Declutter Your Mind: Twelve Secret Steps to Clear Mental Clutter for A Lifetime of Peace and Bliss by Michelle Evans Page A
Authors: Michelle Evans
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comfortable so you let your
guard down, and even buy items to reinforce the nostalgia you feel. Plug your
earphones into your smart phone and influence your mind in the way that you
choose. If and when you do buy something new, make a cardinal rule that you must
toss something out. Or two things. You know that junk drawer – turn it into a
compartment.
Secret #2: The 21 st Century Diet
Limit
your intake of information, media and your use of social media.
I’ll be honest and say that
I’ve never had much interest in watching television. However, I used to be on
my laptop far more than anyone else.
With my laptop alone, I consume a lotof
media. I would start my day by reading the online news. Granted, I didn’t read
every single post but it didn’t take me long for one eye-catching online
advertisement to lead me to Tweets, Flickr streams, RSS Feeds and Facebook status
updates.
Soon, a million subtle opinions, biases and
judgments would start creeping into my mind and embed themselves into my
thought structure. And later on—unbeknownst to me—my mind would start recalling
all these thoughts that were never originally mine, but were now, simply
because I’d seen it on Facebook.
This new
diet you need to be on is an information reduction plan. Consuming a colossal
amount of information is flooding your mind and interfering with your ability
to control your attention. Without that attention, you lack focus. When that
happens, you need to take action and refocus. Less information is the solution
to this Infomania!
3 Steps
for a Media Fast
Step One:
Start small
You do not
need 1 week or 30 days to successfully implement a fast. Simply start by
unplugging for half a day. If you usually spend 3 hours watching TV or surfing
the internet, just limit your time to 1 hour. Notice how you feel and repeat
the process the next day. You can gradually cut down the time as you progress. If
you aren’t able to do this because you feel compelled to constantly check your
email, phone or social media, expand the interval gradually until you can go an
hour without checking, then work up to two hours, and so on.
Step Two:
Be goal orientated
Whatever
information you’re consuming, be it online, TV, radio, newspaper, etc., ask yourself
if each is really relevant to your goals. You may be in the habit of listening
to the radio on your drive home from work, but what would it mean if you
switched from the radio to a podcast by a motivational speaker instead? This would
energize your mind, inspiring you to get more done when you got home. If the
information you are consuming doesn’t benefit your life in a tangible way,
switch to something that does.
Unsubscribe
from any old blogs, social networks, websites and ads that are not directly contributing
to your quality of life and general well-being. What did you miss the least?
One day, try
using only one aspect of your media consumption, make an intentional choice
between social media, radio, internet, or print media. Try it another day, then
another, rotating your choices. Before long you won’t even miss it—so delete
your accounts, cancel the magazine subscriptions and cherish that extra time
you have gained.
Be sure to only pay attention to the opinions or
information from well-regarded sources with legitimate credentials and track
records. Decide what information is relevant to you and disregard everything
else.
Step
Three: Be creative
Use the extra time gained from your “media fast” to do something
useful. Remember the phrase, “Idle hands are the devils tools?” The same goes
for the Internet and other media sources that have become an addiction. You
need to find something positive to fill the void with, otherwise you’ll go
right back to it. Give some thought to the following ideas or think up some of
your own.
Go for a bike ride
Watch a movie
Spend time with your children
Secret #3: Break Off
Engagement with
guard down, and even buy items to reinforce the nostalgia you feel. Plug your
earphones into your smart phone and influence your mind in the way that you
choose. If and when you do buy something new, make a cardinal rule that you must
toss something out. Or two things. You know that junk drawer – turn it into a
compartment.
Secret #2: The 21 st Century Diet
Limit
your intake of information, media and your use of social media.
I’ll be honest and say that
I’ve never had much interest in watching television. However, I used to be on
my laptop far more than anyone else.
With my laptop alone, I consume a lotof
media. I would start my day by reading the online news. Granted, I didn’t read
every single post but it didn’t take me long for one eye-catching online
advertisement to lead me to Tweets, Flickr streams, RSS Feeds and Facebook status
updates.
Soon, a million subtle opinions, biases and
judgments would start creeping into my mind and embed themselves into my
thought structure. And later on—unbeknownst to me—my mind would start recalling
all these thoughts that were never originally mine, but were now, simply
because I’d seen it on Facebook.
This new
diet you need to be on is an information reduction plan. Consuming a colossal
amount of information is flooding your mind and interfering with your ability
to control your attention. Without that attention, you lack focus. When that
happens, you need to take action and refocus. Less information is the solution
to this Infomania!
3 Steps
for a Media Fast
Step One:
Start small
You do not
need 1 week or 30 days to successfully implement a fast. Simply start by
unplugging for half a day. If you usually spend 3 hours watching TV or surfing
the internet, just limit your time to 1 hour. Notice how you feel and repeat
the process the next day. You can gradually cut down the time as you progress. If
you aren’t able to do this because you feel compelled to constantly check your
email, phone or social media, expand the interval gradually until you can go an
hour without checking, then work up to two hours, and so on.
Step Two:
Be goal orientated
Whatever
information you’re consuming, be it online, TV, radio, newspaper, etc., ask yourself
if each is really relevant to your goals. You may be in the habit of listening
to the radio on your drive home from work, but what would it mean if you
switched from the radio to a podcast by a motivational speaker instead? This would
energize your mind, inspiring you to get more done when you got home. If the
information you are consuming doesn’t benefit your life in a tangible way,
switch to something that does.
Unsubscribe
from any old blogs, social networks, websites and ads that are not directly contributing
to your quality of life and general well-being. What did you miss the least?
One day, try
using only one aspect of your media consumption, make an intentional choice
between social media, radio, internet, or print media. Try it another day, then
another, rotating your choices. Before long you won’t even miss it—so delete
your accounts, cancel the magazine subscriptions and cherish that extra time
you have gained.
Be sure to only pay attention to the opinions or
information from well-regarded sources with legitimate credentials and track
records. Decide what information is relevant to you and disregard everything
else.
Step
Three: Be creative
Use the extra time gained from your “media fast” to do something
useful. Remember the phrase, “Idle hands are the devils tools?” The same goes
for the Internet and other media sources that have become an addiction. You
need to find something positive to fill the void with, otherwise you’ll go
right back to it. Give some thought to the following ideas or think up some of
your own.
Go for a bike ride
Watch a movie
Spend time with your children
Secret #3: Break Off
Engagement with
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