What Are Tips for Mental Health Spring Cleaning?
BRIDGETTE W. GOTTWALD, LPC, NCC
Every year, we clean our homes in the spring to prepare and sharpen for the year ahead. Have you ever done the same thing with your mind, which is the body’s most important organ? Decluttering your brain is just as important and this blog will provide you with 10 easy tips for how to do so!
1. Start Journaling
Most therapists you meet will highly encourage journaling, and we don’t just say this because we like it. It’s backed by research. Just because journaling flies a bit under the radar doesn’t mean it’s any less effective. Keeping a journal for your thoughts, worries, fears, and upsets helps to release them from your mind so you can continue to move forward with a growth mindset. Additionally, they’re highly useful for self-reflection.
2. Drop a Bad Habit
Bad habits – we all have them! What are some of yours and what’s an area in your life that has an impact on your mental health? Make a conscious effort to drop the habit and replace it with a healthier and more effective option.
3. Let Go of Past Drama
Drama, as well as the negative emotions and feelings it induces, has a way of lurking around and sticking with us. You will feel less stress and anxiety in letting things go. With whatever is troubling you, ask yourself “will this matter in five years?” in order to adjust your perspective on what’s important in life.
4. Tackle Projects You’ve Been Putting Off
Most of us have mental or physical lists of projects or goals that we want and need to accomplish. A good way to start your mental health spring cleaning would be writing all of these things down (if you haven’t already). Once you have done this, start to tackle them one by one in order of high priority, medium priority, and low priority.
5. Build Positive Relationships
According to the Patient Empowerment Network, “we all have people in our lives that we love, but with whom we don’t have the healthiest or most enjoyable relationships.” Dedicate your time to positive friendships and work on those that need some love and care.
6. Begin Healing Past Trauma
Most of us have experiences in our past that have negatively impacted us. Now is the time to start resolving past traumas, and taking steps to overcome them. You run your life, your past doesn’t. Don’t hesitate to reach out to a professional for help. There are many talented clinicians at Symmetry Counseling and you can schedule an appointment today by calling 317-578-9990.
7. Make Gratitude a Priority
Gratitude is one of the best ways to promote a healthy mind. What are some things that you are grateful for today, this week, this month, and the year? Gratitude journaling is a popular way to cultivate a positive mindset, but also setting aside time to count your blessings mentally or verbally with a friend works too!
8. Kick Negative Thoughts to the Curb
Negative thoughts do not serve us well. Train yourself to make a conscious effort to push these thoughts out of your mind and refocus on something positive instead. Never forget that you are the one that is in control of your mind.
9. Pick Up a New Hobby
“A mind occupied with an interesting activity is a happy one.”
Is there something that you have always wanted to learn how to do? Consider spending your time most constructively by starting up a new hobby and keeping your mind occupied in a healthy way.
10. Change Your Perspective
You are not perfect and neither is the world around you. The sooner you accept this, the happier you will be. Make the choice to focus on moments of progress and joy instead of focusing on issues that make you mad and frustrated. Spring is coming and it’s time for you to get started on mental and physical ways of clearing out!
Reference:
Patient Empowerment Network, (2019). 10 tips for mental health spring cleaning. Retrieved from: https://powerfulpatients.org/2019/05/22/10-tips-for-mental-health-spring-cleaning/