9 ways to declutter Your Mom Brain
Do you find it challenging to navigate through the clutter of your mind lately? Do you wrestle with a persistent mom brain or a never-ending stream of inner chatter that seems impossible to quiet?
As mothers, our days are filled with endless to-do lists, caring for our little ones, managing households, juggling work commitments, and keeping track of multiple schedules. It’s no wonder that the weight of these responsibilities often leaves us feeling overwhelmed.
But what exactly does it mean to have mental clutter, or what some of us refer to as mom brain?
Mental clutter encompasses a variety of factors: worries, resentments, overflowing to-do lists, chaotic schedules, negativity, incessant inner dialogue, and a barrage of distractions. All of these influences hold us back from becoming the best versions of ourselves, causing us to lose our patience when our minds are overwhelmed.
Even more disheartening is the difficulty of fully engaging and being present with our families when our minds are consumed with too much clutter.
A few years back, I found myself drowning in mental clutter. Balancing the demands of launching a business while raising a young family left me in a perpetual state of disarray. Constantly rushing, disorganized, and frequently losing patience. I reached a breaking point when I wanted to quit everything.
However, instead of succumbing to the chaos, I started my journey to gain clarity, organization, and sanity in my life.
Along this journey, I discovered invaluable strategies to declutter my mind, enabling me to be more present, patient, and peaceful at home.
Here are some insights I gained as I worked to tame my mom brain:
9 ways to declutter your mom brain
1). Begin Journaling. One of my favorite ways to declutter my mom brain is to keep a journal. When I take a moment to write out my worries, fears, to-do lists, schedules, and thoughts, I find that my worries seem more manageable and my mind gains clarity. Although I no longer journal daily, I frequently reach for my journal when I’m having trouble with a life challenge or something is weighing heavily on my mind. This practice has been a part of my life for several years now, and I’ve been able to tackle many issues this way.
2). Start a meditation practice. Meditating for just a few minutes per day is an extremely powerful tool for gaining mental clarity and awareness. According to Psychology Today: “Meditation is a mental exercise that trains attention and awareness. Its purpose is often to curb reactivity to one’s negative thoughts and feelings.” https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/meditation.
In the beginning, meditation is difficult so I recommend starting with 5-10 minutes at a time. Your mind will wander at first and that’s okay. Focus on the breath and when your mind gets distracted, bring your awareness back to the breath. Meditation is a mental exercise that will help you widen the gap between an activity, thought, or feeling and your instant reaction to it.
3). Start practicing Yoga. Yoga is another remarkable way to reach a meditative state while enjoying the benefits of movement and exercise. If you find it challenging to be still enough for traditional meditation, yoga may be an excellent alternative for you. Within your yoga practice, you are engaging in a blend of mindful breathing and fluid body movements. If your mind begins to wander during your yoga practice, simply bring your awareness back to the breath to maintain your meditative state.
The Power of the outdoors
9). Explore the outdoors with mindfulness. Venturing outside to practice mindfulness has been a transformative experience for me. In the past, during my walks, I found myself listening to the endless chatter of my own thoughts. While these walks sometimes led to creative ideas and often provided clarity, they didn’t give me a break from the endless mental chatter.
A crucial moment for me happened a few years ago when I read my first book on mindfulness. It was then that I discovered the profoundness of paying attention to the sound of the wind, watching the deer, or enjoying the crispness in the air, while intentionally silencing the mental chatter.
Maybe you’re already aware of these mindfulness techniques, but for me, it was an incredible revelation. Now, when I go on outdoor walks, I consciously focus on listening to the birds, feeling the gentle breeze on my skin, or listening to the rustling of the leaves in the wind.
Simplify your life
4). Learn to Prioritize. To begin prioritizing, start with a list of everything that needs to get done in your day. When you look at your list, it’s probably overwhelming and most likely impossible. Take the list and choose the top 3-5 most urgent things on that list to get done first. Make those your top priority for the day. Once your top 3-5 priorities are complete, you can move down your list to complete items of lessor importance. However, chances are anything else on the list may not be as urgent as you once thought.
5). Stop Multitasking. I truly wish that we could take “multitasking” out of our vocabularies altogether. Our brains can’t do it, and at best, we are merely switching between tasks. The truth is, we get less done when we’re constantly switching between projects, electronics, media, children, work, and household chores. It’s a recipe for creating mental fog and mom brain.
Do you want to know what my biggest secret is to “getting it all done?” When possible, don’t multitask and simply focus on one thing at a time. You’ll be amazed at how much more you get done when you aren’t constantly switching your focus, and you’ll prevent yourself from having that cluttered mom brain state.
6). Create Systems. Creating systems, routines, and habits for you and your family simplifies life tremendously. You can create your own systems or adopt systems that have worked for other moms. To read more about systems, check out our blog, 21 Essential Time Saving Hacks for Moms. Some systems that have helped me are:
- Decluttering one thing per day.
- Keeping a visible calendar for the whole family to see.
- Adhering to the 1-minute rule from Gretchen Rubin, (https://gretchenrubin.com/articles/one-minute-rule/). If something takes under 1-minute to complete, do it now.
- Making a master grocery list that includes all of the things I buy each week, and then adding the extras to it.
- Ordering my groceries on Sunday night so I can pick them up on Monday mornings.
7). Make a decision and move on. I used to agonize over decisions—even small ones. Delaying decision-making clutters your mind and creates stress. Whenever possible, make a decision and move on. Once you have made a choice, it’s done and your mind can clear it.
You may ask, what do I do if I made the wrong choice? Honestly, in a lot of cases, you can reverse course if you find you made the wrong decision. If this isn’t an option, have faith in yourself that you’ll find a way to work through it.
“Mental clutter is simply delayed decisions.” –Barbara Hemphill, SpotOnOrganizing.com
Go Easy on Yourself
8). Stop Negative Self-Talk. Take a moment and think about it – how do you talk to yourself? What is your inner dialogue like? Do you talk to yourself negatively or positively? For many of us, we have a negative inner voice naturally. However, you can change your inner dialogue with time and practice. The first step to changing your inner dialogue is to notice it, and then you can take active steps to change it. Over time, if you correct your inner voice with positive self-talk, your inner voice will eventually default to a more positive state.
For example, if you hear your inner self saying something like, “I am so stupid!” Gently correct your inner voice with dialogue such as, “I am smart and I’ve got this.” Or “It’s okay to make a mistake and I am getting better.”
It takes time, but if you do this consistently, you’ll see changes in your inner voice, self-worth, and confidence.
I encourage you to explore these tips and incorporate them into your own life. As moms in a world with constant demands on our attention, having mental clarity is more important now than ever. By taking care of our own mental well-being, we can empower ourselves to be the best mothers we can be for our children.