I know you probably thought we had addressed this topic enough, however, as my friend and I were discussing this series of articles on decluttering, she mentioned the challenge of mental clutter that most of us have as well. That definitely resonated with me, so moving forward….
Mental clutter is when the mind has too many thoughts going through it–making it difficult to process. Basically, it’s those voices inside our head that won’t be quiet: all we can hear is the boss mandating those reports have to be complete by Friday, or our son reminding us there’s soccer practice this Saturday, or a parent’s voice telling us they need help cleaning the house this weekend. And don’t get me started with this modern smartphone technology–who can keep up?? When this occurs it can actually lead to clutter in the person’s living space as well.
“Year after year, people complain of being more overwhelmed than they were the year before,” says Scott Eblin, author of Overworked and Overwhelmed: The Mindfulness Alternative It’s an epidemic that needs to be addressed.
Mindfulness is key! The starting point to mindfulness is awareness, however, the endless amount of distractions in today’s world makes it challenging. “Our constant mental chatter puts us in an ongoing state of fight or flight,” Eblin says. “This leads to bad decision-making, which impacts our health and wellbeing.”
The opposite of fight or flight is “rest and digest.” “By mindfully using our rest and digest system we can reverse a lot of the damage that we may have done to our brain and body,” says Eblin. He suggests clearing away the mental chatter by introducing one of these five routines that help center our mind:
1. DEEP BREATHING: Eblin recommends using the STOP acronym to remember the process. Stop what we’re doing. Take a breath. Observe what’s going on around you. Proceed. Once we become more aware, we can act more intentionally.
Deep breathing is a rhythmic repetitive motion, and Eblin says it’s his favorite tool for removing mental chatter because you can do it whenever and wherever you wish and it’s free (smile) As we breathe, put our hand on our stomach; if our hand is moving in and out we’re doing it right.
“Navy Seals are trained to do four minutes of deep breathing when they are deployed to counterbalance the stress of their mission,” he says. “Breathing is like doing reps in the gym for our biceps. The more reps done, the stronger we become.”
2. LEARNING LESSONS ANALYSIS: Eblin states “The US military uses a process called After Action Review to learn from the past and do better in the future, it helps clear out regret from things that have already happened.”
Eblin suggests asking ourselves three questions:
What was supposed to happen?
What actually happened?
What would I do differently next time?
This can help set us toward a more productive future.
3. VISUALIZING THE FUTURE: For people who are overwhelmed with worried about the future, Eblin suggests creating a routine of visualization. “If you’ve ever watched the Olympics on TV, you’ve seen the power of visualization in action. After taking a few deep breaths to clear their mind, athletes envision the answer to two big questions:
What am I trying to do?
How do I need to show up to do that?”
This can raise our confidence level and reduce anxious thoughts about the future.
4. CREATING TIME FOR UNCONSCIOUS THOUGHT: The best ideas often come while we’re in the shower or cutting grass, says Eblin. This may look a lot like taking a walk, riding your bike, cleaning our house or playing with our kids.
5. ASKING IF THIS IS NECESSARY: When we start feeling a general sense of being overwhelm, Eblin suggests asking ourselves, “Is this really even necessary; what’s the most important thing to get done today; what could be postponed; and what could be done by someone else?”
All aspect of decluttering can actually be considered a spiritual practice since it brings us closer to our serenity. Progress not perfection, Warriors!