Declutter Your Mind: How to Stop Worrying, Relieve Anxiety, and Eliminate Negative Thinking

by S.J. Scott

Your constant inner dialog distracts you from what is happening around you, right here and now. It causes you to miss valuable experiences and sabotages the joy of the present moment.

Thinking may seem automatic and uncontrollable, but many of our thought patterns are habitual and, well, thoughtless.

An excessive amount of stress is the primary reason many people feel overwhelmed by life.

When life becomes so intense and complicated, our psyches search out escape ramps. Too much input, too much negative exposure, and too many choices can trigger a not-so-healthy coping response.

Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, and even President Obama made the decision to limit their clothing options to minimize feelings of overwhelm from making decisions.

All of this extraneous stuff and data not only sucks our time and productivity, but also produces reactive, anxious, and negative thoughts.

Everything seems important and urgent. Every email and text must be answered. Every latest device or contraption must be purchased. This keeps us constantly stirred up, busy with trivialities, and detached from the people around us and the feelings within us.

“To keep our ancestors alive, Mother Nature evolved a brain that routinely tricked them into making three mistakes: overestimating threats, underestimating opportunities, and underestimating resources (for dealing with threats and fulfilling opportunities).”

Mindfulness requires retraining your brain to stay out of the mental clutter from the future and focus instead on the present moment. When you are mindful, you no longer attach to your thoughts. You are simply present in whatever you happen to be doing.

You can slow down your breathing, change where you breathe from (chest or abdomen), and even make your breaths shallow or deep.

there is less need to breathe deeply, the way our ancestors did in order to hunt, gather, farm, and perform other manual labor.

sit up straighter to allow more room for your lungs to take in oxygen.

Be conscious of breathing through your nose rather than your mouth.

One of the best ways to detach from negative thoughts and gain control over your mind is through slow, deep, rhythmic breathing.

Determine a time of day to practice deep breathing, preferably after a daily habit you perform consistently, like brushing your teeth.

Before bed is another good time, as it promotes a restful state before sleep.

we suggest meditation as a tool to help you train your mind and control your thoughts, both when you are sitting in meditation and when you aren’t.

noticed an increased ability to stay in the present moment and redirect herself back to the task at hand whenever she feels tempted by a potential distraction.

Try not to recline as you meditate, since you might fall asleep.

Meditation masters refer to this space of stillness as the “gap”—the silent space between thoughts. At first the gap is very narrow, and it’s difficult to remain there for more than a few nanoseconds. As you become a more practiced meditator, you’ll find the gap opens wider and more frequently, and you can rest in it for longer periods of time.

“space between thoughts” exercise by putting yourself in a state of deep listening. Sit quietly and listen intently, as though you’re trying to hear a quiet and distant sound. Again, you are alert, awake, and waiting without the distraction of thought.

“Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, either way, you are right!” – Henry Ford

Start by becoming aware of your thoughts.

reinforces the fact that you are not your thoughts.

Wear a rubber band on your wrist. Whenever you see it, stop and notice your thoughts. If you are stuck in negative thinking, put the rubber band on the other wrist or gently pop it on your wrist. This physical action interrupts the flow of negative thought.

Do something that will occupy your mind so there’s no room for the negative thoughts.

being more proactive in what you allow to remain in your thoughts.

Rather than allowing “all or nothing” thinking to have a free pass, challenge these negative thoughts whenever they occur. This simply means coming up with a concrete example that contradicts the thought by reminding yourself of a positive event or previous “win.”

the thoughts and feelings about these challenging situations are often far worse than the situation itself.

Many of us feel so overwhelmed that we fail to step back and assess the impact of information overload. Nor do we know how to prioritize it all. We become reactors to what life throws at us, rather than carefully evaluating what is best for us.

One of the simplest ways to eliminate mental clutter and live a more fulfilling life is to define your values and guiding principles for your life.

If you have never defined your values, you are sailing the sea of life without a compass.

Once you have a list of values that align with your goals, review it on a daily basis and make sure that the actions you take match these desired outcomes.

clarify your life priorities so you know exactly how you want to spend your time, energy, and money.

The areas are: Career Family Marriage (or love partnership) Spiritual/personal growth/self-improvement Leisure/social Life management (i.e., home tasks, financial planning, budgeting, etc.) Health and fitness

We recommend you begin with the priority that can make the most positive difference in your life or where you feel the most imbalance.

planning for the future is an important and valuable exercise that can set the stage for true fulfillment in the years to come.

it’s possible to focus on the future while still learning how to enjoy the present moment.

you’ll set goals for each quarter (i.e., three months) instead of the yearlong goals that often take you out of the present moment.

Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound.

Specific goals answer your six “W” questions: who, what, where, when, which, and why.

Measurable goals are defined with precise times, amounts, or other units—essentially anything that measures progress toward a goal.

Attainable goals stretch the limits of what you think is possible.

and set an objective that seems slightly beyond your reach. That way, even if you fail, you still accomplish something of significance.

Relevant goals focus on what you truly desire.

Time-bound goals have specific deadlines.

S.M.A.R.T. goals are clear and well-defined. There is no doubt about the result you want to achieve. At its deadline, you’ll know if you have or haven’t achieved a particular goal.

Because your life is fast-paced and constantly shifting. In order to keep up with all these changes, it’s often better to create goals for the short term because this helps maintain consistent effort and a high level of motivation.

lengthy goals (i.e., anything over six months) are often demotivating. When you know an outcome is months away, it’s easy to procrastinate on taking consistent action.

schedule a weekly review session where you create a daily action plan for the next seven days.