4 Ways To Clear Your Mind and Put A Smile On Your Face
This is the time of year when you want nothing more than sunshine, sunglasses, a warm breeze, windows open, and most of all, a smile on your face. You want spring. Well, there’s good news. You changed your clocks, which means spring is getting closer with each passing moment. Never mind the random snowstorm that somehow surprises us every year in mid-April. March is full of hope. No one is taking that from you. But as with all things spring, you want things clean, and in order, so you can just sit back and enjoy summer. Whenever it gets here. So why not do some spring cleaning for your mind? So as you think about washing your car, cleaning out the garage, cleaning the windows, or completely reorganizing your closet, here are four ways you can do some spring cleaning for your mind and improve your overall mental health—making summer that much more enjoyable.
Take a break from your device.
The lure of the screen. The struggle can be very real. For most, it is. Do you wake up each morning and check your phone first thing? Are you annoyed by the siren song of the tiny red notification dots? If you don’t clear them, you risk developing a nervous tick? When you’re bored, do you randomly pick up your phone, begin scrolling, wandering aimlessly from app to app? Have you mastered the art of wasting time on your device without purpose?
You might resonate with all of those things, and in fact, it might even make you laugh. But if even some of those are true for you, then your phone is doing exactly what it is designed to do. Yes, it’s meant to be a phone, a personal assistant, a means of connecting with the world, and a means of being entertained. But it’s also designed to draw you in to create a habit, and yes, it is designed to be addicting. And if any of those questions above resonate with you, you are likely addicted. And it’s affecting your mental health. It can affect how we learn, how we see ourselves, and can create social and emotional issues.
Take a break. Put it down, walk away for a while. Set some limits for yourself. Pick a time in the evening to put the phone away and a time in the morning when you will pick it up again. Maybe you need to go as far as fasting from your device for a week or more. And if you’re asking if such a thing is possible—how could you survive in the world without being connected? You can. Believe it or not, the world spun on long before the internet and smartphones. The screens and the scrolling have been linked to increased anxiety, depression, loneliness, added stress, and even negatively affect some general cognitive functions. It’s really quite simple—while our phones can be useful, they can be equally damaging.
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Remove your earbuds. Listen to the world around you.
Take a minute and imagine yourself walking through your neighborhood. What do you hear? What sounds are around you? If a dog barks, do you know who’s dog is it? The kids you hear laughing, do you know where they live and what game they are playing? Do you listen to your neighborhood, or are you listening to the latest podcast, audiobook, or your favorite music?
With all the available technology you have at your fingertips, it’s easy to drown out the world in your own personal soundtrack. It’s hard to believe that podcasts haven’t always been a thing. Audiobooks were available only at the library, and very few people were determined enough to take their music everywhere. Today, you can go from office to school to gym to the car—literally anywhere and seamlessly listen on any (or every) device.
Take the earbuds out, turn off the music, don’t listen to the podcast. While music can be therapeutic, podcasts informative, and books highly entertaining, the constant stream in your ears denies your mind the ability to relax, recharge, and find peace in the moment. There are powerful mental wellness effects in listening to the world around you. Allowing the sounds of the wind, birds, conversations, kids playing, and even a barista making coffee helps us clean the clutter from our minds. When you do, you can practice what mental health experts call mindfulness—being completely aware of your surroundings, feelings, and bodily sensations. It’s a practice known to help you find peace, joy, happiness, and meaning.
Exercise. It will clear your head.
Your days can be long, the stress can be too much at times, and you have far too many demands from others to be focused on yourself. When you finally get a break, exercise is literally the last thing you want to do. But exercise is a funny thing. If you think that exercise takes more energy than you have available, you are actually mistaken.
Of course, exercise is good for your body. You know the benefits, and I certainly don’t need to convince you of them. However, movement also has incredible benefits for our minds and overall mental health. No, you don’t need to spend three hours a day at the gym, enter a marathon, or suddenly become the star athlete you once dreamed you could be.
Take a walk. It’s that simple. Around the block, for five or ten minutes. It helps your brain simply work better, boosts your self-esteem, and clears the clutter.
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Rest. You need it.
The tyranny of the urgent gets us all. The more you do, the more value you add. Busyness is a highly coveted virtue. At least, that’s what many of us are led to believe. Whether work, school, even family—you wear yourself down—task after task. Just one more thing to do. Just one more meeting, one more assignment, one more gathering. What’s the first thing you sacrifice when the to-do list grows beyond your capacity? Sleep. You forget to rest, to stop, and walk away so you can recover, rejuvenate, and be restored.
But you were meant for rest. You weren’t meant to work endlessly, to always be busy. Despite what you were told, there is no prize at the end for the one who worked the most. You were made for rest. However, rest doesn’t just mean sleep, and it doesn’t mean binge-watching television or endlessly scrolling on your phone. Rest means allowing your body and mind to find balance. Meaning doing something you love—exercise, reading, a hobby, or enjoying a quiet cup of coffee. It means stepping back from your regular rhythm of life. No obligations.
It will be hard if you’re not used to such a routine. In fact, the thought of not being productive might even stress you out a bit. But what you’re going to discover is that you will be more focused, less stressed, and more effective when working.
Click Here to Learn how to Rest Well
Get outside. Do some gardening.
This one is weird, right? But you’ve made it this far, so keep reading. My wife loves to garden. When I built a garden for her, I was clear that watering, pruning, and harvesting was her job. I would build it, that’s it. But every so often, she would be busy and needed me to help with the watering. Of course, being the superb husband I strive to be, I helped out.
Over the course of that first summer, I watered almost every night. Not just because she asked, but because I wanted to. It was serene, peaceful, and life-giving. Some researchers suggest that gardening can have incredibly positive effects on your mood, self-esteem, and even attention span. And if you join a community garden, it can also create some social benefits. For some people, just being around plants can reduce stress. So maybe not so weird.
Click Here to Learn More About Gardening Benefits
Daylight savings is here. Spring will be here soon despite the occasional morning you wake up to snow. You made it through February. You made it through the cold dark winter months. It’s time you give your mind a refresh and set up for success this year.
