5 ways to make your mind Clutter-free

(Self-Care for your mental well-being)

In this world of glitz and glamour where outward appearances predominate, we generally neglect our mental health, which is the epitome of our entire well-being. A cluttered mindset pushes you into a timeless cocoon of worries, stress, and anxiety that has a cascading effect on your personal as well as professional relationships. It hampers your present living and gradually drives your mental tranquility down south. You can read more about it here https://link.medium.com/ru3l8HFnkrb (The whirlpool of overthinking)

Channelize your energies to work on your mental well-being by decluttering the thoughts that make you confused and discontented.

Five ways that can declutter your mind

1. Belief in Yourself-

Self-doubt clusters your mind with fear and uncertainty, leaving you cynical and judgmental. Prioritize time to work on yourself, which is your soul companion.

· Define your boundaries, a distinctive personal space that provides you an opportunity to understand yourself better. It also gives you a preview of when to say ‘No’ when the situations do not align with your inner thoughts. Simultaneously, it makes people understand and respect what behavior is acceptable and what is not appreciated by you.

· Embrace yourself with utmost love and avoid continuous self-criticism.

· Do not shy away from your dreams and trying new things in life. It builds up your resilience and helps in uplifting your self-esteem.

Avani Lekhara, the gold medalist Paralympians, Laxmi Agarwal, an acid victim, Sonali Bendre, a cancer crusader, and many more never allowed their circumstances to obstruct their spirit. They declutter all the negative thoughts that tried to coerce them to compromise in life because they believed in themselves. “What I Think Of myself” is a prominent influencer of all your thoughts circling in your mind. You’ve to mold it out ‘positively’.

2. Let Go of what you can’t control

Roy T. Bennet, the author of ‘The light in the heart’, says — “If you want to be happy, do not dwell in the past, do not worry about the future, focus on living fully in the present.”

· Vent out from your mind the chaos of past grievances, grudges, anger, frustration, hurts, and regrets as it brings forth only worries and sorrows.

· Our past is beyond our control and cannot be amended. Just pick up a few threads from the past to improve your present and let it go to move ahead in life to create things you can control. A story of an elephant and rope, in which the elephant stayed chained with rope since its early years. It refrained from breaking free, which it could have easily attained as it grew up. This story is a fine example of how clinging to our past experiences can destroy the present because it clouds our mindset with uncertainty and self-doubt.

· At the same time, worrying too much about the future creates fear. A fear to try. Your future is created by what you do today, not tomorrow. So, it’s the ‘present’ that matters.

For many years I too was addicted to this habit of overthinking. My thought process was confined to — ‘What if I could’ve done much better”, or “What if I do not succeed”? And, in this maze of never-ending thoughts, I was subconsciously ruining my present and worrying my family too. My indecisiveness left me all stressed out and started snowballing on my mental health. Finally, I decided to stand for myself and started working on getting rid of this cumbersome habit. The journey was slow and taxing, but I was determined. It took me a few years to learn the art of decluttering. It taught me the relevance of timely decisions and learning from my mistakes to make myself a better person in the present.

3. Give a timeline -

Take any decision-making process as a task and ensure a timeline for it. Prolonging decisions without a deadline will keep flooding your mind. As rightly stated by Bill Gates- “Don’t make the same decision twice. Spend time and thought to make a solid decision the first time so that you don’t revisit the issue unnecessarily.” Think, discuss, and if still unable to come to any conclusion, then stick with your first thought. Even if that decision bombs, it will keep your head high as it was explicitly your decision. This shall help you to train your mind with reinforced rationality.

Instead of fretting out your mind the whole day with worries, assign a specific time in a day to think about them. Write down or make a mental note of the things troubling you and then park it for a later allotted time with a specific timeline. Train your mind by reminding yourself, ‘I will give an hour in a day to think about my worries and not a minute more.’

4. Be mindful of managing stress and anxiety

A generic error made by many of the fairer sex is trying to be a Superwoman by multitasking too many things at the same time. Do not hesitate to ask for help if you feel overloaded mentally or physically, says Dr. Pooja P Tripathi, Owner, and Founder of Arogya physiotherapy clinic and Rehabilitation center.

· Make a note of your priorities and then focus on them one at a time with an assigned time.

· Taking out time for activities and hobbies (music, shopping traveling, anything) that make you feel happy. Learning to calm your mind with meditation and other similar practices like Reiki and yoga help elevate a positive attitude towards life.

· Adopting any form of workout benefits both mental and physical well-being.

· Getting good sleep and revitalizing your energies by incorporating a few healthy changes in your habits & lifestyles maintains the serenity of mind.

5. A messy room equals a messy mind –

Less is more, a century-old simplistic style of Zen living, followed by many in Japan. However, most of us had a first-hand experience of this life during the lockdowns. There is s difference between choosing wisely between ‘want’ and ‘need’, says Ankita Konwar, wife of celebrity Milind Soman, known for his fitness and Minimalistic living.

Why unnecessarily weigh your mind seeing stacks of things dusting on your shelf unused? Donate or pass them to someone needy or simply throw them if not in the recycled stage. Trim down your wardrobe, kitchen, office, and other areas in the house stuffed with things lying redundant. What we see or perceive affects the behavioral pattern of our minds.

Marie Kondo, a Japanese writer of the book ‘’Tidying Up with Marie Kondo’’, states that clarity in the physical environment around us brings calmness and cognizance and stimulates our positive energies. So, make efforts to clear up the mess around you to declutter your mind for a better ‘present’ living.

“Our life is a creation of our Mind”-Buddha. A peaceful, calm mind is a driving force to a contended soul. So, work on it continuously and progressively.