Our desire to try new things or fear of missing out fills our lives with useless information, which leads to a cluttered mind. The mind jumps from one thing to the other without taking inventory of its actions. A cluttered mind is anxious, stressed, frustrated and impatient.
A cluttered mind quickly manifests itself in the form of a cluttered work space, a cluttered closet or a cluttered desktop! An organized mind will execute ideas with clarity and conviction whereas a chaotic mind will make hasty and ill-informed decisions leading to stress and anxiety. A focused or a clean mind is controlled mind and immensely powerful.
Let’s look at some simple decluttering techniques that we can incorporate into our daily lives.
Simran is a higher form of meditation, the purpose is to remember God with every breath. Through Simran one is able to control the many thoughts that enter the mind. Focus the mind on chanting “Waheguru”. Begin by inhaling. Say “Wahe”, then pause, then say “Guru”. This technique is called ‘Saas Giraas’ Simran which is prescribed directly in Gurbani. Repeat the process again. The goal is to eliminate thoughts and clean the mind. If thoughts do come, try to push them aside and re-focus on listening to your own voice.
Read or listen to Gurbani and Kirtan every day. You can download the mysimran.info app, which is a great resource for the Daily Hukamnama, Kirtan, Simran, and Sehaj Paath recordings.
Break-down complicated tasks into small, manageable tasks and do Simran before each block of time. For example, if a particular report might take an hour, divide your time into 20-minute blocks. Try doing 2-3 minutes of Simran before each 20-minute segment for mental clarity.
Reduce the amount of time spent watching TV or viral videos on YouTube, reading blogs, following friends on social media or chat groups. Information overload causes anxiety and stress. Be discerning about what you watch or read to avoid cluttering your mind.
Organize your surroundings (workspace or inbox) and focus on necessities. Purge paper copies of emails or documents that can be stored online. Set a reminder to archive old emails or files every month. And don’t forget to wipe down your computer monitor with a special screen cleaner!
Don’t let your hard work go to waste by falling back into the trap of clutter and chaos. A mind that does Simran, stays in Gurmat and follows Gurbani is an organized mind. An organized mind is a stress-free mind.
--------------------------------------------------
[email protected]
Find more articles like this on LinkedIn