Organising your mental space

Your surrounding is a primary reflection of what goes on in your head -  my mother used to say to me for years. Oftentimes, I have been compared to a hurricane that causes destruction and brings chaos on its way. *Looks back on the state of her room* Yep, sometimes I don't know how it happens but it does -there is a somewhat distinguishable shape of the chair peaking through a pile of clothes that haven't been hanged back into the wardrobe, yet another stack of folders is scattered across the working table; there you could also find a yellowed from age 'to-do lists' ..  where are we? sounds relatable yet? The real talk captures disorganisation of your surroundings created by your mental state.  My head always feels heavier with the constant flow of thoughts; oftentimes when I leave my living space in a mess, I begin to overthink and clutter my mind with unnecessary stuff, for example the yellowed 'to do list' that once reminded me of appointment times that has no relation to what I am today, two weeks later. The truth is, you don't have to wait until the New Year's day to start with a clean slate -you live today, you do it today.

In this post, I wanted to share with you some of the steps that I take morning and night to keep my living surroundings and head decluttered. Hopefully, there will be some that relate to you too. And now, without further ado, let's get into it!

Tip #1: Making your bed in the morning and your room in the evening

I know this sounds like a very logical thing to do when you get out of bed, (especially when  one is  22 years of age) - it is. However, there is no denying that there are times where we find ourselves having a rushed morning because our alarms have been snoozed for the past hour or because it is a day off and there is no intention of purposely leaving the bed in the first place. Making my bed in the morning, regardless of its start, has helped me to mentally tick off a chore that I don't have to face after a long day at work. Let's be honest, coming back home to a tidy made bed is the warmest welcome you will ever receive from yourself.

For an evening routine, I get to tidying the entire room. I dive straight into the task whilst there is still a portion of productivity left in me after I have had my day out. Once the job is done, I know I can enjoy some 'me time' and plan my next day. Plus you get a BONUS! Going to bed with a tidy room leaves you only with one chore in the morning, so there are no excuses of forgetting to make that bed of yours!

Tip #2: Shut down your technology

There are two parts to this tip and both relate to my evening time routine.

It might have been two years since I got into a habit of setting my phone on an airplane mode when I decide to call it a day. Sleeping next to a gadget that passes through electric waves near you has had an effect on how well I could sleep through the night. I have been used to waking up multiple times in a night no matter how tired I felt. Setting my phone to an airplane mode has helped my sleep to go undisturbed.

The second thing that I got into a habit of doing is shutting down my laptop. Usually, I would keep up all my tabs and gently close the screen of my device. Again, the issue that I found with doing that is that my brain did a good job of keeping track on the tabs - I would actually overload not only my device but my brain too with overthinking that I left jobs undone for the day. You end up in a vicious cycle of constantly trying to catch up with all the tabs you left opened from nights before. Shutting down my laptop before bed has helped to start the day off with a fresh tab and a new to do list, helping my brain to focus on task at the time.

Tip #3: Yoga

This is my third and final tip that I have recently gotten in a habit of doing. Let's be honest, our lives can sometimes get pretty hectic, with a never-ending list of agendas to do and keep track of, our bodies can naturally loose balance. Not going to lie, I wish I had the discipline to do yoga everyday, but at the moment I just don't. Now, without trying to sound like a hypocrite who recommends a tip, she herself cannot fully commit to - I love myself for when I give my body a time. Yoga helped me to pace my mind and stretch my muscles. I truly get to connect with my body. If it isn't yoga that you are into, doing any exercise will get your endorphins flowing through. So find your groove and go with it.

These are all my latest discoveries for today. I hope you enjoyed reading this post and are now welcome to share your advice in the comment section below.

- S