how I keep my mind clear
My brain is a pretty volatile place.
If I’m left to my default state, the quality of my mind can go from calm and peaceful, to overwhelmed and stressed within a matter of minutes.
To explain, I find it helpful to think of my mind like a snowglobe (yeah, the ones you buy for Christmas that you can shake and make it look like it’s snowing).
In the beginning of the day, I start with an unshaken snowglobe. I can see through the globe clearly, and there isn’t any snow obstructing my view through it. My mind is clear, and I’m ready to start the day.
But as I go about my day, certain events and things start fucking with my globe. Maybe someone stepped on my shoe on my way to work. Maybe I get a late reminder notice from my credit card company. Maybe the train was busier than usual, and I’m crammed between people like in a literal sardine tin.
As these things happen throughout the day, my mind starts to feel overwhelmed and I’m unable to concentrate well. The bits of snow start flying around the globe, and it becomes hard to see through it.
As you can see, really simple annoyances can set my snowglobe off. So how do I deal with it? For me, it’s a 2 step process:
- Finding ways to let the snow settle
- Finding ways to not shake it again
Step 1: calming the mind (finding ways to let the snow settle) Here’s how I do it:
- Journal (long-form thoughts)
- Pocket notebook (short-form thoughts to unload my mind)
- Walking
- Running
- Meditating (sitting down and focusing on my breathing)
- Sleeping 8 hours
This step requires deliberate and intentional action that’s hard to do by default. I need to set reminders, create routines, and sometimes have to force myself to do these actions.
I may not always enjoy the process, but I always feel calmer after doing them.
Step 2: keeping the mind calm (finding ways not to shake it again) If I only focus on step 1 and not step 2, then I'll constantly be fighting to calm myself down. No amount of meditation is going to recover my mind from binge-watching Insta Reels for 4 hours.
Here’s the list I made off the top of my head. It’s probably longer, but I don’t have the time or space to list everything out
- Going to work earlier to avoid rush hour
- Setting my phone to DND during the day
- Deleting social media apps
- Meal prepping the night before
- Clothes prepping the night before
- Eating the same food daily
- Wearing the same clothes daily
The most important question to ask yourself is: What sets off your snowglobe? I know that I get easily stressed if I’m crammed in a train full of people, but you may not feel the same. For you, setting off your snowglobe could be talking to your (idiot) coworkers, or going to house parties.
I try my best to keep my globe unshaken and protected. I’m super cognisant of this, because if I’m not, the quality of my mind would be a flaming pile of dogshit (which it was for most of my teenage years).