Tips to Help You Declutter Your Mind and Start Fresh This New Year

The past year has been rough for many of us, and it has caused a lot of stress, anxiety and grief, which we may still be experiencing even as we turn a new leaf. While these feelings need time to be processed, there are small things you can try doing to inch yourself along. One way is to declutter your mind. Think of it as self-care, a means to lessen the cobwebs of anxiety, and a way to help you deal with things one at a time.

Organize your space

Many have said this time and time again: organizing your space can help you organize your mind. Letting go of clutter can also be an act of mental cleansing—and even feng shui recommends not keeping broken and unneeded things around. 

While it can be hard to get started, organizing can give you the feeling that you're in control of something, especially during these times when nothing seems to go your way. A good way to begin is to know why you're doing it in the first place. Is it to allow you to be more productive while working from home? Is it to help you feel better about your home? Is it to allow you to let go of things in order to move on? Once you realize the reason behind it, then it will be easier to figure out the new system for your space.

Pause before you start your day

Do you check your phone and jump into social media as soon as you wake up? This may be one habit you should try to break. Instead, enjoy a few moments of quiet. You can meditate, or even simply stare out the window. Allowing your mind to adjust to a new day witout being immediately bombarded by online noise can help lessen your anxiety.

Try journaling

Another way to keep your mornings and your evenings sacred is by journaling. This can help you organize not just your tasks, but also your thoughts. Moreover, it can help you take on your fears one at a time, push you to process, and even encourage you to do a bit of positive self-talk. Writing things down allows you to be aware of your constant stream of thoughts, while aiding you in pinpointing where the negativity and the noise are coming from, so that you can plan for them, and eventually come to terms with or even overcome them. 

Lessen multitasking

We know that one can never escape multitasking, especially now that everyone is just trying to keep their head above water and surviving. You can, however, try to do small things one at a time so that you can focus and then let go. Prioritizing and creating a to-do list can help you with this, and if you really need to juggle several things at the same time, write them down. Seeing everything on paper can help your brain process everything that you need to accomplish—and that's been proven by science. 

Rest

Don't feel guilty about taking a break, even for just a few minutes. Allowing your mind to rest gives it a chance to reboot and reprocess. If you can, switch off your phone, and allow yourself a moment to disconnect, log off, and recharge.