What does it mean to Declutter your Mind?

By:Asma Shums, Email: asmashums@ gmail.com

Clutter doesn’t have to be just physical items in your environment. A cluttered mind can include:

• Ruminating

• Focusing on the negative

• Worrying about things outside of your control

• Holding onto negative emotions and experiences, including resentment, past hurt, anger, and sadness

• Keeping a mental to-do list, including incomplete dreams and goals

• Having external distractions and constant sensory input

When your mind is cluttered, it wastes your time and mental energy. It also creates mental confusion, distraction, and disorganization that prevents you from creating clear priorities, making decisions, having focus, and being productive. When your mind is cluttered, you are not present, which causes you to lose connection to yourself, your environment, your relationships, and the moment you are in.

It’s time to let go of the mental habits that are keeping you from reaching your full potential. In order to build mental muscles and declutter your mind, you need to become intentional about where you place your attention and how you spend your time and energy. Only then can you unravel unhealthy thinking patterns that are keeping you stuck and your mind cluttered.

Here are 15 tips to help you clean and declutter your mind.

1. GET SOME

Sleep

Sleep has numerous benefits, including helping with your mental state. If you are not getting enough sleep, the most common effect is sleepiness, of course, but also brain “fog”—the general inability to think straight or remember anything. According to researchers, sleep deprivation disrupts your brain cells’ ability to communicate with each other, leading to temporary mental lapses. If you want to start decluttering your mind and creating healthy habits, start by getting some restful sleep.

2. MEDITATE

You’ll never be able to declutter your mind if you don’t make the time to meditate on what is actually keeping you stuck. By committing to a practice of meditation, you’ll take your mind to a place where clarity is natural and effortless. When you meditate, you’ll help reduce confusion by getting clear on your priorities, and you’ll get better at focusing your attention and reducing distraction. Take some time to practice meditation and build it into your daily routine to help you declutter your mind.

3. TRANSFER THOUGHTS TO PAPER

One of the best ways to help you declutter your mind is to take all those thoughts and tasks floating around in your brain and write them down. Getting them on paper takes them out of your head because it allows you to let go of the responsibility you have to remember them, thus decluttering your mind in the process.

If you’re the kind of person who constantly generates new ideas (great!), you may want to look into a way to store your ideas, rather than keeping them all in your head, which could quickly become unmanageable. To create some headspace, try finding an app or carrying around a small notebook so that you can jot down your fresh ideas. The goal is to pick one place to store them and stick to it so you know where to find them.

4. JOURNAL

If simply listing your thoughts, feelings, etc., down doesn’t quite stop you from ruminating, you have other options. For example, if you are trying to problem-solve an issue and don’t have the mental space to do so, or you haven’t quite fully explored yourself and your personal beliefs and need space to do that—the next step is to journal. Journaling is an exploratory form of writing and is a great way for you to ponder important things so you can come to a solution. Journaling can also be therapeutic. It helps you organize your thoughts and understand your emotions, which is a healthy practice for your overall well-being.

5. SET AND COMPLETE PRIORITIES

You may have a long to-do list and feel overwhelmed on where to start, which keeps those items stuck in your mind, taking up valuable real estate. Once you data dump by writing down your tasks (see above), start to categorize them in order of importance. If you are finding that everything that you are writing down feels important, you can further identify items that are urgent— meaning if you don’t complete them today, it will have serious negative consequences on your life (i.e., a project with rigid deadlines, taking medication, paying a bill, etc.). Then, start assessing the value of all the other important items. What items are most in line with your life goals? Those should be your next priority, after your urgent items. Keep assigning value to your items until you have prioritized everything on your list. Prioritizing will help you get clear and organized. The last step is to start doing them and crossing them off your list for the ultimate relief!

6. REDUCE MULTITASKING

Humans are not multitaskers by nature. Multitasking may seem efficient on the surface, but studies have shown that multitasking actually reduces productivity and fills your mind with too much activity. Instead, go down your list of priorities and focus on one task at a time to avoid mental overload. To avoid getting lost in time, you can set a timer for how long you want to spend on any given task, to ensure you manage your time well.

7. PRACTICE BEING DECISIVE

Life is fundamentally a series of choices. Some decisions are simple; others are difficult and can stir an uproar of emotions, causing you to avoid the decision-making process completely. In fact, procrastinating is one of the greatest culprits of mind clutter because it causes your brain to become overwhelmed by all those pending decisions you have put off. It can be an honest mistake though—we are all constantly bombarded with so many options and “what ifs?” that it can quickly turn a decision into analysis paralysis.

8. CHALLENGE NEGATIVITY

Negativity can be debilitating and take up a lot of room in your mind. Feeling sad and disappointed is healthy, but toxic self-talk magnifies your misfortune, skewing your perceptions of reality.

