Your mind is like a computer hard drive, which gets filled with documents, files, pictures, and all sort of things we download. As a result, your computer begins to run slowly; it becomes sluggish, needing a good cleaning. Sometimes, if you are not careful, you can even pick up a virus despite having a virus protection software. It’s just a vicious cyber world out there. Metaphorically, your mind is vulnerable in the same way. Now that spring is here, this is a good time also to “spring clean your mind”.
1. Write it down. Create a list of everything you feel you need to do. Write it down so you can stop trying to remember, which only uses up extra energy and space. By writing it down, you free up mental space for thinking.
2. Reduce your to-do list to 3 top priorities each day. Looking at what you have to accomplish or what you have not accomplished on your to-do list can overwhelm or frustrate you. So keep it simple.
3. Breathe in fresh oxygen. Go outside. Spend some time outdoors. The fresh air, open space and presence are calming and soothing to the mind. Feel and breathe in the natural rhythm of life.
4. Clear Space. Clear your desk. Clear your room. Clean up. Remove items that are an eye soar. Believe it or not, physical mess clutters and distracts the mind, making it more difficult to concentrate. It can even lead to fatigue. To take control, Lucy Hedrick, author of 365 Ways to Save Time, suggests to “begin in one corner of one room and straighten it up.”
5. One day at a time. You have been given what you need for today. Be thankful for today’s blessings. Focus on the present. What can you do TODAY? Henry Wadsworth Longfellow in his poem, “Psalm of Life,”offers some good advice here: Trust no Future,/howe’er pleasant!/ Let the dead Past bury its dead!/Act,— act in the living Present!
6. Take a tech break. Periodically, turn off your cellular phone—the constant new-message pop-ups and sounds. Try to separate yourself from your phone in order to give your brain a break. Studies suggest a link between mobile devices and such issues as anxiety and depression.
7. Schedule an appointment to address your worries. According to Brenda Stockdale, author of You Can Beat The Odds, “It allows you to compartmentalize those feelings so they don’t overtake your life.” Addressing the issues can be in the form of a prayer, a journal or just mere dedicated think time. After the meeting, leave them there.
8. Enjoy the Sabbath. Take a sabbatical. Take a break. No chores allowed. Leonardo da Vinci, one of the most prolific geniuses, wrote: “Every now and then go away, have a little relaxation, for when you come back to your work your judgment will be surer. Go some distance away because then the work appears smaller and more of it can be taken in at a glance and a lack of harmony and proportion is more readily seen.”
9. Think light. Unforgiveness, bitterness, jealousy, regret, and hatred weigh the mind down and “eat up” huge amount of mental space. In fact, they clog the heart, like hardened fat down a sink’s drain. Ask yourself what is it you value? If you value, peace and freedom, make a decision to let the baggage go. Start mentally first and eventually the freeing of the heart will follow.
10. Simplify. Reduce life to its essence. It is mostly love that matters and lasts.
