10 Ways To Reset Your Mind

10 Ways to Reset Your Mind

Last Updated on December 27, 2019

Last month was full of ups and downs for me. To give you an idea of what I mean, early in the month I received heartbreaking news about someone dear in my life. A few weeks later, I had the most excruciating stomach pain of my life to the point of almost passing out (I thought I was dying, people).

A week later, I was rear-ended and hit the car in front of me on the freeway. In the midst of everything, I traveled to Southern California two weekends in a row to spend quality time with friends and loved every minute of it.

10 Ways to Reset Your Mind

Now I’m left without a sense of routine. My mind is in a weird place, and I haven’t felt productive in the slightest. I’ve spent mornings not wanting to get out of bed, and I’ve stayed up late worrying about everything from tiny details to the bigger “what am I doing with my life?” questions.

Sometimes life likes to test my strength and patience in whatever way it can. Though there are worse things that could have happened throughout the month, I still feel a heavy weight on my shoulders that I haven’t been able to shake.

I know well enough that this happens to all of us. Every season of life brings new challenges. The tricky part is deciding whether we fight to get through them or whether we let them knock us down.

I’ve decided that I’ll keep pushing through. I want to feel like myself again, and I know that means I’ll have to hit the reset button especially around my mental space – a mindset reset, if you will. I see a mindset reset as a way to get the mind back into a calmer and positive place when feeling overwhelmed and stressed out. Here are 10 things I’ve been doing (or plan to do) to reset my mind:

10 Ways To Reset Your Mind


1. Get back into a routine.

You probably know by now that I love my routines, but it’s so easy to fall out of them when life gets hard or your schedule changes. When I don’t follow my normal routine, I start to get lazy and fall into bad habits like staying up too late or not eating well. Getting back into a morning and evening routine is my number one priority right now so I can feel like myself again.

Related Post: How To Give Your Morning Routine A Simple Makeover


2. Stay away from social media.

We all know social media has turned into a highlight reel, and sometimes seeing people’s perfectly curated pictures only makes me feel worse about where I’m at. I also feel pressured to post on Instagram every day since it’s a huge part of my work, but I simply didn’t have the energy to come up with anything to post over the past month. Staying away from social media for a week or two definitely helped me to clear my headspace.


3. Utilize your alone time.

I definitely value my alone time, and lately I haven’t had much of it or I haven’t been spending my alone time in the best ways. Sometimes you just have to take a whole day for yourself to relax, journal, go for a walk, make dinner, etc., and relish in the act of being by yourself. I know that I need solid alone time to feel like myself, so I plan to make the most of my alone time whenever I get it.

Related Post: How To Make The Most Of Your Alone Time


4. Meditate.

Since my morning routine has been non-existent, I’ve fallen out of the habit of meditating when I first wake up. We all know that meditation can have a huge effect on your mental space, and I know getting back into a regular meditation practice will help me feel less overwhelmed.


5. Exercise more.

Elle Woods taught us that exercise gives us endorphins, and I definitely feel like a better version of myself when I actually work out, whether that’s pilates, yoga, Tabata, or running. Exercise helps to clear my head and makes me feel accomplished, so my plan is to add a 30-minute workout back into my daily routine.


6. Read fiction.

I’m a sucker for self-help and non-fiction books, but sometimes I overload my brain with new information and it only overwhelms me more. There’s nothing quite as magical as getting lost in a fiction book where your only task is to create the visuals of the characters and settings in your head. Fiction encourages you to use your imagination in new ways, and I think that’s the perfect antidote to an overwhelmed mind.


7. Write it out.

Keeping all of my thoughts, fears, and worries bottled up inside me does nothing to actually benefit me. I’ve always turned to writing as my emotional release, and I know that I need to write through my feelings more often instead of keeping them locked inside. Getting things out of my head and onto paper gives my brain and my heart a chance to rest.

Related Post: How To Make Journaling A Habit


8. Listen to music.

Music can be so therapeutic when you’re struggling, and I’ve found that I feel more at ease when I have something playing in the background. Music can make you feel understood, creative, inspired, less alone, energetic, and cathartic all at the same time. Never underestimate the power music can have on your headspace because it truly can get you through the toughest of times.