The first thing to do is to become aware of how you talk to yourself. What are you saying in your mind about yourself? Be on the lookout for red flags, such as victimizing thoughts (“Poor me” type of thinking). If you notice that the thoughts in your head or the words on your paper after your journaling exercise are toxic self-talk, it’s time to change your mindset.

To change your mindset, you need to start challenging yourself. Is the thought accurate or is it distorted? Each time you prove to yourself that the negative self-talk is incorrect, your mind will start to replace the negative thoughts with positive ones. And when that happens, your mind will shift from feeling heavy, cluttered, and chaotic (negativity) to lighter and free (positivity).

A part of challenging yourself is to start gaining more positive experiences. Practice gratitude and compassion by doing something to make your life or someone else’s life a little bit better. When you catch yourself thinking negatively, do something that helps you or someone else. That way, the next time you experience negative self-talk, you can acknowledge that your brain isn’t always right.

9. SCHEDULE TIME TO WORRY

We all worry; it’s natural to have fears. Where you can get into trouble is letting your worries consume your mind to the point where it interferes with your life. Rehashing the same things over and over in your mind— such as second-guessing your decisions and coming up with an endless list of hypothetical situations—won’t help you. To avoid spinning your mental wheels, schedule time—maybe 15 minutes a week or a day—to worry and ruminate. During that time, don’t hold back; let it all out. When you start to worry between your scheduled worry times, remind yourself that you set aside time and then let those worries go. By confining your worries to a scheduled time, you don’t allow them to take over your mind and life.

10. CONFIDE IN A LOVED ONE

If you’re feeling mentally overloaded, try sharing the burden with a loved one. Whether it be your spouse, a friend, a family member, a therapist, or a life coach, sharing what’s on your mind with someone can be helpful. Unloading your thoughts and feelings can help you gain perspective and clarity, break the cycle of ruminating, and lighten the burden of carrying everything in your head.

11. DECLUTTER YOUR ENVIRONMENT

If your environment—whether it be your home or office—is cluttered, the chaos constantly competes for your attention and restricts your ability to mentally focus and process information. Whether you realize it or not, having clutter in your surroundings occupies a part of your mind and blocks your ability to think and act clearly. If you want to improve your mental state, you need to organize and clear out physical clutter.

12. ENJOY TIME IN NATURE

Studies have shown that being in nature is associated with mental health benefits, including decreasing anxiety and depression. In a lot of ways, nature restores, refreshes, and invigorates you and your mental energy. Next time your mind feels heavy, take a stroll outside to clear your head.

13. Limit Your Social Media Intake

Your brain is bombarded with sensory information all day, every day. Being on social media constantly adds brain clutter and can even affect your mental health by increasing depression and loneliness. Monitor your usage on social media platforms, and if you start to notice your mind getting cluttered by thoughts and feelings from triggering posts, it is time to take a break.

14. ExERCISE

We all know exercise is good for your overall well-being, including your body and your mind. In addition to decreasing anxiety and depression, regular exercise can help you concentrate and feel mentally sharp for tasks at hand.

15. TAKE A BREAK!

Last but not least, everyone needs some space to unwind. It doesn’t have to be a week-long vacation, although that is very helpful, but sometimes spending 15 minutes with your feet up or doing something that makes you happy is all you need to hit the reset button.

Let these tips help you to declutter your mind. Remember that the goal isn’t to “empty” your mind—removing every thought, feeling, idea, dream, etc., would be impossible. Instead, it is to help you simplify your life and build new mental habits that increase your productivity, clarity, awareness, organization, and well-being. Next time life throws you a curveball, you’ll have the space and tools to flex your mental muscles.

How to ask for favors without wearing out your network?

By: Coco Brown And Betsy Atkins

Reciprocity is an important concept in all aspects of life, but it’s one that is often undervalued, overlooked, or scorned in the context of business. However, many people, including us, have found a great degree of success in their careers by using reciprocity both for their own benefit and the benefit of others.

Helping and doing favors or good deeds is one of the basic teachings we learned as children: “Do to others what you would have them do to you.” Doing good deeds has also been proven to release endorphins, which means these acts of charity and kindness make you feel good. In fact, perpetually kind people have 23% less cortisol (the stress hormone) and age slower than the average population.

According to research from Emory University, when you are kind to another person, your brain’s pleasure and reward centers light up, as if you were the recipient of the good deed—not the giver. This phenomenon is called the “helper’s high.”

When you extend yourself to do acts of kindness, extra work, or invest your time to be helpful to others, it is only logical to expect and hope for reciprocation when the opportunity presents itself. While we are not suggesting that every relationship must be a quid pro quo, relationships, whether professional or personal, always work best when there is symmetry.

