No matter what you want to accomplish in life, whether it’s small tasks or big goals and big projects, you need to have a clear mind to be able to focus and be productive. However, with our super-busy lives, information overload and everything else coming at us, more often than not it is hard to be clear-headed and focus on the task at hand.
We all have minds that never seem to shut down and our thoughts keep racing around in our head. Many of us live with a persistent level of stress that almost becomes normalized, but elevated cortisol levels – the hormone associated with stress – can wreak havoc on our physical as well as mental health in the long run.
That’s why it is so important to find activities that help us clear our minds and get into the flow – the mental state in which we perform an activity fully immersed with laser sharp focus, full involvement and absolute enjoyment in the process.
Here are our TOP 10 activities to clear your mind and increase your focus.
#1 Declutter
Clearing out your home or office can do wonders to the thoughts racing around in your mind. Creating a tidy and clean space free of unnecessary clutter creates a calm, peaceful environment that promotes serenity. To get even more benefits from decluttering, add a calming item to your coffee table or desk and consider adding a plant to your home or office. A living green plant can be a great source of inner calmness and an added bonus is that it purifies the air at the same time. Once you feel your mind racing around, focus on the green leaves and with that clear your mind and get calm and collected.
#2 Hit the Gym Hard
Hitting the gym hard is an amazing way to reduce stress because you literally sweat out the stress. Sure, a lot of times finding the motivation to go to the gym can be the biggest hurdle to overcome, but once you make regular exercise a part of your daily routine, you won’t want to miss out on this amazing opportunity to destress. Keep in mind, science has proven over and over again that exercise is one of the best ways to eliminating stress from our bodies and physical activities boost our productivity, creativity and ability to clear our mind to be able to focus better.
#3 Do Something Exciting
It has been shown that extreme sports like base jumping has an extremely clearing effect on our mind. If you are jumping off a skyscraper with a parachute on your back, you won’t be worrying about anything else in that moment. However, we are very well aware that you can’t jump off a building every time you want to clear your head, but you can choose an intense activity that works for you. For some people it may be a good idea to join a speaking club to practice public speaking as this is a scary and intense activity for a lot of people. Pick anything that is intense and exciting and helps you clear your mind from other thoughts.
#4 Take a Walk
Taking a walk – especially before sunrise or after dark – can be incredibly calming. The dark in particular helps you to be less visually stimulated and with that allows you to clear out the cobwebs of your mind. Because of the dark, your mind is also busy moving your feet and maintaining balance. If you prefer daytime walks, choose a park, beach or mountain where nature can do its magic and help you clear your mind.
#5 Meditate
You’ve probably heard the notion that meditation is clearing your mind. However, this is only partly true as most of the time when you meditate you focus on one thing. But because you are so focused on one thing – whether it’s your breath, one of the chakras, a body part or a color for example – you substitute your racing thoughts with that one focus and clear out your mind. While meditating seems deceptively simple, it can be quite challenging. It’s not easy to focus on just one thing over a period of time. The secret is to not get upset or frustrated when your mind starts to wander – it’s what the mind does. But be patient and just keep reminding yourself to come back to your chosen focus. We promise, over time it will become easier and an incredibly powerful tool for you.
#6 Journal
Journaling is a great way to clear your mind and get your thoughts out of your head and onto a piece of paper. Writing down our most pressing emotions, feelings, thoughts and worries every day is similar to talking to someone about them. You give yourself a chance to process your feelings and thoughts and can express them in a safe space and with that allow them to clear out and let them go.
#7 Be in Solitude
Whenever you feel your mind being cluttered and you have difficulties to focus, get away from what you are doing and be in solitude by yourself in a quiet space. Science discovered that being in solitude allows our mind to relax and recover and boost our focus and productivity. As we go through our daily lives, we often fail to realize how many distractions we have to deal with from our daily commute to the people, routines and surroundings in our lives. If we get away from it all and embrace solitude for a while, we have the amazing opportunity to restore our mental health and clear our mind.
#8 Do Something Completely Unrelated
A smart way to clear your mind is to do something that is completely unrelated. If you feel stuck when you are working on a particular project and feel like you are not getting anywhere, you need to get away from the situation. Just stop and do something else for a while. You will disconnect from the problem at hand and once you return to the task you left, your ideas will magically flow again. Give it a try, next time you are stuck, get out and take a good look at the sky for a couple of minutes, take a yoga class or have lunch with your best friend. You will clear your mind and come back refreshed and energized.
#9 Practice Deep Breathing
Deep breathing has tremendous benefits from increasing our energy levels and blood flow to working as a natural pain killer, improving posture, detoxifying our body and relaxing our mind. It’s also a great way to clear our mind and find better focus. Try this amazing breathing exercise and see how your mind clears up within minutes. Inhale for the count of four, hold your breath for the count of 6 and exhale for the count of eight. Do this breath for a couple of rounds several times throughout the day and you will feel stress disappear and your mind clear up.
#10 Learn to Say ‘No’
Some people have a hard time to say no and agree to do favors, say yes to any invitation and take on any project that’s being offered. But if you already have enough on your plate, don’t be tempted to add more to it and increase your stress levels. If someone asks you to do something that’s not practical for you in this moment and you simply don’t have the time for it, politely say no. Keep in mind, the more you keep saying yes to things that you don’t want to do or don’t have the time to do them, the more you build a habit and more often than not you get stuck doing them. Train yourself to say no when you need to and make yourself a priority.
When you learn how to clear your mind, your ability to focus on the task at hand increases tremendously and all your actions become smooth sailing. You know what you want to do and you automatically do it. Being clear-headed is a powerful state of mind that leads to productive, creative moments that result in more success, joy and fulfillment in your life.
RECLAIM YOUR FOCUS
Joschi & Monika
#BoldNaked