We have so many different things that occupy our attention that range from things like what peaks or interest to what might be a threat. In today's world we have so much more information and things at our disposal that are constantly occupying our mind. Sometimes this can be too much, too overwhelming to know what exactly to process. What exactly to focus on and move forward with what we have. The thoughts of I should do this, I shouldn't do that, and this constant pull and push can keep you from moving forward with things because with the more options we have the more we tend to fantasize about how things can potentially play out.
When you choose one thing over the other possible choices it can feel as though you are missing out and when that thinking comes about then it hold you back from what you're supposed to be doing. Or maybe what happens is that it just keeps you stuck in place because you're constantly trying to keep all your options open. No matter what it is that you're trying to process the more that you have, the greater challenge it can be to how you feel mentally because it can weigh you down.
When there is too much information to process you might experience cognitive overload where you reach a point of paralysis of information, not being able to process and act on what you have. Being overwhelmed with so much information can cause you to develop frustration and detachment from the details your brain is trying to process. This can lead to not wanting to anything at all or trying to summarize things quickly that cause you to make poor choices. And if it gets to this point it's going to affect your confidence.
Declutter your physical space
To help overcome having to process so much information simplify things to declutter your mind. One of the best things that you can do for yourself is to declutter your physical space because it's going to help your eyes see things in a more organized fashion. When you can physically see that your area is organized that already starts to get your mind going the same way. It can give you a sense of calm because you'll understand that things are in proper order so you know where to find them. It's almost like you can rely on them being where you need them to be. You'll be better able to avoid the frustration of “where did I put that thing again,” because when that happens it can snowball into other parts of your day.
Sometimes these little things can be the difference in how well or bad things will go because it can affect how you feel. The result of all this is there's less distraction which is going to help increase your focus on the things that are important to you. With the increased focus it means you can naturally get more things done so being in a space that's organized gives a renewed sense of accomplishment each time you're there. What you also come to notice is that you'll be more efficient with your time and this is going to help you feel more satisfied in the things you do every day. When we feel that our time is being used wisely, we feel more accomplished and connected with ourselves.
Specific ways to get your areas more organized is to first start removing those unnecessary things that are occupying your space. Look at the things that are in your area and come to ask yourself, does it need to be here and if it's not, it simply needs to be removed. It doesn't have to be thrown out, but maybe you have a certain place to put it that is out of sight, so you have less to look at. The less things you have to look at the less things you have process that are weighing on your mind. When you're able to do that you can really then start to hone in on how exactly you want to set up your area.
As you go through this exercise it mentally prepares you to get rid of unnecessary things out of your mind and helps you better organize the thoughts that are really important to you. It's almost like you know where you put those thoughts that you can revert to when needed. You come to reduce those times where you tell yourself “what was I thinking” or “why did I come in here for.” Overall, this is going to make you mentally sharper.
After getting the unnecessary things out of the way you can focus on organizing the remaining things. This can include the books and papers on your desk, the clothes in your closet, keeping the floor clear and clean, the bed well-kept and the bathroom well organized. The things that are left in your line of vision signal that they are important to you. If it is not in your line of vision, then it does not require your attention as much.
With less things you have to look at, the clearer you mind will be that makes you more nimble and calm to handle yourself well. Doing this gets you in a methodical way of thinking and doing, where you identify key elements of what you need to do and why you need to do it. This helps you to move past the messing around phase searching for your target because you have a path the is well kept. So physically what you gain is more space, so you have more room to be flexible and operate with that's going to help you have peace of mind. You break through the restrictions that once were a part of held you down.
Remove distractions
Look at the distracting things in your life that can be removed, reduced, or minimized in some way. One of the first things to remove if you can is those toxic people in your life because they can weigh you down mentally, constantly causing you to worry and become anxious over the things outside of your control. Their energy is going to rub off onto you and it is important to recognize that. Those things that are outside of your control contribute to more information that is makes your gears turn that gets you to be defensive, constantly looking to for what is going to happen only for much of it to be overhyped.
If you can't remove those people at least try to reduce your interaction with them and even prepare yourself mentally on how you're going to handle yourself so their energy is not rubbing off onto you. From there you can remove toxic things like comparing yourself to others, worrying about what others think about you, engaging in negative talk or just gossip in general. These are things that are self-defeating that is going to continuously occupy your thoughts. Worry is there to signal to us to be on the lookout for what might be seen as a threat but constantly being worried is exhausting that leaves you little energy for anything else. Letting go of these types of things helps you break free from limits so you can simplify things.