This is important to remember whether you are the giver or the receiver of helpful favors. People who are looking for help may be well served to think of the analogy of a bank. You can’t walk into a bank and ask for a withdrawal without having a bank account and first having made a deposit. This is true in all relationships if you truly want to master the art of reciprocity.

While reciprocity can help us achieve our goals and make us feel good when we help others achieve their own, we never want to be the person who is perceived as being too needy, demanding, or stingy with reciprocation. We’ve all experienced that cringing reaction when that person calls you who is going to unload all their problems and troubles and never remembers to ask how you are and what’s going on in your life. We try to avoid picking up the phone for that person and more importantly, we never want to be that person.

So, here’s how to master the art of reciprocity and learn to ask for favors without wearing out your network’s generosity.

Do Your Research On What The Other Person Wants And Needs

If you are the favor seeker, spend as much time researching the person through the lens of what you can offer or how you can be helpful to them. Don’t be focused only on what the other person can do for you as if this were just a transaction, but rather go in with the mindset of reciprocity and building your relationship with them. When you ask for the favor, weave in your newfound knowledge of the other person into your ask so that they see that you’ve taken the time to consider their wants, needs, and interests.

Consciously And Affirmatively Think About How To Reciprocate

Everybody has something that they can offer, even if you are a 21-year-old just enter- ing the workforce. You can mentor up and offer insights on new technology, Web3, video games you play, what resonates and drives engagement for Gen Z, or offer to help in some other way after you have studied the person you are asking the favor of.

Rethink Your Understanding Of Reciprocity

If you perceive yourself to have little to give in return, know that reciprocity can be as simple as circling back to the other person and letting them know the result of their efforts on your behalf such as the impact their support made, the success it helped create. This is a form of reciprocation, because it enhances the other person’s sense of value creation and allows them to share in your success.

Make It Easy For The Helper

If you are asking for someone to give up their time and guide you, make it as easy on them as possible. For example, give them a draft to work with when you request an introduction from them. Consider in advance that they need to know who you are, they need to feel you will be a positive reflection on them and that you will appropriately close the loop and share the results of the introduction. One of the reasons people resist doing a favor or using their social collateral is a lack of confidence you will follow through, or you

Mishari bin Rashid Alafasy

Mishari bin Rashed Alafasy is a Kuwaiti qāri (reciter of the Quran), imam, preacher, and nasheed artist. He studied in the Islamic University of Madinah’s College of Qur’an, specializing in the ten qira’at and tafsir. Alafasy has released nasheed albums. He usually sings in Arabic but he has also sung nasheeds in English, French and Japanese. Awards and recognition

On 25 October 2008, Alafasy was awarded the first Arab Creativity Oscar by the Arab Creativity Union in Egypt. The event was sponsored by the Secretary-General of the Arab League, Amr Moussa as a recognition of Alafasy’s role in promoting Islamic principles and teachings. Alafasy was also voted by readers to be the Best Qur’an Reciter in the 2012 About.com Readers’ Choice. Awards. Source: en.wikipedia.org

Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji’oon.

“We belong to Allah, and to Him is our return.”

The Miracle Media expresses its condolences to the family of Br. Daud Ali, who returned to Allah ton January 12, 2023 Br. Daud Br. Dawood was one of the founders of the Masjid AlSalaam & Education Center, past Chairperson of Burnaby Branch and long time Director.

May Allah (SWT) forgive his shortcomings and grant him jannah ameen will make them look good (that they backed the right person). This is why you need to invest in also making sure you gain the other person’s confidence in you before you ask them to put their name on the line for you.

Assess The Reciprocity Of Your Relationships

When you are a generous person who is a giver, it is very easy and natural to continue to give and do things for others because it is in your nature. On the other hand, it is worth going back and reflecting on the people you engage with and asking how many of the relationships are symmetrical and balanced, where the other person is reciprocating favors you have done for them.

Most people have had the experience of extending themselves to help others over a period, even years, and then been very surprised when asking for a favor and the person does not reciprocate. By assessing the reciprocity of your relationships, you can stop investing so much of yourself in relationships that lack reciprocity, and free yourself up to invest more in successfully developing other relationships that are more balanced.

If you don’t invest in reciprocity and make a serious effort to master it, you will inevitably fatigue the people who you are asking for assistance. It helps to approach reciprocity by thinking about it as building a virtuous cycle that keeps renewing; the more help you give and the more the other person reciprocates, the more the other person wants to engage and work with you.

By being protective of your own time and how much you’re investing in others, while also being generous toward those who have helped you, you can master the art of reciprocity and use it to take your personal and professional growth to whole new levels.

Source: fastcompany.com