Being Mindless to Let Go of Mental Clutter
As they say, “all work, no play makes you dull”. But what the lack of free, unstructured time does, is to stress you out, and make you ineffective at handling life’s pressures and demands. Being able to let go of the mental clutter is essential to your wellbeing, and there’s nothing like changing channels completely to create white space in your mind.
As contradictory as it may sound, if you want to enjoy a better quality of life, be good at your job and feel more productive every single day, setting aside time for mindless fun each and every day is imperative. Being mindless for a little bit each day will make you more creative and productive.
1. Go for a Walk
Everyone should try to take a walk each day for about 30 to 45 minutes. Walking at a brisk pace for this length of time will help your heart, as well as clear out the cobwebs from your mind. Avoid taking anything with you to listen to, like music, or lectures, or books. Instead, try not to think of anything but how your breath feels going in and out of your lungs, and how the air smells to your nose.
2. Read a Chapter of a Book
As a creator, leader and role model you need to be consistently nourishing your soul with new thoughts and ideas.
But, don’t read something about your industry. Read something easy and mindless that is not realistic. Read poetry, biographies, murder mysteries, science fiction or another genre that you enjoy that seems like ultimate pleasure and nothing more. If you have teenagers, check their required reading list. It can be a treasure chest!
3. Play a Game
To keep the brain sharp we should engage all areas of it and try new things, and there’s nothing like a video game to take you out of your elements.
There are many different games you can play today, from games online to old-fashioned games on paper. Take just 15 minutes or so to play a round or two of a game that you enjoy and don’t think of anything else while you’re doing it. Play it alone, with your kids or best friend. Time will fly!
4. Create an Art Project
Want to learn to paint, knit or sew? Why not start now. You can learn something new and find a hobby that takes your mind out of your work. Painting is excellent for that because you can be abstract and not exact on your creations. It will teach you that imperfections can be beautiful.
5. Meditate
If you have any resistance to meditation, I invite you to revisit it. There’s nothing as powerful as the daily practice of meditation to improve all areas of your life.
Meditation is the ultimate “white space” creator for your brain. Best of all, you can do it almost anywhere and it is free.
Find a way to sit that is comfortable, with your back straight against the chair; hands relaxed on your thighs. Close your eyes and focus on your breathing. Breathe in, and out. In through your nose, and out through your mouth. Take deep, long breaths and focus on nothing else for the time you’ve set aside. If thoughts come to your mind, imagine them bursting like little soap bubbles.
Start small. I love the app “Breathe” for a quick 2 minute guided meditation to get me started.
6. Get in a Hot Tub
This is one of my favorite mom-mind-decluttering strategies! If you have access to a hot tub, or just your tub full of hot water, get in. Fill up the tub with nice smelling bubbles, light some candles, and enjoy until the water cools down. Different smells will give you different feelings. Try mint for more energy, lavender to calm down.
7. Get a Massage
Depending on where you live, you can get someone to come to your home or office for a massage. Massages usually take from 30 to 40 minutes and are a perfect weekly treat to help you get out of your head and enjoy mindless fun. While enjoying some relaxation, let go of all thinking, clean up the mental clutter.
8. Take a Nap
A 20-minute power nap can do wonders in helping you become more creative. You need someplace good to nap such as a cool bedroom or a comfortable couch in your office. Pull the shades, turn off the technology, and set an alarm.
9. Take in a Movie
Whether you go to the theater or watch instantly on Netflix, a good movie can take you to a whole new world. Most movies are one to two hours long, so plan this one into your schedule carefully.
10. Learn to Knit
Once you learn to knit, it becomes a mindless activity that is very repetitive yet something you must focus on to get it right. Having something mindless to take your focus can make you that much more energetic and creative when you come back to work tasks. I found knitting to be one of my best go-to mental clutter clearing ways.
11. Take a Dance Class
Nothing can quite get your blood pumping like a good dance. You can take lessons with a friend, or a spouse, or even alone depending on the type of dance you want to learn. It’s not important that you’re good at it, just that you have fun.
All of these activities are pretty mindless and can get you out of yourself a bit. It’s important to incorporate mindless fun into your life so that you can be even more wonderful than you already are. All of these activities get you out of your head and can get your creative juices flowing. Letting go of mental clutter never felt this good!
