Do you take your head for granted?
I know I do. We tend to go through life assuming our brains will function at their optimum level whenever we need them.
But they don’t.
Our brains grow weary, stressed, overloaded—cluttered by too many things to remember and too much information to sift through.
How cluttered is your head?
Symptoms of a cluttered head
- Foggy thinking
- Scattered thoughts
- Decision paralysis
- Whirling thoughts that can’t you shut down
- That constant feeling you’re forgetting something
- Difficulty focusing when you need to
- So weary that even simple decisions feels hard
- Life feels like a never-ending game of Whack-A-Mole.
We all have busy lives and our poor brains try to keep up with all the tasks and deadlines. I think each of those thoughts runs around inside our brains making little inaudible cries for our attention. All those tiny SOS calls add up. Is it any wonder we feel scattered, anxious and weary?
The good news is that we can get reduce the clutter. Here are some simple things to try.
Techniques to declutter your head
Get important stuff out of your head.
- Do a core dump. Write down every task, appointment, worry, dream, etc. on paper. Then make sure the important stuff is recorded somewhere so you won’t forget. Once important tasks are recorded somewhere safe your brain not longer worries about reminding you. Whew.
- Practice Morning Pages or create a bullet journal. Two different systems that help with daily maintenance for the point above. Advocates claim they help prioritize and focus, enhance creativity and reduce anxiety.
- The daily sticky note. Each morning, write down what you hope to accomplish that day. Spend a moment prioritizing. Which items are your Most Important Tasks for the day? Which ones should you tackle first and which can wait until later? Now put the sticky note where you will see it, to keep you on track.
- Monitor the big picture. Record all your important events (personal, work, social) on one calendar so you can see what is coming down the pipeline and pace yourself.
Gray Matter Self-Care
- Get sufficient sleep. Sleep is critical for optimum brain performance. Among other things, our brains use sleep time to form and consolidate memories. Sleep also allows our system to filter out toxins. In other words, your brain performs its own version of decluttering if you give it sufficient sleep time.
- Give it some R & R. Your brain needs rest and restoration throughout the day, too. Take productive breaks. Practice meditation. Intentionally give your brain times of quiet and allow your thoughts to wander.
- Get in touch with your body. Some of us live primarily inside our heads. We may benefit from activities that help us reconnect with the rest of our bodies. Dancing, Tai Chi, or yoga, or example. The key is to pay attention to our bodies rather than merely go through the motions while our heads are elsewhere. (Learning a new skill is a great way to accomplish this.)
Restore Balance
- Give yourself permission to vent. We don’t need an expensive therapist to enjoy the benefits of verbalizing our fears, frustrations, dreams, and doubts. Find a trustworthy person who will listen calmly while you vent. (Someone who will keep it private and is able to listen without trying to fix things or give unsolicited advice.) If you don’t have a suitable friend, find something else to vent at. A pet, a stuffed animal, a plant. Whatever.
- Monitor what goes in. What we eat affects our bodies. What we hear/read/watch affects our brains. We can consume healthy stuff, junk food, or toxins. Healthy inputs lead to a less cluttered head.
- Reduce the stream. We all suffer from information overload. The onslaught of information won’t stop, but we can take steps to limit how much is allowed into our homes or heads.
- Practice healthy self-talk. Feed your head with positive self-talk. Collect positive quotes, put them where you will see them, and actually speak them out loud.
Which of these ideas will you try to give your cluttered head a little rest?