A helpful way to really expel this from your life is to write down how you're going to avoid or minimize these types of distractions. This gets you to think out your strategy for how you're going to handle yourself. The more that you look at it the more you're going to be conscious of what your intentions are. This is going to help you set boundaries and know where exactly you're within and overstepping yourself that's going to help you later course correct your actions. We know what we should and shouldn't do based on what's good and not good for us, but that doesn't guarantee that we're going to do all the right things all the time.
If we are not careful, then the impulse will take over what we should know to do even if it's against logic. The things that we tend to repeat mentally are the things that we repeatedly do in our life. We know that eating lots of fruits and vegetables and getting plenty of exercise is good for us but that doesn't mean we will do it if it is not important to us. Are we really telling ourselves to eat more fruits and vegetables? Generally, what we tell ourselves is based on what gives us the most comfort and many times what is most comforting is what is easy. The easy thing would be to not own up to what you do, which is why being caught in negativity can be so captivating because it deflects the blame. You got to find ways from it encroaching into your life because if you're unaware of it, it can become deeply ingrained in you. Being aware of what to avoid and how to avoid it gives you a good game plan of how to attack it.
Make a priority list
With so many things that we all have to get done on a daily basis it might be helpful to have a to-do list or you might have a mental one to help you stay on schedule. This can be a good resource but, in a sense, when you're trying to declutter your mind, it might be helpful to shift to a priority list of the things that really need your attention. So unlike a to-do list where you get four things done and add 6 more by the end of each day you might have 17 things to get done the next day and when you look at it can feel a bit daunting of what's ahead. If that happens to be the case, try incorporating a priority list where you have a maximum of three things that need to get done. This forces you to evaluate what really needs to get done and what are some other things that can be done at a later time or things that should be automatic. This is going to reduce some of that clutter and allow you to focus more on the things that are important.
An example of what might be written down on a to do list is cook dinner, workout, or clean the house, these are things that need to get done but they should almost become a habit. A great example of a priority list is finishing your sales pitch by the end of day, submit the business proposal to apply for a business loan within 2 days, or submit your college application by the end of the week. Writing down these types of things on your priority list we'll make it clear what truly needs to get done so you have more of your energy to focus on it. And when you get it done it make you feel more accomplished.
With things on a to-do List it can feel more like putting out small fires and draining as you cross them off the list. If you happen to find yourself still putting more than three things on this priority list figure out how to get a lot of the smaller task part of a routine even if it's not done on a daily basis. Instead of writing down to get the laundry done have a set period of once a week or twice a week where you wash clothes and then this kind of frees up your mind from having to even think about. Where it when Sunday morning comes you get the laundry done.
Or if it's something that you might forget, see if you can get it done right then and there once you think of it. This could be calling a friend to get advice on something you might be going through, instead of putting it off once you think of it, make the call. This is going to help you be a little bit more efficient because instead of writing down, call friend for advice and then you go about your day then you look at your list and see call friend for advice, when you could have done it instead of writing it down. You skipped the step of putting it off till later when maybe later you might be tired or don't feel like doing it and this might lead to putting it off to another time. If it's important enough for you to think about it, then it should be important enough for you to get it done there or at least get started. But if you don't feel like getting started on what you're thinking about then maybe you need to evaluate if it's a priority at all.
Be more decisive
Being decisive is also going to help you declutter mentally because it's going to help you summarize important details so you can take action. There's actually a sweet spot for making choices where between 8 and 15 choices are things we can handle well but any more than that it can feel like it's too much to process. In those cases where you have an array of different options just look at the standards that you have and the ones that don't meet up to them you can quickly eliminate them. Have in mind the outcome that you do want, and you can align all those different options to measure up to it. Kind of like the rollercoaster rides that have a height requirement to get on, below this height and you cannot ride and you can make it as straightforward as that as well.
You'll quickly come to find out through the process of elimination that the options that you do have become a lot clearer of which ones you should go with. Then as you make your decision, have conviction so you're not procrastinating that's going to cause you to doubt yourself. A great example of this would be when you're going to a buffet with a wide selection of different foods. With all those different options that you have you might tell yourself where do I even begin. A great start would be with your favorite foods so you feel satisfied and then you can try something else that peaks your interest.
