Spring Cleaning Your Brain

Photo by Alina Grubnyak on Unsplash

Spring has sprung!

The grass is green, the birds have started singing, the weeds are plentiful, and I bet you’ve started thinking about tackling spring cleaning. Perhaps you plan to clean out your junk drawer, your closet, or your garage. Perhaps you even plan to go full Marie Kondo.

But let’s talk about another kind of spring cleaning, the kind that isn’t physical so we can’t always see it. I’m talking about spring cleaning your mind.

When your home is clean and clutter-free, you can easily navigate it. It’s easy to see where things go, and when things are out of place. You don’t trip over random items on the floor. You feel calm.

The same is true of your brain. When your mind is organized you can more easily navigate life’s challenges. When our brains are free of clutter, we feel less overwhelmed, less anxious, and much better able to tackle our to-do lists and obligations. We don’t get tripped up as often or find ourselves in as many thought-loops. We have space for new ideas and for creativity.

Spring is a time of renewal, of growth. So, let’s talk about how to spring clean your mind in 4 easy steps:

1. Take Stock

   • Do a brain dump of everything that’s on your mind (no matter how big or small)

   • Think about all the areas in life you care about (work, family, health, etc.)

2. Sort

   • Think about what’s working well

   • Think about what’s not working and not serving you anymore (relationships, obligations, limiting beliefs); got any weeds that have been left to themselves to grow? Pull them out before they become invasive!

   • What should you decide to toss?

   • What should you decide to keep?

   • What do you need to change?

3. Organize

   • Put a plan in place for how you’ll tackle the to-dos, how you’ll ensure you have time for the priorities, and how you’ll toss the rest

4. Act

   • Make it happen. You’ve come so far; don’t stop here. Follow your plan.

Taking the time to consciously decide what to focus on, and what to remove from our lives, organizes and declutters the mind. And there’s no better time to do it than spring!