As the days get shorter and the weather gets colder, many of us are preparing for more time indoors. I don’t know about you, but personally, this time of year stirs up emotional and mental clutter. The more time we spend cooped up indoors, the more time we have to sit and stew (and not the hearty kind).
Thankfully, in many cases, all it takes is some simple mental decluttering to improve your mood and bring that sense of peace you’re craving.
“Mental decluttering refers to the intentional practice of externalizing the thoughts, worries, and mental tasks that crowd our working memory, essentially getting them out of our heads and onto paper or another external medium,” explains Brooks Lape, mental health expert and founder of Start Your Recovery. “In cognitive science, this is called ‘cognitive offloading,’ and research shows it can significantly improve our ability to focus, regulate emotions, and reduce stress. What makes this particularly relevant during winter is that our brains are already under increased pressure.”
Looking to engage in your own mental decluttering this winter? Here are six ways to declutter your brain.
1. Engage in a 10-Minute Brain Dump
Brain dumps offer a profound sense of emotional release—and they only require a few minutes of your time.
“Set a timer for 10 minutes and write continuously without editing, censoring, or organizing,” Lape recommends. “The time limit prevents rumination and forces you to move on after emptying your mind. Do this first thing in the morning to clear overnight thought accumulation, or before bed to prevent intrusive thoughts from disrupting sleep.”
2. Organize Your Thoughts Into Three Categories
Lape recommends following up on your brain dump by organizing your thoughts into three categories: immediate action items, things to process, and things to release.
“Research on cognitive load theory shows that our working memory has limited capacity,” he explains. “By moving tasks to external storage like lists, calendars, or apps, we free up mental resources for complex processing. Highlight urgent items in one color, things that can wait in another, and cross out mental noise you don’t need to address.”
3. Write In-Depth About Your Feelings
Once you finish your brain dump, it’s time to dig a bit deeper. Journaling through your emotions can help you actively process them, getting to the core of any repetitive issues or thought patterns.
“Winter brings unique emotional pressures, like holiday family dynamics, seasonal depression, financial strain, and isolation,” says Lape. “Write for 10 minutes about what you’re feeling and why you think you’re feeling it.”
He advises following up your journaling session with some gratitude, so you’re ending on a positive note.
4. Close Mental ‘Open Loops’
You know those repetitive problems or looming responsibilities you keep avoiding to “protect your peace?” Yeah, they still lurk in the background, subconsciously weighing on you.
“During your brain dump, identify every mental ‘open loop,’ or things you’ve been meaning to do, conversations you need to have, decisions you’re avoiding,” Lape recommends. “For each item, decide: Do it now if it takes under 2 minutes, schedule it in your calendar, or release it by acknowledging you’re not doing it.”
5. Try Out TikTok’s ‘Winter Arc’
TikTok is flooded with random yet sometimes helpful trends like ‘winter arc,’ which is basically a time dedicated to self-growth. If you want to breathe purpose into the dark winter months, why not combine your mental decluttering efforts with your own personalized winter arc?
“Mental and physical health are interconnected, which is why winter arc participants combine brain dumping with movement goals,” says Lape. “Before your workout or walk, do a 5-minute brain dump to clear mental barriers preventing you from exercising. Write down excuses, resistance, or mental fatigue, then physically move your body anyway.”
Not only will this prove your resilience, but it will also empower you to push beyond your perceived limitations.
6. Declutter Your Physical Space
Our environments can directly impact our mental health. When my home is cluttered, my brain pays the price.
“When we’re spending more time indoors during winter, cluttered physical spaces create constant low-level stress,” says Lape. “Spend 15 minutes daily on visible decluttering, clear your workspace, organize one drawer, delete old emails and apps creating digital noise. By reducing external chaos, you’re giving your brain fewer stimuli to process, which is especially valuable when seasonal factors are already taxing your cognitive resources.”
The post Got the Winter Blues? 6 Tips for Mental Decluttering appeared first on VICE.
