Spring Cleaning Your Mind
I am so excited to have you here for this last post in our spring cleaning series. This week, we are wrapping up our spring cleaning theme for March, and today we're going to talk about spring cleaning your mind. Now I know brains were not designed to carry the mental load that we have today, and we just keep pushing and pushing, and absorbing more.
You need to do some regular decluttering of your mind to function better.
Seven things to think about when spring cleaning your mind
Today we're going to talk about seven things that you can do to help you spring clean your mind. To just get in a better mindset and a better place. And help take care of your brain. Because I think a lot of times we do not do that.
We're running ourselves ragged. We're not taking care of our body and our mind the way that we should. And I don't know about you, but for me, the scariest thing as I get older is the possibility of developing dementia or Alzheimer's. My brain is my thing.
I am always trying to practice these things as much as I possibly can to just stay sharp.
Number 1: Get more sleep
I know you think you cannot do this. But, you need to get more sleep. Think about what time do you want to go to bed. What time do you want to wake up? Set an alarm to remind you to wind down so that you can get to bed when you need to.
Jeff and I did some episodes on sleep for a Small Biz Life. Go check it out - Sleep: Your Greatest Productivity Tool. We talk about brain science and why it's important and what sleep does for you.
It's amazing how it restores your brain. And I think part of the reason that we have a pandemic of brain diseases is that we're not getting enough sleep. We're not letting our brains heal. And that's when our brains heal when we're sleeping.
Number 2: Make sure you're hydrating and getting the nutrients your body needs as part of spring cleaning your mind
You need to make sure that you're hydrating and getting the nutrients that your body needs. I'm sure that you know we're mostly water, right? And we're not hydrating enough.
You also need to make sure that you're getting the nutrients you need. And if you don't know what those are, talk to your doctor and see if you can get some blood work done to see if you have any vitamin deficiencies. Those could also be impacting your sleep, your mood, and other things.
We are these incredible chemical beings. And if our balance of chemicals, bacteria, and hydration, are out of whack, then our whole system going haywire.
So set up a trigger. Maybe your trigger is that every time you go on Facebook, you drink water. Or every time you pick up your phone, you drink water.
You can gamify it, use alarms, or whatever you need to do that is going to help you drink more water.
Number 3: Move your body
When you move your body, you are increasing your blood flow. You are increasing your oxygenation when you breathe and when you move. So moving is important to make sure that all those nutrients and the hydration that you're doing are making it through your body.
I always know, that for me, after I have been moving my brain is functioning so much better. The chemicals that are released when you exercise are good for your mood and your overall health. It doesn't have to be crazy. If you do three 10 minute walks a day, that would be awesome. Look at your level of movement and see how you can move a little bit more.
One thing I always recommend to people is that when you are sitting at your desk for long periods, you just get up every hour for five to ten minutes. Move around, walk around, do some deep breathing, stretch out. Just get your muscles going.
Number 4: Stimulate your mind as part of spring cleaning your mind
Get off your phone. Okay. Read, learn a new hobby or new skill. Do something like Bookkeeper Training School. Start a new hustle. But do something that's going to stimulate your mind.
Get off the Netflix. And get off your phone. Learn something new. Even if you don't have much time during the day, you can listen to podcasts or courses while you're showering or making dinner. Listen while you take a walk.
What you want to be doing is feed goodness into your brains. If you feed your brains good stuff, you're naturally going to feel better. The problem is you spend so much time putting bad into your body, your brain, and your thought process. Then you wonder why you can't get anything done. And why you have no motivation and why you're so tired.
You know I love you mamas. But it is no wonder that we are all in really bad shape.
I do this podcast and posts because they help motivate me. Putting this list together today, I went, "Yeah, I'm not doing enough of that. I need to drink some more water." I do this as much for me as I do for you guys.
Number 5: Writing things down is important when spring cleaning your mind
This is the first tax season since I started my business 14 years ago that I have somebody helping me. And it made me realize just how much knowledge I have in my head that I have not written down. So we are very painstakingly writing things down, taking notes, and creating more written documents. So that all of this knowledge that is crammed in my mind gets out.
Write things down. Anytime you have a thought, write it down. I write down lists in my Full Focus Planner that is on my desk every single day. I am writing in it all day long. Every single day I have a page of notes of things I think of that need to get done. A list of new tasks, ideas, and other things.
Wonderful app to record your ideas
Jeff and I are idea people. We come up with lots of ideas. There is an app that helps us to get that idea written down. It's called Brain Toss. Brain Toss is not free, but it's not expensive at all.
