The Warning Signs…
Do you lack the mental space to deal with a situation? Do you struggle with racing thoughts?
Have information overload? Juggling too many decisions?
Feeling stuck? Find it hard to take intentional action?
Feeling constantly worried, stressed out or anxious?
If you answer YES to most of these, your mind may be signaling you for some much needed attention!
Most likely your mind is cluttered and running low on mental space. Fret not, you’re not alone.
We all have the propensity to accumulate mental clutter.
The good news is all is not lost. You can actually go from feeling completely overwhelmed to more empowered simply by dealing with the clutter that’s been occupying space in your mind.
A Cluttered Mind
Your mind may not be the first place you consider when thinking of cluttered spaces, but, it’s in this very space that you could be housing too much stuff. The kind that makes it difficult to concentrate, focus, or even make the decisions you need to.
Imagine for a moment, a room filled with everything you’ve ever had in your life starting from infancy to adulthood. Things like your clothes, toys, electronics, pictures, personal items, etc. The space is completely unorganized and nothing has been thrown out over the years.
Now envision yourself entering that same room and working your way through the chaos to sit down, think and reflect. Can you? Probably not. The clutter would make it nearly impossible to do.
When we lack mental space it makes it challenging for us to function adequately in our lives, at work, or in our relationships which leaves us feeling extremely exhausted.
What’s Occupying Your Mental Space
Similar to our physical spaces, our minds can get easily cluttered rather quickly with negative thoughts, irrelevant information, and emotional or mental baggage from past experiences.
A poorly managed mind with thoughts that distract or consume us, ones that leave us feeling indecisive, no longer serve us in a healthy way, or that emotionally overwhelm us with anxiety, uncertainty and stress, ALL contribute to our mental clutter.
Closely monitoring what you expose your mind to and the thoughts you keep are simple ways you can actively manage your mental and emotional well-being.
Clearing the mess in your mind helps you to free up your mental space, think more clearly, process your thoughts with greater ease and enjoy your relationships more.
If you’ve been struggling with your thoughts, a little spring cleaning of your mental space may do the trick to help clear your mind and get you ahead of the mess.
The Power of Your Thoughts
Understanding how to clear the clutter in your mind begins with realizing the power of your thoughts.
It’s been said:
What you think directly influences how you feel.
How you feel directly influences how your body reacts.
How your body reacts directly influences how you behave which will ultimately influence what you experience in life.
What you think can become your reality. You can influence the outcome of that reality by choosing thoughts that serve you best.
Your life will go in the direction of your most dominant thoughts.
For instance, when your thoughts are constantly negative, they diminish your ability to think adequately and often perpetuate more negative thinking.
The more you hold onto self-defeating thoughts, the more you risk becoming trapped by them and unable to move your life forward.
It begs for you to pay particular attention to the thoughts you entertain if you want to stop sabotaging your efforts. As you become more self-aware, you will grow to understand your thoughts, feelings and emotions better, and how they influence what you experience in your life.
Managing Your Mind To Clear The Mental Clutter
Managing your mind is important in getting you out of your own way. It helps you understand how you can influence what you’re thinking, feeling and choosing for yourself.
Moreover, mastering the skill of managing your mind enables you to then develop healthier habits and new ways of thinking in support of the change, happiness and success you want to have.
So how do you get started? There are ways to clean up your mental space.
Managing how you think can help you manage your mind, clear your mental clutter and hopefully avoid accumulating more. The following are some helpful tips.
#1 – Calm Your Mind
Put some distance between yourself and the thoughts that are trying to consume your focus. How best to do that depends on you.
Taking a break, taking moments to simply breathe deeply, spending quality time alone, reciting empowering affirmations, listening to music, going for a walk, exercising or journaling can help to create a space where you can enjoy some calm.
#2 – Become an Observer of Your Thoughts, Emotions and Feelings
Becoming conscious of your thoughts, emotions and feelings will help you to know yourself better and gain greater perspective.
