Minding your mind clutter

This is how I explain the headspace of mothers today: “If you want to know what’s going on inside my head, think of a computer with 236 internet tabs open all at the same time.”

Next time you’re trying to explain your exhaustion to your husband or partner, feel free to use it.

That is life as a working mother these days. A head full of information, clicking from tab to tab all day long, shifting from: “what time is it, do I have time for yoga, no, bugger (insert guilt), what day is it, do the kids have swimming/library/homework/soccer/ballet/a cold (insert another run of thoughts related to what needs to be done/packed/arranged for all those), have we run out of porridge/bread/butter, what am I going to put in lunchboxes, did that email come in, do I need fuel in the car, what meetings are on today, did I replace the shoelaces in those school shoes, shit no I didn’t, bugger, bad mother, what am I going to wear, no that won’t fit (insert bad feeling here), what’s the weather like, what’s in the wash, bugger the washing basket is full, don’t forget to put a load on and DON’T FORGET TO HANG IT OUT TODAY….” and that’s all in the first couple of minutes of being out of bed.

We haven’t even started with the amount of information that comes along once we start looking at the day’s papers, emails, Facebook posts, conversations, work meetings, and to do lists.

If I ask my husband what size shoes the kids take, he would wonder why I was asking him, because it’s not something he needs to know, is it? But I need to know. Along with a trillion other details that come together to make life tick over every day.

Sound familiar? I bet it does because I hear it all the time from women who can’t seem to find clarity on anything and need some head space. And from people looking for someone to tell them what to do because they never seem to be able to find the space for a single thought at a time in order to make their own decisions.

I feel it’s part of the reason why people have become so reliant on books and others to tell them what to do – their heads are too full of noise and information to find clarity around what they need for themselves.

Smartphones and the internet just add to the mind clutter and information overload. It makes choices harder – have you ever googled a recipe idea and felt overwhelmed by the sheer number of options? We have so much choice now we can feel stuck about which one is right.

It’s estimated we have 60,000-80,000 thoughts every day. That’s an average person, so let’s push that number higher for a working mother.

Our brains are constantly assessing a stream of information, from the sounds we hear, the sights we are seeing, the smells around us, what we are physically feeling, and the information we are reading all day long. One report  from 2009 suggested the average American consumed around 34 gigabytes of content and 100,000 words of information in a day. It also found much more of the information we’re processing is now interactive, as compared to how it was when we were kids back in the 80s, due to the rise of the internet.

With more thoughts and information, less time outside or spent in down time, it all adds up to a feeling of being frazzled and fatigued. It also affects our bodies in a number of ways – raises stress hormones, impacts digestion, affects our mood, hormones and weight because our minds and bodies are innately linked. What affects one affects the other. Our bodies may be evolving to cope with this new world, but not faster than Apple is. So we feel the effects on a daily basis.

It’s more important than ever that we understand what’s happening in our daily life and how to manage it.

The mind clutter we collect every day adds to a sense of weariness, fatigue and overwhelm, so trying to clear it out and keep some space free up there is well worth the effort.

Here’s how to clean up your mind clutter:

The first step is to be aware of your thoughts and feelings of pressure. If you feel you have too much going on in your mind, take some deep breaths and try to switch off for a few minutes. Even better – meditate!

Secondly, monitor your online time – does it need restricting? Do you really need to scroll for more information? Probably not. Give your mind a rest.

Thirdly, create time and space in your day for nothingness and nature. Even a few minutes will work wonders.

 

Photo by Hans-Peter Gauster on Unsplash