According to the American Psychological Association, 49% of adults in the US say that stress has negatively affected their behavior.

Stress is our perception of a situation. Mental clutter causes stress!

Clutter is disorder. It’s crowded, it’s a confused mass or collection of STUFF. Let’s spring clean the clutter from our minds to lower our stress!

A cluttered mind makes it difficult to process and focus. When our minds are scattered, our productivity, balance, and mental health are hindered.

Eliminating unnecessary thoughts, fears, and concerns can help reduce stress. It can boost self-esteem, and it can create more mental space. In other words, we declutter our brains by getting rid of unnecessary stuff we carry around. We could have been accumulating thoughts that don’t serve us for years!

Our brains need to rest and relax and recharge in order to perform smoothly.

When I looked up ways to declutter our minds, I was surprised how many articles are available. 10 Simple Tips. 8 Steps To. Top 5 Tricks. In reviewing and reading, my question remains: HOW do we do this? HOW do we declutter our minds? HOW?

Here’s what I’ve come up with.

5 Steps to Declutter Your Mind

1. Write your thoughts down. All those scattered, confusing thoughts and feelings become more clear when we can read them back. Take them from the mind and physically put them onto paper. That can be a very cathartic experience. It is a way to cleanse! Writing down your thoughts counts as spring cleaning.

2. Switch off! Switch off your phone and laptop. This physical act can be interpreted by the mind as switching off distractions. Physically shutting something down can help mentally shutting down! Release the stuff you no longer need and let it go.

3. We always go back to breath. Breathing in “Oh well.” Exhaling “So what?” Or try counting your breath, like this: In - two - three. Out - two - three. This is calming as we pause and become aware of our breathing. The scatteredness of our thinking is pulled into focus: the cleansing breath. Try it now! When you exhale, let out the mental clutter!

4. Acknowledge the feelings. Feel the feel! Life is easy when you’re feeling super and great and you’re joyful and excited and happy. But we don’t always feel that way. Sometimes we have unpleasant emotions, like fear or anger or jealousy. What do you do when you feel these things? Do you try to stuff them down? Do you try to ignore the feelings? They WILL surface, and they will continue in your mind. So acknowledge your feelings! Allow yourself to be present with how you feel. Feel the moment!

5. Take a break! Create your own sanctuary. Allow yourself a minute or two or five out of a busy day to do something that you enjoy. This will help cleanse the mind and get rid of the mental clutter!

You may find that when you get rid of the clutter, it was blocking the door you’ve been looking for!

Don’t forget to check out Exercise Tuesday’s Tip for spring clean up!