The tendency to live a simpler life with less clutter is taking hold. We declutter our physical spaces with vengeance, but seem to forget that our mental clutter is just as harmful as physical or emotional clutter. When we look at our physical space it is important to zone all our possessions like with like.
We keep only what we love or need in functional spaces, yet forget that the same principle applies to our mind.
How often are you looking for keys or glasses that you just dropped somewhere? Forget appointments or just feel overwhelmed to get started on the simplest of tasks?
Anything in excess makes you lose focus, leads to indecisiveness, reduces productivity and causes stress, even leading to sleep deprivation.
You are just about to drop off to sleep and then the noise of your cluttered mind starts to unravel. You breathe deeply, try to count sheep but you are restless! Nothing stops the chaotic spiral of thoughts running over and over in your mind and the more you try to relax the more worries, anxieties and thoughts seem to enter your mind. This kind of behaviour interrupts your sleep pattern. Leaving you tired, unfocussed an overwhelmed with everything that needs to be done.
The best solution is, not just to lie in bed trying to fall asleep again, but to get up and take action to declutter your mind:
- Write everything down that kept churning around in your mind, attempting to find solutions to challenges, and being worried that you would forget, kept you awake. Use pen and notepad, your tablet or any other app. As the thoughts start spilling over again, make notes.
- Prioritise the thoughts that you have just jotted down. Add sub-lists, what you need to do, or solutions that come to mind. Accept the fact that you can’t do it all at the same time.
- Be decisive about what has to be done and how to do it. Be realistic, your goals must be tangible and do-able. Eliminate any task that is not urgent, do however write it down so that you won’t forget to do at a later stage, causing stress again.
- Be at peace with everything having been recorded, your mind having been cleared, leaving it free to rest and be productive the following day.
- Banish recurring thoughts as you get back into bed. Find calmness in the conviction that those issues that prevented sleep have been recorded and will be addressed after a restful night’s sleep. Know that they will be taken care of and allow yourself to drift off to sleep…
Our mind has so many levels of consciousness and we need to learn to scale down on what clutter we allow into it and into our souls. Clutter prevents us from clear thought, action, and what really matters. Try and live in the here and now. For instance, does it really matter to keep up to date with everybody else’s business on social media or always share the latest gossip?
When it comes to our mind, we tend to overfill it with negative and positive thoughts. In our physical space we tend to keep only what we love and need and nothing that leaves us with sadness or anxiety. We have to start choosing our thoughts as we do possessions that occupy our physical space and only to keep the good, the positive!
You can’t change history, so stop beating yourself up about goals you didn’t achieve, mistakes you have made, missed opportunities, people that hurt you or vice versa.
Make everyday task easier by having set routines. This eases pressure on your mind and time.
Plan your meals ahead once a week, which will not only make cooking supper easier, but also compiling your shopping list.
Simplify your life by limiting choices.
Decide on a uniform for work or put together outfits before.
Focus on the important – stop multitasking and give your full attention to the task at hand.
Find calmness, meditate, breathe deeply and breathe again, focus your mind on the present, look at the clouds, the moon, the sky, and rid yourself of all thoughts.
You can only have one thought at a time! You can consciously choose it!
May this year be the best one yet, by simplifying your life, decluttering your mind, your physical space and giving you time for the things that really matter!
Heidi Meyer
Professional Organiser