Declutter Your Mind

Welcome morning people to Goal No 3, “Declutter your mind”. Together let’s begin our journey of positivity, mindfulness with one step at a time.

Happy Moment Of The Week

As our weekly ritual, let’s take a moment and think about the one thing that brought us happiness, a cheer on our face. It can be the smallest thing but if it made you feel good about you, about your life then just close your eyes and live through it again just for a moment.

For me, it happened a couple of days back. I was working out on my elliptical. I generally listen to a podcast or an audio book for most part of the workout but at the very end I love to listen to a song that motivates and feels my mind with hope and love. That day, I started listening to a song from one of the Marathi movies. For those who don’t know, Marathi is the one of regional languages spoken in Western India. The song was so motivating that for a few minutes, I totally forgot where I was. I could only hear the words, the tune and the sweet voice of the singer. It was almost out of the body experience for me. It never happened to me before. It was definitely a moment to cherish for me. 

What about you friends, I loved reading all your joyful moments in the comments last week. I am so looking forward to reading your moment of the week this time too.

Let’s start our today’s episode - “Declutter your mind”. It taps into the magic of a calm and peaceful mind. You will notice how your productivity and efficiency increases immensely if you take away all the clutter out of your head. You might have seen the importance of decluttering everywhere in your everyday life. Your workspace needs decluttering for efficient work, your laptop needs decluttering for better performance. Then why not your head? But is it possible with all the hustle we do for our everyday life? I say, yes it is possible. We just have to find ways to let go of all the unwanted thoughts and replace those with the one that actually matter.

So, friends, let’s find the ways to get to a decluttered mind. Let’s do it together.

Step 1 : Declutter the space around you

Clutter is nothing but the delayed decisions. Have you noticed that it always makes you feel overwhelmed when you see a pile of laundry or a ton of mails lying around or a sink full of dishes? I guarantee you when you wake up in the morning with a clean kitchen and tidy home, there are better chances of you feeling calm.It always helps to have a tidy physical space to feel more peaceful. Please note that I am saying tidy that absolutely does not mean pinterest worthy.  

If we have A place for everything, and everything in its place that is enough for our peace of mind. 

Step 2 : Write down your priorities and then make a to-do list 

If you are thinking about a thousand things at one time, it is going to weigh you down. You have to absolutely crystal clear about your priorities. What are you trying to achieve here? If you are working mom, don’t beat yourself up for not being present for every small class party at your son’s school. If you can make it nothing like it but please give yourself grace. You can set your priorities for that day and plan ahead and try to be present for the class event but if it is not possible because of your other commitments which can not be changed please please don’t burden yourself with guilt. You are weighing down on your mind.  If your priority for now is to train for the marathon and you are clear on it then you most definitely have to say no to all the things that hinder your training plan. Once you set the priorities straight, don't confuse or burden your mind to take or even think of conflicting decisions. Only thing you have to do is follow your to-do list based on your priorities.

Step 3 : Stop Multitasking whenever possible.

I know this is really difficult. I am 100% guilty as charged for this multitasking bandwagon. It is extremely hard for me to stop multitasking. I am so hardwired with this that it has become my second nature. But I will tell you from my personal experience, that it used to pull me in all different directions at once and oh boy it was mentally exhausting. I totally understand sometimes, we have so many things to complete in such a short timeframe, that it feels multitasking is the only way forward but I request you to set your priorities and then just focus on one thing in your to-do list, complete it and then go for the next one. I guarantee you that you will have a much more calm day forward.  I am still struggling to break my habit of always multitasking and I assure you one day we will break this barrier together. This is the exact reason why I always say on this podcast that we are together on this journey of creating a better version of yourself.