More importantly, it will help you identify the ways you may be self-sabotaging so that you can shift out of your present state.
Join our masterclass series on What She Said Radio Talk Show, where you will learn how to become more attentive to your thought life; identify your unhealthy thought and behavior patterns; make empowering shifts into healthier ones; practice self-acceptance and self-care.
#3 – Reframe Your Thoughts
Practice, practice, and practice some more! Practice recognizing those negative thoughts that keep coming to your mind. Call them out and make a note of them.
See them for what they are – a distortion of the truth and choose to adopt a narrative that is more empowering for yourself.
As Cognitive Behavioral Coaches, in working with women who struggle with feelings of unworthiness, loneliness, loss, pain, etc., reframing negative thoughts is a technique we often use to help build their confidence and improve self-awareness.
When you shift the way in which you choose to view something, your thinking and behavior towards it also changes.
#4 – Practice Reassessing Situations
One of the reasons people reassess situations is to ensure they have made the right decision or because something has changed.
In practicing to reassess what’s happening to you or in your life, you can better determine whether your decision is in alignment with your core values, priorities and goals; whether it is what you want for yourself.
There are times when we’ve made a decision and we go back and forth in our minds contemplating whether we’ve made the right one. Practicing to reassess situations helps to clear that clutter from your mind and allow you to focus on your present moment.
#5 – Identify the Limiting Beliefs Holding You Back
The story we tell about who we are that keeps us from fulfilling our potential is often deeply rooted in our limiting beliefs.
It’s the thoughts and self-talk you entertain that stops you from accomplishing more for yourself and getting in the way of your own growth.
It’s a belief that holds you back from achieving what you truly want in your life.
“I can’t” is one of the most common limiting beliefs one could hold. What you believe can either create more limitations for you while keeping you stuck or empower you to take action to move your life forward.
Participating in our Get Unstuck Program will teach you how to shift out of limiting beliefs and into liberating truths, stop the self-sabotage and break free from what’s been holding you back and preventing you from experiencing the results you want to have.
#6 – Download Your Thoughts
Our minds are constantly thinking about something from the very common to the more complex.
For many, the act of writing helps to bring greater clarity to their thoughts. Downloading your thoughts is an effective way to process what’s racing through your mind.
Putting words to paper can be very therapeutic.
When you’re stressed, overwhelmed, feeling anxious or struggling with what to do next, seeing your thoughts written down can help you sort through the mental noise and figure things out.
#7 – Focus on Yourself – Relax and Reflect
Making yourself a priority is at the heart of preserving your mental wellness. Taking care of yourself helps you take care of everything else that you need to.
If your life seems somewhat chaotic, discovering ways to take care of yourself better, mentally, emotionally, physically and spiritually may be just what you need to relax, reflect and clear your mind.
Cleaning up your mental space takes time and consistent effort. The good news is while it’s not an easy process, we’re here to journey with you!
Don’t forget to join us on What She Said Radio Talk Show, for our masterclass series where we empower, encourage, inspire and motivate women like yourself to make shifts to stop the self-sabotage, get unstuck and become unstoppable.
Also join our Facebook Group to participate in our Sacred Space 21-Day Challenge to help prepare your mindset for the remainder of 2022.
Jennifer John is the co-founder of The Sacred Space Coaching & Consulting, a cognitive behavioral coach, empowering you to make shifts to get out of your own way and become unstoppable.
Do you feel stuck in a rut? Have you lost your motivation? Do you feel burnt out? If so, please contact The Sacred Space Coaching & Consulting and one of our professional life coaches would be happy to speak with you.
DISCLAIMER: The information provided on this blog/site is intended for your general knowledge only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice or treatment for specific medical conditions. You should not use this information to diagnose or treat a health problem or disease without consulting with a qualified healthcare provider, who should also be consulted with any questions or concerns you may have regarding your condition.