat. It can be a normal reaction to stress, public speaking or taking a test. Anxiety is also an indicator of underlying disease when it becomes excessive, all-consuming and interferes with daily living.
Anxiety keeps a person anxious all the time. The person never gets to relax easily. In fact the cluttered mind full of anxiety constantly signals to your brain that your work is never done. You keep on going and doing your work endlessly. Clutter makes you anxious because you feel stuck in a pile of work that never ends and makes you feel vulnerable.
2, Trouble in sleeping
Causes of sleeplessness may sometimes include aging, too much stimulation before bedtime (such as watching television, playing video games, or exercising), and consuming too many cups of tea or coffee. It may be due to stress, travel, illness, or other temporary interruptions to your normal routine.
However, if you regularly have problems getting to sleep at night, wake up feeling exhausted, or feel sleepy during the day, you may be suffering from a sleep disorder. It can take a serious toll on your mental and physical health, including your mood, energy, and ability to handle stress.
Ignoring sleep problems and disorders can lead to weight gain, car accidents, impaired job performance, memory problems, and strained relationships.
3, Poor concentration
Poor concentration is a decreased ability to focus your thoughts on something. In fact, concentration difficulties can be related to staying awake for long, impulsiveness, intrusive thoughts or concerns, overactivity, or inattention.
Lifestyle plays a huge role in your concentration abilities. Routines can also make or break how well you concentrate as you go through daily life.
4, Being unable to relax
Plenty of things can come in the way of restful and restorative relaxation time and the truth is most of us are not good at relaxing in practice. It’s a skill worth improving and practicing, as we all need ways to relax from our daily stress factors.
5, Physical and mental exhaustion
Mental exhaustion can affect physical well-being, causing a person to feel physically exhausted. Similarly, physical fatigue, exhaustion and chronic stress can also result in mental exhaustion. It is better to relieve mental exhaustion by practicing mindfulness and making certain environmental changes, either at work or at home.
6, Feeling depressed and demotivated
Lack of motivation, when depressed, can be a terrible problem. As you want to feel motivated, you don't seem to channel any energy, making it almost impossible to get things done. The link between depression and low motivation is a common occurrence of brain clutter.
7, Inability to innovate and think creatively
Innovative thinking is creating something new, moving away from all the old and traditional thought patterns. Innovative thinking is also a creative thought process used to generate ideas and solutions.
Brain clutter sometimes stops innovation and creativity due to a subconscious desire to remain consistent with what you have done or said in the past. It is the fear of doing or saying something new or different from what you did before.
8, Failing to take the right decision at the right times
Fear of making the wrong decision is one of the reasons that many people hesitate when faced with a choice. You may be afraid of failure or even the consequences of success. You may worry about what other people will think about you. Brain clutter will not let you think correctly.
9, Lacking clarity of thoughts
Sometimes your thoughts reflect your confusion, forgetfulness, and lack of focus and mental clarity. This can be caused by the usual cluttered elements of your mind like overworking, lack of sleep, stress, and spending too much time on the computer.
You sometimes fight yourself to convey your thoughts clearly and remain misunderstood or find it hard to clearly understand a situation.
How to Declutter Your Mind
1, Take daily exercises
Physical exercises like some dance routine, aerobics, yoga, meditation, morning walk, running and gym exercises can be fruitful to declutter your mind. Your mind will be trained to pay attention to your physical routine.
When you are indulging in physical activities your brain cells secrete the hormone serotonin which gives relief to your brain and makes you feel good, focused and happy. This way you can take a break from your mental clutter.
2, Stop worrying
Try hard to stop worrying about small things. Give yourself a small break and go for activities that soothe your mind. Make a mental note to stay away from worrying and start thinking positively about situations. Breathing exercises can help you stay calm and positive during tough conditions.
3, Relief from anxiety
There's a lot you can do on your own to relieve anxiety, but sometimes you need help. Psychotherapy and medication are the two main treatments.
Focusing on something you really enjoy can break the cycle of anxious thoughts and give you some relief. Physical activity, a healthy diet, regular sleep and relaxation exercises may help to reduce anxiety.
Joining a support group may also help. To manage symptoms effectively, it's best to avoid caffeine, alcohol, and nicotine.
4, Eliminate negative thinking
It is extremely important to identify areas to change yourself in order to declutter your mind. One is to eliminate negative thinking as it affects your life and mental state.
Stay calm and happy, practice humor therapy by watching and reading humorous content, follow a healthy lifestyle, surround yourself with happy and positive people and practice positive self-talk to clear your negative thoughts.
5, Get Some Sleep
There's a close relationship between sleep and mental health. Living with a mental health problem can affect how well you sleep, and poor sleep can have a negative impact on your mental health. Poor sleep leads to many problems and we feel better after a good night's sleep and more grumpy or foggy if sleep-deprived.
Sleep is critical to not only our physical health but also our mental health. Some of the most serious potential problems associated with chronic sleep deprivation are high blood pressure, diabetes, heart attack, heart failure or stroke. Follow sleep hygiene to increase the quality of sleep.
6, Transfer Thoughts to Paper
Journaling is a good idea to pour out your inner feelings. This is going to declutter your mind of any previous happenings that have been bothering you now and then, making you unable to forget them.
Though it is a practice to not read whatever you have confided in your journal or diary. It is better to destroy the journal to avoid the remembrance of previous happenings or sad moments of your life.
7, Reduce Multitasking
Multitasking is a major cause of brain clutter leading to confusion, lack of concentration and frustration. When the brain tries to do two things at once, it divides and rules, dedicating one-half of our gray matter to each task.
But the brain can only handle up to two complex, related activities at once leading to poor results in both. Habits like multitasking are quite trendy but it has made brain health worse.
Whenever we switch between tasks, our brain builds those neural pathways stronger. To break this cycle, try setting aside time where you focus on one task at a time, whether it's work, a hobby or simply eating a meal with no interruptions
Your mind, body and soul need to be in synchrony and that process need not be disrupted. Focus on each and every aspect of your physical and mental health and live in perfect harmony with yourself. Learn to live your life with mindfulness.
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