It’s January, my friend, and the time of new resolutions, new goals, new plans.
And a common goal at this time of year is to get more organized.
This can come in the form of cleaning out closets, cleaning our your junk drawer, or clearing off your desk, to name a few.
Why do we do this?
It feels good.
It feels good to purge things we no longer want or have the need for.
It feels good to have a clean closet or a clean desk, where we see open spaces and can find what we need quickly.
But what about our brains?
- They often feel CLUTTERED with all the things we need to remember to do.
- With all of our ruminating thoughts about our past regrets.
- With worry or anxiety about the future.
It feels good to declutter your brain, too. And it’s simple to do. But if you’re like many of my clients, you don’t do it (or don’t do it often enough).
What happens when you’re brain is cluttered with all the to-do’s, past regrets, and future worries?
- You feel overwhelmed. And when you feel overwhelmed, you don’t show up in your life the way you want to.
- You stay stuck, small, and perhaps even struggle to keep the status quo.
- You’re not in a place to make positive changes, to go after bigger goals.
If this sounds familiar, here’s the antidote: Declutter your brain.
How? Start by doing a thought download.
This helps clear your brain of all the many circulating thoughts; replaying conversations or events from the day, your to-do list, stressing over decisions to be made, etc.
Getting it all out on paper in a big brain dump is cathartic and helps your brain let go of that anxiety-producing mental chatter.
Want to try out a thought download? Here’s how:
✅ Grab a pen or pencil and a notepad. Yep, old-fashioned paper.
- Write down anything and everything that comes to mind.
- Thoughts, feelings, actions you need to take, decisions you need to make.
- Get it all out.
- Write for at least five minutes, more if the thoughts keep coming.
- When you think you’re done, ask yourself, “what else”?
- After you’re done writing, capture all your to-do’s by putting checkboxes in front of all the items that require action or need follow-up.
- Check out this blog post where I teach you how to manage that list effectively.
✅ Note all the thoughts and feelings you’ve written down about the PAST and the FUTURE.
- Understand that these thoughts running around in your head are stealing your PRESENT.
- Stealing precious time and attention you’d rather be giving to your loved ones, or perhaps your work.
Sometimes just the mere act of getting them out on paper can help you let them go.
Oftentimes, it can help to work through some of these with a coach (if that sounds like you, I can help you with that!)
It feels good to declutter your brain, just as it does to declutter your closets or clean out your desk.
Getting rid of the things that no longer serve you.
Making more space for the things you love.
Here’s to making space for the things that matter,
Denee