9. Get more sleep.

When I stay up late doing nothing particularly productive, I either wake up exhausted or wake up late. Getting up late makes me feel overwhelmed, and I beat myself up for not going to bed earlier. When I wake up exhausted, my entire day feels like a struggle. The simple solution to this would be to get more sleep, right? If I start going to bed at a reasonable time, I can reduce unnecessary exhaustion and negative thinking.


10. Ask for help.

I am the queen of never asking for help and trying to do everything myself. Sometimes I don’t trust that other people will do a good job, but mostly I just don’t want to inconvenience anyone with my requests. But this past month, I asked someone for help with something that was completely out of my area of expertise, and she was completely willing to take it off my hands and saved me SO much time and mental energy that I didn’t have. If you’re in over your head, do yourself a favor and ask for help.

Related Post: 5 Ways To Say No And Stop Over-Committing Yourself


How do you reset your mind?

I’d love to know how you get yourself back into a good space when you’re in a funk. Leave a comment below with any tips you have!

Tags : mind reset
Catherine Beard
Hi, I'm Catherine! I'm here to help you get out of your head so you can stress less and focus on what matters.

31 Comments

  1. Such a great read Catherine! I felt my month of October (coinquinidently my birth month) was so off and I plan to reset this month to a better outlook ✌️♥️

  2. Catherine! I’ve been following your blog for a while and always enjoy your blog posts and tips for more mindful existance. This last month does sound quite overwhelming for you, but best luck to you to tackle it all with these 10 actions you just described. I’ve been feeling very similar, mostly with the “What am I doing with my life?” question and I also had a little car accident… Full moon, maybe? :D

    Best of wishes for you and I look forward to readind those awesome blogposts! :)

  3. When I’m in a funk I love to go to our local nursery to see the flowers, plants and creative things associated with the upcoming holidays ((whatever holiday that is). It also gives me inspiration.
    I will cook something new & special!
    I also allow myself some sad time, a time to just let myself cry, life can be tough and I think we owe it to ourselves to acknowledge that sometimes our sad last catches up with us.

  4. I’ve been feeling in a funk for a couple of weeks now and your post made me realise that I’m out of my routine. Staying up late means I’m collapsing after work and not doing my evening jobs around the house which is making me feel yuck. Thank you for making me realise this!

  5. I loved your post and I can totally relate right now. I feel so unproductive and outside of myself these last times and instead of actually deciding to change it, I´m always just blaming myself for not getting anything done! I need to work on this, but I´m convinced I can do it, so the basis is already set :)

  6. Hey Catherine. Love this posts! I added it to one of mine talking about great self care posts. I hope it brings you lots of traffic! Keep it up, self care is so important!

  7. I reinvent myself, including decluttering my home & calendar, take a hot bubble bath, put on comfy clothes & read a book -fact or fiction about another woman who reinvented her life. Granted, I have done this many times in my life, but I make a point to do this every Jan.1, even getting a new address book & evaluating friendships.

  8. This is such a valuable page I am going to bookmark it, I often times meditate myself, before I start my day. It helps me think and some of my best writings come to me in the early hours. It is so easy to overlook the alone time, or how the social media buzz takes over. I am guilty of not getting exercise or proper diet so this will act as a reminder to me to set a healthier routine myself. When we spend so much time trying to help others it is easy to neglect oneself. This is a 10 out of 10 great blog..

  9. I think I need to read this article once a week!
    Never have I read anything more informative and useful than this before. Thanks, Catherine.

  10. Hey Catherine. Love this post! I added it to one of mine talking about great self-care posts. I hope it brings you lots of traffic! Keep it up, self care is so important!

  11. I agree, writing helps. Getting it on paper and rereading it. Feels like some weight has been lifted. I have a long time habit of heading out to the woods for a slow walk, looking and feeling, touching the bark of a tree, breathing deep. Living close to state parks help. Peace to you all.

  12. Thank you so much dear Catherine. It’s very beneficial.
    I wish we were endowed with a biological reset feature because there is much cache and unnecessary memories to delete.

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