There is something so cathartic about emptying your closet.
Going through old clothes, pulling out what doesn’t fit, what is out of style, or had its time. Then carefully putting back in the things that you love and spark joy (Marie Kondo style). Feeling the satisfaction that everything in there is something you would wear at any time and feel amazing in it.
I really should clean out my closet. Lol.
But what I am good at, is cleaning out my mind.
My husband jokes that sometimes at night he can actually hear my brain thinking while I “pretend” to be asleep. I have a lot of thoughts and they go a million miles an hour.
Until I rein them in and start supervising them a bit.
I have learned that they don’t have control over me; I have control over them. I am not my thoughts. I get to choose my thoughts.
I have also learned that my mind greatly benefits from a daily tidy. So every morning, I pull out my little book and I do a “thought download”.
It’s basically a way for me to empty my mind, see on paper what is going on inside and then put back in what I choose.
Sometimes people ask me what the best way to do a thought download is.
The beauty is there is no “best way” or “right way”or “wrong way”. You can do it however you choose.
But, I have pulled together a few of my favourite ways that I do it to change things up and keep my brain on its toes:
Here are some different ways
1) Stream of Consciousness – let it all flow! Write about everything. No editing, just write! You can set a timer if you like 2 min, 5 min, 10 min.
2) Write about a specific topic or goal. Again, just write, no editing.
3) Divide your page into two columns. You are going to explore the 50/50 concept. Write on one side what’s going well, and on the other side, what’s not going well; positive and negatives. Give EQUAL AIR TIME to the good and the bad.
4) Story vs Facts – Write it all out and then go back and underline all the FACTS. The rest are your thoughts – 100% optional! Good way to see what drama you have going on! (I usually have a few facts thrown into the sea of my thoughts)
5) Make a list – one thought per line. (I’m a list queen so I like this one!)
6) Write out all your thoughts and then go back and respond to them like a compassionate friend would. (e.g. I am a terrible mother; “It’s ok. We all have bad days. It’s hard being a mother”). I especially like doing this one when I feel a bit fragile and am in need of some self love and compassion.
7) Find some writing prompts! There are so many out there – you can just google away and come up with some! “What are the top ten thoughts on my mind?”, “What am I excited about?”, “What am I scared about?”, “Where do I envision myself in 5 years?” , “If I wasn’t afraid of failure, what would I be doing right now?” etc.
Have you tried doing a thought download? What works for you?