By: News Bureau
Every spring, many people emerge from their winter doldrums and focus on a fresh start by cleaning closets, clearing winter dregs from gardens and shredding old files.
But spring cleaning should go beyond physical spaces. According to Sarah Butler, associate professor of Psychology at College of DuPage, it is just as important to clear the mind.
“Sometimes it is a change of seasons, and other times it might be larger life shifts, like the start and end of school, moving to a new place or beginning a new job. We all feel the need to declutter,” said Butler, who serves on the research advisory council for the Institute for Challenging Disorganization. “By giving up old ways of thinking and preconceptions and opening up to new ideas and rethinking possibilities, a decluttered mind can also result in a decluttered life.”
But it is not as easy as tossing outdated clothes and worn-out shoes. Butler said the first step to decluttering your mind may be the most difficult.
“We need to intentionally let go of things and re-train ourselves to prioritize,” she said. “What you are going to keep and what you are going to let go represent a lifetime of experiences. Some thoughts may have been valuable at one time in our lives, but they are not serving us now. Learning to prioritize will give you more opportunities to grow.”
Some thoughts may have been valuable at one time in our lives, but they are not serving us now.
Sarah Butler
Lightening your schedule can be the first change. Managing both work and home schedules can make us feel overwhelmed, she said, and since everyone is so busy, they may not have the same memory recall, which adds to stress. Butler suggests starting with one thing that you can release from your schedule and see if it makes a difference.
“You can begin by thinking about what is serving you and what is not serving you,
then let go of those thoughts or ideas that do not serve you and replace them or just
leave space,” she said.
Learn More About the Psychology Program at College of DuPage
Butler, who received her master’s and doctorate in experimental social psychology from DePaul University, admits that getting rid of old ideas can be like losing a friend. However, those ideas are not gone forever, they are just put in a different place.
The next step is to maintain a decluttered mind, she said. One way to do this is to be aware of how things got so overwhelming in the first place.
Butler suggests two books—“Subtract: The Untapped Science of Less” by Leidy Klotz and “Decluttering at the Speed of Life” by Dana K. White—that can help people spring forward this season and succeed. By making a deliberate decision to let go of unnecessary thoughts, the result can help people think clearer and make better decisions.
“Exercise your decluttering muscles and remove stress. And when you start decluttering, take it slow,” she said. “You may be afraid to let some things go because you may miss them, but if you look at it in another way, you are gaining time to do something new.”