Declutter the mind for the coming New Year

While this time of year is usually when people dissect and reflect on the past 12 months, it’s safe to say that most of us are looking forward to waving goodbye to the car crash that was 2020.

According to a survey conducted by the Office for National Statistics, twice as many adults in Britain reported symptoms of depression due to the pandemic compared with the same time last year, and in an oversaturated world of information, it’s more important now to declutter and organise the mind.

Following the below simple tips in the coming days will help us to recalibrate, reset, and start 2021 on the right foot.

Declutter

My last blog focused on how being organised can have a positive impact on our health and fitness goals, and organisation plays an important part in our mental outlook, too. Methodically going through each room of your home and having a clear-out is the first step to decluttering the mind. Take a real deep dive in each room: be ruthless with your belongings, keeping those possessions that make you happy and getting rid/donating those that don’t. As the old adage goes, less is more: keep your life filled with those things that spark experiences and memories, and get rid of what doesn’t.

Social media

We all know that social media can fuel anxiety and self-doubt, and this constant stream of information is what keeps us reaching for our phones time after time. How many times have you been in a social situation where half of your group isn’t really in the moment but living in the world of Instagram? Limiting your time on social media or hitting the unfollow button on people who spark feelings of comparison or negativity is a good place to start in clearing the mind and enables us to be focused in our real-world interactions.

One task at a time

Life can be a juggling act of home and work commitments, and trying to complete several tasks in tandem causes unnecessary stress and anxiety: gone are the days of multitasking. Instead of leaving your mind scattered, focus on one task at a time. Utilise an alarm and start off by working in 15-minute chunks, prioritising your workload and to-do list. Even if it’s completing two tasks within the same hour, splitting 60 minutes into four sets of 15 minutes and alternating between the two can work wonders for our mental clarity and productivity.

Tech clear-out

Notifications are the bane of my life. I’ll be deep into a project, my phone will ding, and I’m taken out of my momentum only to discover it’s a marketing email from a company I bought something off four years ago. Go through your phone and be ruthless with the apps you haven’t used in a while: turn off notifications for those apps that are continually pushing updates, and make a concerted effort to only check emails say twice a day. Unroll.me is a fantastic site that instantly unsubscribes you from unwanted mailing lists, and it’s totally free to use. Gone are the ‘you have 101 new email notifications’ days.

Get outdoors more

Getting out of the house is not only beneficial to physical health but mental health, too. Exploring new areas of the island or switching up your usual walking route are great ways to keep your outdoor pursuits fresh and interesting and will make it more likely that you’ll venture outside time and time again. The great outdoors is the ideal place to blow away mental fug, clear the mind, and spend quality time with those that matter the most to us.

Life is manic, and if anything good has come of 2020, it’s the realisation that time is precious and not to be taken for granted. Taking better care of ourselves in 2021 is a must, both physically and mentally, and I find by following the above steps helps me to focus on what’s important. And don’t forget to make more time for you, be it a bath and face mask or simply an early night without mindlessly scrolling through your phone until silly o’clock.