But what about if you're at a restaurant and you have one thing to select from three different options, beef, chicken or fish that you really like. How are you going to decide which one to order? If your focus is on price, you could just go with the cheapest option just to save me a little bit of money. The more decisive you are the more you'll come to simplify things in your life even in those times you make choices that lead to bad outcomes.
That decisiveness is going to help you pivot quickly when you need to course correct and will strengthen you. This is going to help you focus on the choices you made instead of the choices you did not decide to make. This can be a tricky thing to navigate when you're focused on what you could have chosen because that means you're not focusing on the things within your control and what's in front of you.
Incorporate the outdoors
Those times that you're feeling just overloaded mentally take the time to take a walk out in nature and ponder your thoughts. Avoid being on any of your electronic devices including playing music, that way you can just take in and listen to the sounds of what's going on all around you. Being outside can give you a sense of escape from the stressful demands of your daily life as you start to experience the vastness and connectedness that outside environment provides.
It gives you the opportunity to decompress and reset your focus that allows you to look up and move beyond eye level as it reduces aggression. As you start to look up and see how big nature is, it can help you realize that maybe the problems you are facing aren't as big as what they might be interpreting as. It gives the opportunity to gain perspective to see things beyond how they are being viewed.
Being outdoors improves our concentration as it allows our voluntary attention where we choose to focus on a certain thing to rest and the involuntary attention to become activated where we can effortlessly enjoy what we are being stimulated by. It's estimated that we can effectively concentrate on our work for about 90 minutes and then after that productivity starts to decline. A good way to incorporate being outdoors is taking breaks after concentrating in something for 90 minutes. It doesn't necessarily have to be a walkout in nature but maybe just stepping outside from your home or the office building and just looking at the green space. This is going to help take some of that stress off of your eyes as well.
Start to incorporate this into your daily life where maybe you take a walk each day for 10 minutes to regroup or maybe you just stare outside the window and admire at all that nature has to offer. If you happen to just stay inside and look out the window, make sure to put the TV on mute, turn off the music and avoid your phone, that way you can just concentrate on the things outside. This can get your creative juices flowing where you might come up with a great idea on how to overcome the things that you're struggling with.
Value the simple things
Another great way to declutter and simplify is find happiness in the simple things because they're all around us and they truly are magnificent. They tend to be overlooked because those big things people want, of being wealthy from a material sense or recognized for their achievements can be blinding from what makes us happy everyday. That their attention is consumed by how green the grass is on the other side when they're not watering and fertilizing their own grass and realizing how great they might have it already.
The hugs and kisses that we receive from our loved ones do wonders for how we feel about ourselves and we have to remember to truly appreciate them. The conversations that we have with the people we make connections with or the ability to walk on our own to where we desire are things that are a privilege and should always be remembered. When you're able to enjoy all the simple things around you, your life instantly becomes better. Sometimes we might forget what we have because we are too busy worrying about what we don’t.
Being tuned into the details of what makes you happy, such as the smell of the food you are afforded, the noises the birds make, or the way people uplift you should be recognized and cherished. Having this type of perspective comes from understanding that it's not so much getting more makes you happy but knowing that what you have is only for a limited time. While the days on an individual basis can seem long, the years and decades can go by quickly if you don't pay attention to it. When we come to understand how precious our time is, we can live with so much more purpose that always goes back to the simple things that we get to experience.
Final thoughts
Simplifying things in your life is going to be key to decluttering your mind and this starts by removing the distractions in your life. Getting started from a physical standpoint is going to get you into a good rhythm of how you can continue that mentally. The things that you physically see helps you conceptualize the things that are occupying your attention. Organizing the outside world around you can help you be more organized mentally. The more that you're able to remove, the more you come to understand what thoughts really require your attention.
Be decisive in your choices and incorporate nature into your daily life. Remember to enjoy all the simple things that you have in your life because when you forget to do that your life tends to become complicated because you're looking for something that's not. Simple does not mean easy, what it means is that it is basic. Writing a book can be simple but that does not mean it is easy. As you go ahead and simplify things, just know that it's about getting back to the basics. This will take time and effort to get to this state as you're going to have to work through untangling some of the distractions that have become a part of your focus. Knowing what is important is key so you cut through all the nonsense that does not align with it.
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