Step 4 :  Mindfulness

This sounds real simple but it takes 100% dedication to be mindful every waking moment of your life. But it is such an important step that if you have to choose only one step to declutter your mind, I would strongly recommend Mindfulness. Mindfulness is nothing but being completely present in the moment, fully alive in the current moment. Slow down, take a deep breath and just soak in the moment. Pause for a second and think about the last conversation you had before listening to this episode. We all have tendencies to do one of these three things every time we are engaged in the conversation. While listening to someone else talk we either try to come up with the response or we try to complete their sentence in our head or even worse we totally zone out of the conversation and think something totally irrelevant. I urge you all next time, you have a conversation, please try to be completely present without doing the things I mentioned before. I bet you will have more fruitful and enjoyable conversation. You will connect better and feel much much better.

Step 5 : Meditation

If you are not really into Mediation, it can feel too difficult to start with. Trust me when I say, I could not sit in mediation for more than 2 minutes without thinking about my mile long to-do list. I am still learning and trying to make it a more consistent habit but I know for sure the day I take even 10 minutes to meditate, I feel super calm and grounded. There are thousands of benefits of mediation and there are so many apps to help meditate.  But what I learned from my experience is to first trust that this is going to help you even when you don’t see a change on day 1. It is a gradual process and needs consistency. So from today just decide to meditate at least for 10 minutes, I am sure you will see a difference in your overall mental health. 

Step 6 : Journaling

Journaling is something I started a few months back so I am still a newbie and I don’t have any fancy journals with different prompts and decorations. I have a nice little notebook that I picked up from a dollar tree. Everyday at night before going to bed, I write the things that brought me joy or the things that I am grateful for today. I also list down my dreams that I want to accomplish.  There is no limit to the number of things that I write. This journaling gave me an entire new perspective. I know that I am writing about things that brought me joy at the end of the day, it makes me find joy in small things. It makes me notice what brings a smile on my face, sometimes those are so tiny things which would have gone unnoticed if I won’t be writing in my journal. It always gives me some much needed “me” time and brings a sense of thankfulness. And ofcourse it's nice to read old entries and feel good again. It is your power bank of positive emotions. That’s added an advantage. 

Step 7: Talk to someone. Make some real friends

This is such an easy thing to do. It always makes us feel great when we get to chat with our friends or family. I have an older sister and I am extremely close to her.We live in two different continents but not a single day passes by without us talking over a phone. She is my backbone, my support line. It always feels so happy, cheerful and peaceful after talking to her. Find your support line. We humans are supposed to be a communal. Sharing and growing together is our way of living since the beginning of life. Those meaningful, heart to heart conversations are the best stress busters for the calm and decluttered mind.

Step 8 : Recharge and rejuvenate

I am very big on Self Care. Of course it is not only about going to a Spa and taking a relaxing day off. Again, if you love it, absolutely go for it. More power to you. But for me self care is caring for both your mind and body. Working out till you feel all charged and motivated is the best form of self care for me. But at the same time, taking a break and asking for help is equally important. If you are really overwhelmed then the best way to declutter your mind is to ask for help. It is Okay to ask for help. It is okay to say I am really exhausted and need a break. It is absolutely okay to politely say no to the things you know you can not commit to at this point. This all is self care for me. Taking care of your body and mind is your responsibility. Please listen to your body, listen to your mind. It always gives you a signal, you just have to notice it and act on it. 

Recap

Trust me friends, if you just follow these 8 steps everyday, you will feel more calm, more decluttered. So, let’s recap the episode for you .

Step 1 : Declutter the space around you (Physical space)

Step 2 : Write down your priorities and then make a to-do list. 

Step 3 : Stop Multitasking whenever possible.

Step 4 :  Mindfulness

Step 5 :  Meditation

Step 6 : Journaling

Step 7: Talk to someone. Make some real friends

Step 8 : Recharge and rejuvenate . Take a break if you need it. (self care)

This week as usual, I am giving some action items for the week. This week, I want you to declutter at least one space in your house. I also want you to start meditating at least for 10 minutes everyday this week and don’t forget to tell me your experience in the comment section of this episode. 

Think about the kind of life you want to live. Do you visualize your future to be chaotic or calm, decluttered? Because everything's starts with a calm and peaceful find. As someone said, “ You can’t reach for anything new if your mind is filled with yesterday’s clutter”