Between balancing work, parenthood, and our own needs, a mental reset can help ground and reset our mind, body, and soul amongst the everyday chaos. When your body is feeling overwhelmed and stressed, it can come out in a variety of ways including irritability, not being able to sleep (even if you are feeling dead tired), inability to focus, and more. When you feel crispy and burnt out, it won’t get better unless you do a mental reset and assess what’s happening around you.
This post is all about how to do a mental reset and why it’s important.
What does it mean to do a ‘mental reset’?
A mental reset means to pull yourself out of a slump, assess/sharpen priorities, and forgive yourself for anything that is weighing you down – all to clear your mind and motivate yourself to get back on track.
A mental reset can mean a lot of different things to different people and different people need different things. I’m going to share some short-term, low effort tips as well as long-term/maximum effort tips on different aspects of life that can reset brain fog. Choose what works for you.
Quick ways to mentally reset your brain
Here’s a list of low-effort ways to get out of a slump fast. Any one of these options is easy, quick and you’ll likely see your mood shift pretty quickly if not immediately. Using low lift or low effort tips to reset yourself can be helpful if you’re spiraling or trying to relax after a bad day.
- Move your body: Momentum follows movement. If you need to do a quick mental reset, get outside for at least 15 minutes. Sunshine is even better. Studies have shown that Vitamin D can have positive benefits on healthy individuals.
- Exercise for at least 7 minutes: For the times when I can barely muster the energy to workout, I find this scientifically proven 7-minute workout extremely helpful. 4 out of 5 times this extremely easy workout motivates me to start my workout routine if I fell “off the wagon” so to speak.
- Do a brain dump (tangible + emotional): Let go of everything that’s swirling in your mind and do a brain dump. Allow yourself a brain dump that doesn’t only include your immediate to-do’s. Include thoughts that are weighing on your mind, whether or not they have an actual tangible to-do or next step. Then walk away. You’ll probably feel mentally and emotionally lighter. Optional: If you are up for it, come back the next day and cross things off that are no longer, prioritize, break down what’s tangible into next steps with dates.
- Do a light clean-up of the area around you: Clean up the immediate space around you. The condition of the spaces where we spend the most time are often a reflection of our inner condition.
- Listen to motivational speeches or a TED Talk: This can be done through a quick Google, YouTube, or Spotify search. Find one that resonates with you and bookmark it. Better yet, make a playlist of motivational speeches, podcasts, or videos so you can easily access them.
- Do something nice for someone: Neighbor, coworker, sibling, whoever. Pick someone you know and have a gift delivered to them, help them with a chore, or treat them to an afternoon out. Doing something nice for others can help you boost your mood.
- Get a massage: According to experts, “Basic warm touch calms cardiovascular stress. It activates the body’s vagus nerve, which is intimately involved with our compassionate response, and a simple touch can trigger the release of oxytocin, aka “the love hormone.” (source). So book yourself a massage because you deserve it.
- Indulge in what you need at the moment: Take a moment of pause and ask yourself, “what is it that I need right now?” Maybe it’s a quick trip to the mall to treat yourself or calling in a sitter for the evening for a self-care date. Maybe it’s binging on Netflix instead of pushing yourself to go through your work inbox in the evening. Whatever it is, honor it.
- Reach out to a friend for coffee or lunch: Sometimes meeting with a friend to catch up and chat can boost your mood. Note: Be careful not to emotionally dump everything on them and don’t expect them to be your therapist.
- Refresh your appearance: After 2+ years of living through a pandemic, doing a quick wardrobe refresh or revamping your old expired makeup (oh, just me?) could also help you look and feel your best.
- Take a nap: For parents, this is much easier said than done but if you are completely rundown or exhausted then you need to make the time. Ask for help from a sitter/family member/friend, “nap when the baby naps” (yeah I know, cliche but sometimes, it’s 100% necessary), or get the groceries delivered instead of going to the grocery store. Whatever it is, find the time.
- Go to bed as early as you need to: If you can’t do the mid-day nap or even in ADDITION to the nap, go to bed earlier. It may feel ridiculous to go to bed at 7:30 pm but sometimes sleeping off the day’s stress can do wonders.
- Write down 10 daily affirmations: Write them down and make it part of your daily routine to read them out loud and embody them.
