Winter is waning and spring is waxing. It's time to think about your brain.
You may have been goofing off, but your poor brain has been working overtime.
Christina Caron can help. In "This Year, Try Spring Cleaning Your Brain," a recent article in The New York Times, Caron points out that "the arrival of spring can serve as a natural point to take stock of our mental well-being."
What there is of it.
Ready to declutter your mind? Here are five exercises that can help, plus a few comments from me that won't help at all.
No. 1: Practice mindfulness
"Being a human, particularly right now, is stressful," says Nkechi Njaka, a meditation guide. Since there are few options available, the solution is to "refocus on the here and now," which, one supposes, is somehow better than the "there and was."
Or is it?
I recommend you forget mindfulness and start practicing mindlessness (not that you need a lot of practice). Reading this column is a great start, but you definitely can do more. See how much of your workday you can devote to daydreaming. Think this lack of productivity will hurt your career? Not hardly. Remember: The less work you do, the fewer mistakes you will make.
No. 2: Keep a Bullet Journal
According to Oprah, and she should know, a Bullet Journal is "a place where you log daily to-dos, keep a monthly or weekly calendar, jot down notes, track both physiological and mental health, and record both short- and long-term goals." In other words, it's the full-time job you do instead of the full-time job you no longer have time to do, mainly because you are spending so much time on your silly Bullet Journal.
(Still, it will be especially useful when your journaling jones costs you your job and you're trying to figure out exactly why.)
No. 3: Reduce information overload
Give your poor, overworked brain a break by turning down the "firehose of information that can leave us feeling anxious, angry or even helpless."
Computer scientist Cal Newport recommends you "choose just one or two reliable sources and read them at a specific time each day."
No question, one of your reliable sources will be this column. Read it in the morning when you wake up and you'll certainly find sufficient reasons to go right back to bed. You're free to choose your second source, but if you're thinking of making it Khloe Kardashian's Twitter feed, I recommend you turn your attention to the financial news, especially the daily report on sorghum futures.
Nobody quite knows what sorghum is, but nobody quite knows what Khloe Kardashian is, either, and while what we laughingly call your lifestyle might not hold a candle to Khloe's glitterati whirl, compared to a tank car of sorghum, you're doing great.
No. 4: Declutter your physical space
"Messy spaces tend to prevent clear cognitive thinking," says management professor Catherine Roster. Roster suggests relying on a clutter buddy, someone who can act as a "sounding board" for what to keep and what to toss.
Of course, if you're in a loving relationship, you don't need a buddy, as your partner will be perfectly happy to throw out what is yours — the better to make room for what is theirs. This is a perfectly workable solution, until you find yourself, your suitcase and your "Star Wars" action figures in the front yard.
It isn't easy to discover that the clutter in your life is you, but don't be discouraged. That rocket-firing Boba Fett is going to be worth a fortune someday, and you really should hold on to it.
No. 5: Reconnect with the people you love
No question, the pandemic has been isolating, and it does make sense to connect with the people you love — especially those who owe you money.
And don't ignore the people you don't quite love. Your annoying co-workers would love to hear from you, especially if you can share some thrilling gossip about how the company is about to initiate massive firings with your department taking the biggest hit.
You may not be responsible for inspiring a "chain of positivity, where the person you contacted feels inspired to do the same with others," but you could inspire a "chain of negativity," where the people you contact feel really terrible about themselves and their career possibilities.
It may not be much, but it will give you at least one accomplishment you can put in your Bullet Journal.
Bob Goldman was an advertising executive at a Fortune 500 company. He offers a virtual shoulder to cry on at