Organising your room, work desk or home, in general, is undeniably healthy for your mental health. Having a clean workplace to get your to-do list ticked off and being able to relax in a clean fresh environment really does make a difference to one’s productivity. We are all aware of this, and the majority of the time this is what we want! We want to grab a cup of coffee in the mornings, or designate a Saturday to deep clean our kitchens, organise our messy wardrobe and clean our work desks, but in addition to determination and planning, taking action could only come from organising our thoughts.
Asides from cleaning and organisation, the majority of our goals and ambitions for a particular season or period is usually planned somewhere in our heads. Our minds are filled with various ideas, innovations, responsibilities and the likes, and we end up spending a lot of time inwards, trying to organise things from the inside out. And that’s why it’s imperative that our mind is in order, to give us a starting point for the things we need to get done. Many times, I’ve found myself putting off important things and procrastinating, only to get them done weeks or even a whole year later because my mind has been filled with jargon and unimportant information.
So how do we organise our thoughts to fit the ideal life we want?
The first thing that has personally helped me in organising my thoughts is the use of a journal. A journal is your best friend, one that has no mouth to judge you for the things you share with it. The majority of people often regard journals or diaries as a place to put down your to-do list for the day, or somewhere to write down your friends and colleagues birthday dates. Whilst a journal is good for those things, a journal can also really help with actualising your ideas, serve as a therapeutic way of offloading your thoughts and also helps you organise them.
Everything and I mean everything can go in your journal. Your long day at work, the late train times, your annoying boss, your thoughts, your fears, your dreams and even your goals or a strange-looking tree you saw in the park on your way to work. To achieve anything in life, it has to be backed up by plans that are clearly written out. And so even something as mundane as cleaning out your room could be actualised by writing it down in your journal.
Keeping diaries or journals also allows you to reflect on things around you, have physical proof of your growth over a period of time and also piece together your thoughts. Writing in my journals means I soak in my surroundings more because I plan to write it down later. It’s an awesome way of self-expression and it’s your own personal best friend, therapist and organiser.
Another thing that has helped me in organising my thoughts hence my life is managing my sleeping patterns. Not having enough sleep could make you tired, grumpy and unproductive. Being sleep deprived means I don’t have the right amount of energy to apply myself to whatever tasks I need to achieve, and over time it can really start to take a toll on my mental health in general. I find myself forgetting things, and being scatterbrained whenever I’m sleep deprived. A lot of the time we end up going to sleep only when our bodies are tired, which can be anytime depending on what activities we’ve done for the day. But what has helped me is designating a time to go to sleep, which allows me to also wake up around the same time, giving me enough time to mentally plan my activities for the next day and also gives me enough energy to get things done.
Having struggled with insomnia for as long as I can remember, going to bed and waking up around a particular time has always been very hard for me. But recently I’ve been using apps like Calm, or YouTube videos like raindrop sounds and it’s been helping me a lot. I also make a habit of trying to mentally prepare for the next day but going over my to-do list, and the majority of the time that in itself is so boring that I end up falling asleep. Doing this for a week or so means my body finally got into the rhythm, and I’ve seen a big improvement in my sleeping habits in general.
Set a me-time for yourself!
What do you do on your day away from work? Do you have a designated 5 or 10 minutes in your day to spend all by yourself? One other thing that has really helped me in organising my thoughts is having at least 5 or 10 minutes to myself to sit down and just breathe, regardless of how busy my day is or wherever I am. Some call it meditation, but I just call it the all-important me-time. During this time I give my mind a rest by simply clearing it. I try not to think about work, responsibilities or anything else. My mind is completely clear and reset and I just, breatheeeee and ground myself. No matter how short of a time it is, it usually helps with removing chaos and sometimes even anxiety from your mind. To me, its relinquishing control over things I cannot change, and getting my mind ready for the things I can work on. And so after my designated me-time, my mind is in the right place to take on the things I need to get done! It doesn’t have to be an hour-long, but taking out even 5 minutes out of your day can really help you in increasing your productivity and reducing your anxiety.
Those are three methods that I use for organising my thoughts, which has had a knock-on effect on my life and my productivity. No matter what you need to accomplish, things definitely become easier when your mind is in the right place to take on the required plan of action!
About the Creator
Damilola
poet, wanderer, writer.
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Comments (1)
Beautiful write up