6 Effective Ways To Calm Your Mind

We all have days when we are so stressed out about work that the overwhelm kicks in the second we open our eyes in the morning. Our to-do list can be so unrealistic that the day goes by without us keeping track of a single thing that feels productive or unimposed.

From what I have observed with myself and the people around me, we humans can foresee overwhelm in our lives, yet we choose to not act on it. We are so caught up in our schedules that we hardly ever make an effort to prevent burnout and continue to grind till the day we find ourselves in bed with a throbbing pain in our head.

In the last 3 months, I have tried my best to structure my life around intention, and one of the priorities was to find consistent ways to quiet my mind.

I have mentioned below 6 best practices that have elevated my experience of life by bringing a sense of calm to my daily routine.

These practices have helped me navigate through not just my stressful student life but also my chaotic corporate experience. I hope there’s something valuable here for you, which you can easily incorporate into your stressful daily routines as a little self-care practice to calm your mind.

6 EFFECTIVE WAYS TO CALM YOUR MIND

1. Mindful Breathing

In moments when you feel that your mind is flooded with thoughts of multiple things that need to be finished before the end of the day and you don’t know where to start, spend a moment in complete silence and focus on your breath. It is a mindful practice that you can follow daily to zone back into the present.

Not only will this calm your brain, but it will also help you to step away from all the overwhelming thoughts for a moment and focus on the tasks that need to be done with a clear mind.

2. Listen To Relaxing Music

One of the practices that I use to quiet my mind instantly is listening to relaxing music. There are several benefits of listening to music. I enjoy listening to some relaxing tunes before going to bed every night to enjoy better sleep.

I’m sure we all love creating multiple playlists on our Spotify. A playlist to experience calm should be on this list too. (Here’s one created by me in case you like it)

3. Step Away From Socials

All of us keep our phones within close proximity of us at all times during the day. Thus, our immediate response to even a second of boredom is to scroll through our socials.

Sometimes, I indulge in mindless scrolling to stimulate my brain with unnecessary information, thinking that it will help me shift focus from the overwhelming thoughts. But it ends up leaving me with another excuse to criticise myself for wasting time and increasing my stress.

That’s why it’s important to step away from social media to experience calm. It will also help you save time, which can be used for other productive tasks.

4. Ivy Lee Method

One thing that always helps me bring perspective in life is writing. It’s normal to feel lost in our thoughts sometimes. Our mind is a world of its own. That’s why it’s always thinking about the next move, making up scenarios, and finding ways to deal with potential challenges and whatnot. But just writing everything down on a piece of paper offers a unique sense of calm.

To gain more control of your life and free your mind from constant thoughts, I suggest that you use the Ivy Lee Method. It is a proven method to increase efficiency and achieve a quieter state of mind.

This method did not work for me in my corporate job because things would just constantly pop up out of the blue throughout the day, which made it difficult for me to set my priorities. But if you work/study in an environment that’s a bit stable, I would definitely recommend this technique as it is really helpful.

5. Read

I don’t think I ever understood the power of reading for a calmer mind until recently. When you spend time reading a book of any genre that you like, it’s easy to lose track of time because you are truly savouring every second that you spend with the book. It eliminates all thoughts about the past and the future in my mind and brings me back into the present.

But to quiet your mind, you need to make sure that you don’t read books just for the sake of it. Otherwise, you’ll only be mindlessly screening through some words that would not make any sense.

6. Spend time cleaning

This has to be one of my favourite ways to calm my mind. It is my biggest therapy, and that too for free. Many experts have also claimed that having clean surroundings contributes to our emotional and mental well-being and cleaning always helps in calming our minds.

Cleaning personally gives me a sense of control over my tasks and encourages me to take control of the negative thoughts in my mind.

(You can combine it with some music in the background for extra motivation.)

Remember: You do not have to blindly follow every advice, especially when it comes to self-care, just because it’s mentioned on the internet. I would suggest you try everything to find what works best for you. Don’t indulge in tasks just because you “have to”, do it because it gives you calm.