What this app does is allows you to send yourself voice messages, photo messages, or notes. And so what I'll do is when I get an idea, and I'm not at my desk with my planner, I will send myself a little voice note and it automatically emails it to me and it transcribes it. This app is great for those times when you can't write down your thoughts.
Journaling can help you when spring cleaning your mind
As you are writing things down, make sure to include how you are feeling. Journaling may help you clear out some of the mind gunk that you have going on up there. Because sometimes you just need to get things out.
It will help you get clarity. And it will help you slow things down as well because it allows you to process things that you don't normally have the time to process.
Number 6: Stop the negative self-talk
You need to watch the words you say to yourself. All this negative self-talk not only impacts you and your mindset, but it impacts the way your children see you and the way your children see themselves.
When I see moms talk negatively about themselves, "Oh, I'm so stupid. I can't do the math. Oh, I can't do this." I don't think you understand how detrimental that is for your mindset, for your wellbeing, and your children's wellbeing, You are a product of the labels that you put on yourself. And so when you say these negative things, you become that thing.
You need to stop the negativity when spring cleaning your mind
I hate to see women talk down about themselves and talk down about each other. It is not necessary. Unfortunately, our brains are wired for negativity. I've read a couple of studies on this and you have to actively work to try to lift yourself. I don't know why this is. And I don't know why happiness is so hard. I think it's part of our fear response.
When you start to go negative, you go on a roll. Have you ever seen that? Where you spiral into negativity? It's how your brain is wired. And you have to work a lot harder to be positive than to be negative. So it's an active thing you have to work at.
It's something that can be done, if not for us, then for our children. So STOP. Stop the negative self-talk. It is not good for you. And it is not good for your children.
Number 7: Practice gratitude regularly when spring cleaning your mind
Practice gratitude. I know there are a lot of people out there who aren't doing well right now. And I know that there are a lot of people that they're having trouble finding something to be grateful for.
It can be as simple as when your feet hit the ground in the morning and you think, "It's going to be all right. I'm vertical today." "I am breathing, and smiling, and I'm grateful for that."
It could be, that you are grateful that you have a roof over your head. That your computer turned on today. Your grateful that you didn't get any bad news today.
Start wherever you are. I think people tend to think that you cannot be happy and you cannot practice gratitude until you get to a certain place.
Don't wait to practice gratitude
But the problem with that is that you may be waiting a long time to get to that place. And so if your ability to practice gratitude and to practice happiness and self-acceptance is based on an achievement, a number on a scale, a financial level. It shouldn't be. Because there are always things to be grateful for right now. No matter how bad things are right now, there is something to be grateful for.
If nothing else it could be that your children are okay. And so I just want you to think about something small. Gratitude can be small. It doesn't have to be big. It just has to be something. And it has to be something regularly.
And so you could set alarms on your phone a couple of times a day and just say, all right, what am I grateful for right now? What's going okay right now? And that's it.
There is always a possibility for change
But when you put these seven things together:
- getting enough sleep
- hydration and nutrients
- moving your body
- stimulating your mind
- writing things down
- stopping the negative talk
- practicing gratitude daily.
Your mind will get lighter. The weight will not feel so bad. And hopefully what happens is that you start seeing things a little bit different because when you don't do these things, I think it's really hard to hope. I think it's really hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
And it's really easy to fall into dark spaces where there is no change. There is no possibility of being better. And I will tell you that there is always hope. There is always a possibility for change. You may not see it right now, but it's always there.
But when you are in a place where you're tired, you're not moving and your brain is so full of stuff. And the negative self-talk is coming at you from all directions. That you don't see anything to be grateful for, I can understand how none of it seems possible.
Pick one thing to focus on this week for spring cleaning your mind
What I'd like you to do is think about these seven things. I want you to pick one of these things to try to do better this week. Don't pick all seven at the same time. Just pick one.
Let me know which one you picked. Tag me on social. Share this post with someone else if you found it beneficial to you.
Because I think that this is something that as moms, we need to do a better job of lifting each other. And stop tearing each other apart. We all need the support right now. It's been a long time for many people since they've had that connection and that support system that they need.
And so as we're coming out of this, can we think about the things that we need, and missed? And make sure that going forward, as things reopen, that we get the things that we need from the community around us, that we become part of building a community around us again. That is so critically important for us moving forward.
All right mamas. Pick one thing. Just one to work on for the next week. I'd love to know what it is! Leave me a comment, tag me on social and let me know.