- Listen to an audiobook that motivates you: One of my favorites is “Tools of the Titans” by Tim Ferris. I like this book because it’s a collection of productivity tips from various thought leaders. You don’t have to listen to it too carefully to get the gist and there are lots of different tips you can pick up even if you are listening passively.
“Medium” effort ways to reset your mind and mood
Medium effort, medium to long-term results: If you’re finding a pattern of bad days, consider incorporating a few of the tips below. These are “medium-lift” which means it could require some planning and coordination ahead of time (eg: a complete mental reset day) or the activity could span a few days and beyond.
- Mental Reset Day: Find a day where you can take PTO, clear your calendar, and do not check into work for the day. The key here is being intentional with your mental reset day. Whether it’s planning your agenda for the day and filling it with overdue chores or self-care activities, or simply relaxing and going with the flow, make sure you maximize your day off.
- Get some guidance: Find a self-help book that gives you long-term guidance on areas of your life that you are looking to improve. Some of my favorites include: Designing Your Life by Bill Burnett and Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert.
- Donate things that do not serve you: Beyond cleaning up your immediate space, target zones in your home that have become cluttered. Watch “Tidying Up with Marie Kondo” or “The Home Edit” on Netflix if you need some inspiration. Or if you’re like me, have it on in the background as you clean.
- Detox your body: There are lots of methods to detoxing including juice detoxes or getting a ‘healthy’ meal kit (like Sakura) to help kickstart clean eating.
- Detox social media: In many ways this can be even more challenging than actually detoxing your body! Vow to stay off social media for a week or even a month. You’ll feel so much better.
- Refresh your routines: What do your current morning, afternoon, evening, night time routines look like? Are there areas that you would like to improve? Evaluating daily habits can make big impactful changes over time.
- Get organized: Is it time to revamp how you keep yourself and or your family organized? I recently learned about Notion and I’m hooked. “The second brain” system has helped alleviate so much mental tax.
Long-term ways to reset your mind and regain motivation
Maximum effort, long-term results: The following tips are more of lifestyle changes than quick tips. These tips take more effort to do but can yield long-term results and positive lifestyle changes. If you are feeling beyond burnt out or ‘crispy’ then consider evaluating some of the root causes and making changes.
- Get professional help: I highly recommend therapy. Especially for new parents (as a couple) or if you are a new parent. There are so many issues that can arise from becoming a parent: past trauma to re-parenting ourselves. A mental health professional can help you navigate accordingly.
- Regularly exercise: One of the most cliche pieces of advice you probably always hear. It’s cliche but it’s true. Regular exercise over time can boost your mood and help you feel emotionally, mentally, and physically stronger.
- Clean up your diet: Also very cliche but true. We are what we eat: this includes all the carby leftovers from our children’s lunches and handfuls of leftover goldfish. When I find myself in a food rut, I make small changes instead of trying to completely revamp my food habits. Examples: simply adding more steamed veggies, switch out processed snacks with a healthier version. Perhaps it’s adding a pressed green juice to my meal. Whatever it is, movement creates momentum.
- Recognize where you need to be kind to yourself: We are our own harshest critics. If you find that you are beating yourself up, try talking to yourself the way you’d talk to your child (gently and lovingly).
- Think about what makes your soul sing and do those things: What are hobbies or activities you enjoyed before having children? What are some things you’ve always wanted to do? Having hobbies outside of children can set a good example and also encourage them to be passionate about things that interest them.
- Make time to PLAY and/or get creative: Related to the above, as a parent, you will never get more time. Making time for yourself is something you have to actively choose and carve out. Children play aimlessly and don’t have an agenda. Play is how they learn and process the world around them. Allow yourself to do the same.
- Sit down and reflect on what got you to this point of crispiness: Lack of help? Lack of job satisfaction? Relationships or friendships that no longer serve you? Take a hard look at what the root problem is and make a plan to work towards improving those aspects.
Read: [57 SIMPLE HEALTH TIPS FOR EVERYDAY LIVING]
This post was all about how to do a mental reset and getting out of a slump fast
What are some short or long term strategies that you’ve tried when you want to reset your mind or mood? Which of these have you tried that work for you? Let me know in the comments below, I’d love to hear from you!