We all have many thoughts, some of us have too many thoughts and are unable to get our minds to stop. This could be to the extent where we have trouble falling asleep or staying asleep. We all have occasional incidents that keep us awake when we shouldn’t be, but if this is a chronic issue, you may want to do some spring cleaning for your mind. Just like cleaning a house or your computer, it is beneficial to explore the possibility of clearing out your mind. There are tons of things we think about and don’t need to be thinking about at the moment. This can cause us to be distracted even when there are no external causes for us to do so. There are ways we can help this.
- Focus on what you are doing at the moment. It is very beneficial to focus on one thing at a time. Multi-tasking is a myth as I discussed in a previous post. By allowing your mind to be as uncluttered as possible, this will allow for maximized productivity.
- Follow projects and tasks through completely as much as possible. While this will not work for big projects as a whole, it is possible to break bigger projects into smaller tasks. That way, you can be focusing on just one task at a time rather than worrying the entire project at the same time and getting overwhelmed.
- Do not worry about the past. We often think about the past and focus too much on things that happened and that we cannot change. Since we are unable to change the past, thinking about it and regretting it won’t do any good. I am not saying don’t think about the past at all, as there are all kinds of lesions that we can learn and it is very valuable to learn from our mistakes and remember what went well.
- Do not worry about the future. Just like the past, worrying about the future won’t solve anything, but just distracting you. Worrying about a due date for a big project, a final exam, a meeting, or anything will not help it come quicker or make it easier when it does come. Worrying will just waste your time. I am definitely not saying we shouldn’t plan or consider all kinds of possibilities. I am just recommending that we don’t worry so much that we get paralyzed and are not productive.
- Journal Thoughts and Ideas. If we are in a situation where there is a lot on our mind and it is causing distraction, it is a good idea to provide an outlet to get those thoughts out. One way to do this is to journal these thoughts. This can be done on paper or electronically, whichever works best.
Cleaning out our minds is something we should do regularly just like our physical space and our digital space as well. We do not need to only do this during the spring time, but since we are in the mood of spring cleaning, now is a great time. Clearing out and being organized in our mind is very beneficial.
