Clean Your Closet
Think of the useless items that crowd your closet: jeans that are out of style; shoes you never wear because they pinch your toes; the sweatshirt with the holes in the elbows that you’ve been hanging on to since high school. Our minds, too, are often crammed with things that we don’t need, but can’t seem to get rid of. Regrets, lingering anger and old grudges take up precious space in our brains. They also affect our physical well-being. Studies show that holding on to anger or grudges for long periods of time actually can sap our energy. “Regret is not productive, nor is anger or guilt or worry,” says Zoglio, author of Create a Life That Tickles Your Soul. “When you clean out some of those, it frees you up for productive thought.”
So how to make a clean sweep? Try forgiveness, suggests Bob Enright, Ph.D., vice president of the International Forgiveness Institute in Madison, Wis. To forgive someone who has wronged you, start by seeing the wider picture, Enright suggests. “The idea is to soften your heart in a merciful way toward the other person,” says Enright. “We remember the hurt, but we define the person as much bigger than that one hurt against us.”
AND: Do everyday annoyances and stresses get you down? Find out how to mood-proof your day
Consolidate Clutter
How many times have you said, “I’ll make a mental note of it”? Trouble is, our brains don’t have enough space to accommodate all those mental Post-its reminding us about errands to run, people to call, ideas for projects. Inevitably, some tasks get forgotten.
Wipe out clutter by dumping your mental scribblings into a journal. The act of writing something down frees up brain space, says Rita D. Jacobs, author of The Way In: Journal Writing for Self-Discovery. “If you don’t physically write it, you’re not clearing your brain. You’re not refreshing it,” she says. Besides list-making, your journal can be a place for your opinions, dreams and sketches. “A journal buys you time,” says Jacobs. “It allows you not to obsess, but to write down and save for later, giving you more room and breathing space.”
AND: Find yourself forgetting stuff? This easy 14-day memory tune-up gives you mind a boost
Sort Through Your To-Do’s
After you’ve transferred your mental clutter into a journal, you can sort through it. Take a hard look at your to-do lists. What’s really necessary? “Our psychic RAM is overloaded with things to do,” says Zoglio. “Spend your time on the priorities that are most important to you.” Determine which tasks have the highest return on your time investment. Ask yourself: Should this really be on my plate? Perhaps you’ve taken on work that isn’t your responsibility or offered to help a friend paint her dining room when you really don’t have the time.
“Maybe you have to call somebody and say, ‘That looked like a good idea at the time, but I can’t work it in now,’ ” Zoglio advises. Can’t back out of your commitments? Try scaling them down. If you planned to go to dinner with a friend but can’t squeeze in a meal, suggest meeting for coffee instead.
Plant Seeds for the Future
When your mind is freshly scrubbed, you have the space and energy to devote to new endeavors. Where to begin? Zoglio recommends waking up 10 minutes earlier than usual to do a “morning intent” meditation. Try sitting quietly and breathing deeply: Inhale for eight seconds, exhale for eight seconds. Tune out mental chatter by repeating one word that resonates for you (“calm,” “love,” “peace”).
Then, gaze into the future. Where do you see yourself traveling this summer? What home improvements would you like to make in the next few months? What kind of personal changes would benefit you? Now is the time to fill your mind with positive thoughts. After all, says Zoglio, “the idea behind spring cleaning of the mind is to get rid of what you don’t want and make room for what you do want.”
AND: Learn our easy 4-step breathing technique to get you focused and relaxed
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Reprinted with permission of Hearst Communications, Inc.
