Is your mind cluttered? Get rid of the noise!

It happened to me many times. I was unable to think straight. My mind was cluttered and it was impossible to make any decision. It was akin to a mental paralysis. It’s not a good state to be in to be creative… The cause of this mental clutter? The noise. Read on to learn how I got rid of the noise.

Modern society is full of useless noises

When I was a kid in the 90s, I had to willfully sit in front of the TV or tune in to a radio station to “connect” with society. Most of the time, we were offline and could focus on our lives and hobbies. Today, it has become hard to disconnect and there’s a constant stream of data that is constantly pushed to us: news, social posts, videos of all kinds, articles about everything, ads everywhere… Most of these data are of no interest or value to us and this constant stream of information to process ends up cluttering our minds.

How to get rid of the noise and declutter your mind

You have to understand why you are losing your time with articles, social posts, and videos that more often than not are useless and don’t bring you any benefit or guidance to your life. It can be out of curiosity, because you are bored, the desire to connect to others, loneliness, addictive behaviors, etc.

The solution is simple but requires some discipline and willpower. Instead of losing your time with things that are of no interest or value for you: divert your focus to what matters for you. To what brings you pleasure, joy, or new knowledge that can be of use. Identify each of the sources that are bringing chaos to your mind and cut them off your life. If that’s not possible, limit them as much as possible. 

I stopped watching TV years ago, the quality of TV shows had sunk below mediocre. It helped me to declutter my mind. A couple of months ago, I decided to stop reading the news, to limit YouTube videos, and to limit web browsing to what is of interest to me at the moment. And I feel my mind is much less cluttered by all these useless data, I surprised myself thinking more about art for example.

Embrace the things that make your life pleasant

As humans, our lives are just fleeting moments. How sad it is when our limited time is going to waste instead of enjoying the things we truly love. Get rid of the noise, declutter your mind, and embrace the things that make your life pleasant. It’s just a question of willpower.