How to Simplify Your Thoughts for a More Organized Life

Today I’m excited to share a guest post from Patri Hernandez of ohmightyhealth.com with some great tips to help simplify your thoughts.

Patri helps readers get started on their journey to healing and by building a strong foundation for their future self-care practices through personal development, mindset and mental health.

If you’ve ever felt like your head is filled with clutter, holding you back from focusing, being productive or enjoying your days fully, today’s post is for you!

There are many ways to simplify your thoughts and your mind. And I love the ideas Patri offers in today’s post. They are simple and realistic for anyone looking to slow down, simplify and clear the clutter from your mind.

I hope you enjoy the post and find it helpful to start simplifying your thoughts!

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How to Simplify Your Thoughts for a More Organized Life

It’s not always easy to keep your thoughts organized. For some people, it seems like there’s a never-ending onslaught of thoughts, and an inability to put them in a helpful order.

Our thoughts are like a radio station. Tuning in to the right frequency is important for clarity, focus and productivity. Learning how to organize our thoughts into a more streamlined priority system helps us stay in control of our life.

Seems simple, right? Well, it’s easier said than done. But there are actions you can take to help simplify your thoughts and get in the habit of keeping them in check.

Benefits of simplifying your thoughts

Many times, our minds are overwhelmed with what we need to do, and the stress of it all causes us to lose sight of what really matters. Decreasing stress will feel like a peaceful reset.

They say that a cluttered mind leads to a cluttered life (check out the negative effects of clutter) so let’s look at some of the benefits you’ll experience when you learn how to organize your thoughts.

1. Declutter your mind to increase productivity

Simplifying your thoughts contributes to an efficient and organized way of thinking. This, in turn, helps you to make better decisions and achieve your goals.

You will have more energy to accomplish what’s truly important to you. 

2. Clear your head for a fresh start

If you’re dealing with frustration, boredom or confusion, it’s usually a sign that your thoughts are cluttered. Clearing your mind, the same way you would clear a wardrobe will make you feel clear and refreshed. 

3. Less mental cobwebs, more focused thinking

Some old and unnecessary thoughts are like dust in your mind. They collect and accumulate and start to form a “cobweb” around your mental processes, which can impede clear thinking.

Let’s say you find yourself thinking about an old problem that you’ve left behind a long time ago. Your thoughts have amassed momentum around this problem, which can make you feel tense. And can negatively affect your ability to focus on the task at hand. 

Now, let’s say you put these thoughts in check. You clean them up and make them more manageable. You will experience a sense of calmness when it comes to your thinking process. 

4. Passive observation for peace of mind

When you declutter your thoughts, it’s easier to see life without being distracted by the clutter. You will experience more peace and harmony in life. Decluttering means getting rid of, rather than reorganizing.

Best of all, this type of genuine self-care will help you become more focused on living in the present, which will allow you to enjoy every moment to the fullest. Enjoying regular self-care is paramount to living a productive, happy and healthy life.

Start by eliminating the unnecessary

Simplifying means eliminating the unnecessary so that you can focus on what matters most. 

For example, in order to simplify your thinking habits, you need to identify and eliminate the thoughts that create clutter in your mind. To do so, you will need to identify the habits that lead to your “cluttered thinking”. 

A good way to start would be to ask yourself, “Is this thought adding value to my life or am I holding onto it out of habit, comfort or fear?”

As you examine your mind and identify the thoughts that cause clutter, you will start to recognize patterns of thought. This will make it easier for you to change your thinking habits. 

The key here is to not be hard on yourself. It takes time, practice, and patience. But, eventually, you’ll be able to quickly identify what is unnecessary and purge it from your mind by the simple act of ignoring it (at the end of the day, it’s just a thought!).

Your mind is like a garden

As you practice simplifying your thoughts and habits, you are planting seeds in your mind. The more you simplify and remove the clutter, the more fertile your mind will become. 

Thinking, like gardening, requires dedication and patience. 

If you ignore your thinking patterns for too long, you will find weeds popping up in every nook and cranny of your mind. In order to keep a tidy garden, you need to weed it from time to time.

There are several techniques you can use to accomplish this, including meditation, journaling and affirmations. But my favourite one is the “pause-breathe-question” technique (which is based on meditation). 

Simplify your thoughts by “pause, breathe and question”

Basically, when you start to feel overwhelmed, frustrated or confused, take a few moments to pause, breathe and ask yourself “What’s really important right now?”. 

This is such a thought-stopper. And it’s so simple!

If you do it regularly, you’ll start to see the clutter disappear, and your mind will become clearer. This technique will also help you identify that which is important in your life.

By asking yourself this question and taking a few moments to reflect upon it, you will get in touch with your inner self. When I do this I instantly feel relieved, calm and less overwhelmed. 

This technique has helped me a lot and has been one of the main reasons that I was finally able to organize my thoughts, so they weren’t chaotic or even disabling. 

Step-by-step mind map to simplify your thoughts

To help you organize your thoughts, I have created this mind map to guide you. As you can see, it is very simple, with eight steps and a clear visual representation.

Step 1: Identify the thought that is causing clutter in your mind 

Step 2: Ask yourself: Would I tell my best friend to hang on to this thought? 

Step 3: Ask yourself: Is this thought helping me achieve my goals? 

Step 4: Ask yourself: Am I holding onto this thought out of habit, comfort or fear? 

Step 5: Consider the root of the thought. (Very important, you might have to do some serious digging here.)

Step 6: Evaluate if the thought is worth keeping by asking yourself: Is this thought necessary for me to be happy? (If you answered “yes”, then put it in a mental “active” box. If you answered “no”, then move it into a mental “archive” box.).

Step 7: When the thought feels heavy and negative, release it by replacing it with a positive affirmation.

Step 8: Repeat the process over and over again. Every time you finish the exercise, you’ll be one step closer to achieving pristine mental clarity.

This is a beautiful process. It might seem like too much work for “just one thought” but at times thoughts can be very powerful and could take over your life if left unchecked. Your mind will thank you for taking a few moments to weed out some of the junk! 

As you can see, presented in a very visual way, it is very easy for you to grasp the concept of simplifying your thoughts and creating the momentum to move forward.

Other helpful tips

Time blocks

Make time blocks to organize your thoughts. One at a time, create a list of small goals that you want to accomplish within the month. For example, writing down “organize wardrobe” might not be a good goal. 

But breaking it down into manageable steps, such as “clean out the wardrobe,” “sort clothes,” and “replace hangers” makes them more manageable and will help you finish the project.

It is important that you let go of life’s little distractions so you can concentrate on achieving these goals. For example, if you find that you’re a victim of procrastination, try putting a note on your to-do list that says: “Make this project a priority” or “Get things done before 3 p.m.”

This will put some urgency behind the project and will force you to be more focused and productive.

Capture your ideas

When an idea comes to mind, write it down.

This simple technique will help you follow through with your goals. It also keeps you accountable so you can’t fool yourself into thinking that everything is a priority.

These will serve as a constant reminder to stay focused on the task.

Mind sweep

If you can’t seem to narrow down your thoughts, try writing them all down on paper and organizing them accordingly.

This kind of note can help you focus on your goals rather than being distracted by the many tasks that life presents.

Practicing gratitude is always helpful to improve your outlook and your mindset.

Here’s to a clear and clutter-free mind!

As you can see, these ideas are great ways to start simplifying your thinking. I guarantee that you’ll feel lighter, less overwhelmed and more focused!

I sincerely hope you will use these simple yet powerful techniques to simplify your thoughts so that you can find more time for the important things in life.