Education & Career Trends: January 23, 2024
Curated by the Knowledge Team of ICS Career GPS
Content Credit:
- Article by Dr. Roopleen, published on medium.com. Original article link.
Have you ever struggled with an inability to process things around you and put your thoughts together? This happens when your mind is in overdrive, cluttered and you feel spent.
With too many things gunning for your attention, you are unable to concentrate on anything. There’s a sense of powerlessness and helplessness.
What is Mental Clutter?
Too much unorganised stuff in your head — random information, thoughts, ideas, feelings, emotions, things to do, and expectations to meet — leads to mental clutter.
Overthinking or trying to focus on multiple things simultaneously also creates chaos in your mind, and you cannot think straight.
An overloaded mind is thus a breeding ground for overwhelm. It clogs your mental space and prevents you from focusing on anything in particular.
How Mental Clutter Harms You:
Carrying too much burden on your mind adversely impacts you.
- It overwhelms you
- It defocuses you
- You forget things
- It drains your energy
- Lowers your productivity
- You make more mistakes
- It impairs your decision-making ability
Here are some simple and effective ways of decluttering your mind:
1. Get off the autopilot
- When you operate on the default mode, much unfiltered information reaches your brain and disturbs your mind.
- Turning off the autopilot and shifting to the proactive mode helps you become selective.
- You understand what you want and thus take action accordingly.
- By being proactive, you become mindful of what you want, and all your thoughts and actions are channelised in that direction.
- This minimises chaos and decreases the mental clutter drastically.
2. Reduce cognitive overload
- You cannot take in and process unlimited information in your mind.
- Your brain has a limited capacity and a certain speed at which it works optimally.
- To decrease your cognitive overload, give yourself time to complete tasks and take up one thing at a time.
- As much as possible, chunk the bigger project or task into simpler and more manageable pieces that you can finish in a small amount of time.
- Also, make sure to give yourself short breaks between two jobs.
3. Filter out distractions
- Distractions are one of the significant sources of disruption of peace and order in your life.
- Your mind is occupied by numerous useless things and is forced to focus in infinite different directions.
- Distractions lead to clutter, confusion and mental fog, decreasing your brain’s processing power to handle stuff.
- This impairs your ability to concentrate, raises your stress levels, and therefore takes a toll on your mental well-being.
- When you stop entertaining distractions and start to block them, you’ll be able to zoom in on your priorities and deepen your focus on the task at hand.
4. Manage your thoughts
- Your mind is constantly filled with thoughts, mostly passively and at the subconscious level.
- Pour all thoughts on a piece of paper and do it freely, uninhibitedly, and without judging yourself.
- The process of thought dumping will also give you relief from the rumination and loops of thoughts running in the background of your mind.
- Next, start processing your thoughts by first examining them and figuring out the patterns.
- Once you can identify the problems around which your thoughts are centered, single out the issues and address them one by one.
5. Don’t bottle up your feelings
- When your mind is overwhelmed with emotions, you cannot take up any task and do justice to it.
- If there’s something constantly bothering you, muster the courage to bring it up in the open instead of suppressing it.
- Communicate to people around you how you feel.
- Keeping feelings of hurt, anger, and frustration can lead to anxiety, stress, and even depression.
- Also, if your mind is plagued by other negative feelings, confront your thoughts and challenge their validity.
- This will help you unload and declutter your mind.
You have the potential to work at your peak productivity and accomplish big goals. However, the perennial chaos in the head keeps you from putting in your best.
“Give yourself a break from the mental clutter by saying no to the constant bombardment of information and sundry thoughts.”
Lighten your burden by clearing the mental space and allowing your mind to reboot. It will enable you to focus better, enjoy what you do, and live a more fulfilling life.
…
How to Maintain Focus Even when Using Devices
(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in the article mentioned above are those of the author(s). They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of ICS Career GPS or its staff.)
Like this post? For more such helpful articles, click on the button below and subscribe FREE to our blog.
Download our mobile app, ICS Career GPS, a one-stop career guidance platform.
One Reply to “5 Simple Ways To Declutter Your Mind”