5 steps to Decluttering your Mind

5 Steps to Decluttering your Mind. Step 1: Take 5 deep breaths with your eyes closed (This will take you to a relaxed state of mind). Step 2: Write down all the thoughts that is coming to your mind in this state in bullet points (this will reduce the number of thoughts that the mind needs to process at a time). Step 3: Strike off all the points that you cannot do anything about, like economy is going bad, people are mean etc. (This will eliminate the unnecessary thoughts from your mind). Step 4: Write down the points still left on a fresh piece of paper so you can act upon it (You now have a list of action points that needs your attention). Step 5: Tear off the previous paper where all the thoughts were initially written (This will permanently release the energy required to process too many thoughts and declutter your mind)

20 Seconds Rule to make or break a Habit

There is a trigger for everything we do every instant. Trigger to check social media for that instant dopamine spike, trigger for sugary food or binge eating. Feel helpless? Well, here is an easy hack to replace unhealthy habits with healthy ones. Every trigger lasts for about 20 seconds. So to overcome an unhealthy habit, make it difficult to take the action within 20 seconds. For example, don’t want to binge watch TV? keep the remote locked in a drawer in another room where it would take you more than 20 seconds to fetch the remote. Want to go to gym every morning? Keep the gym bag ready the night before so it takes less than 20 seconds in the morning to pick it up and leave.

Pomodoro Technique

Pomodoro Technique for Productivity: How to be productive when there is a huge task in front of us? Let us try the pomodoro Technique. Step 1: Set an alarm for 25 Minutes. Step 2: Do the task until the alarm goes off. Step 3: Take 5 minutes break. Repeat the cycle 4 times over a period of 2 hours. Then take a longer break of 15-30 minutes. Using this technique tells our brain that there is a scheduled break after intervals and it can then focus for those 25 minutes.

Worry Scheduling Technique

Do you worry a lot? And then feel guilty that a lot of time has gone by and you have not been able to focus? Well, here is a hack to bring your focus back to work. Schedule a time for worrying, for an hour everyday. So now your brain knows that you have a specific time to worry, so everytime your thought wanders from work, your brain knows there is scheduled time for it and it will let you focus on your work. Try it!

Organize Your Day effectively

Has it ever happened to you that the entire day goes by and you realize you have not been able to do much through the day. Here are few steps you can follow to better organize your day. Step 1) Sit to plan your day the night before. Step 2) Divide your day into 4 different time zones of four hour each and put task in those zones so your mind knows what to do when. Step 3) Keep that planner in front of you all the time so it keeps triggering you to complete the tasks you have planned. Step 4) Analyze how your day went at the end of the day and make corrections in next day’s plan. Keep doing this for 9 weeks and you would have got a solid method of organizing and winning your day.

Create Positive Circle of Influence

“””We are the average of 5 people we spend most of our time with”” – Jim Roth If you need to grow from the current state, naturally, you need to be around people who are better than you to become an average of them. If you need to get fitter, you naturally need to stop hanging out with people who eat a lot, or do not work out on their health, and look for people who have a bend towards proper nutrition and fitness. If you can’t find someone like that from your environment, hire someone! This strategy can be similarly applied to other areas of your life too, for career development, for wealth creation, for personal development and for better relationships. Try It!”

Plan your sleep cycle

Plan your Sleep Cycle Early to bed and Early Rise, Makes a person healthy, wealthy and wise. We have all been told this when we were a child. And somehwere it is true. Being productive is a direct outcome of what time we get up in the morning. So how can we ensure that we do? Manage the night time. Start working backwards from the time we need to get up. Step 1: Fix a morning wake up time which works for you. Step 2: Sleep atleast 7.5 hours before that time. Step 3: take your last meal 2 hours before the sleep time. So if we eat at 8 PM, sleep at 10 PM, we can get up at 5.30 PM. How is that?! All it needs is consistency to make it into a habit.

Hack the Habit Loop

Habit loop is a neurological loop that governs our every habit. The loop is Trigger – Habit – Reward. With repeated loop, we create this neurological pattern for our brain. If we understand this, we can replace any bad habit for a healthy one. Changing the entire loop takes extreme will power and energy. Hence changing just one element from the loop, ie, the “Response”, can hugely change our habits. Example: If you feel like having dessert after every meal, the trigger is “end of meal:, Response is “Eating the Dessert” and the response is “Satisfaction”. Instead of trying to break the entire loop, replace the “Response” with a healthier choice like Dates or Cashews. With repetations, the new pattern become a habit.

Breathing Technique for Increased Focus

“Have you ever wondered what is focus and how to be laser focussed on the task at hand? Let’s try the Zen Technique for creating a focussed mind. Its also called the X-4X-2X Technique, where you breathe in for an X count, say 5, hold it for 4X count, which would be 20, and release the breath until 2X count, that is 10. Do this for 7 times daily for a month, and see the results. You will be pleasantly surprised.

How to Win Your Morning

We are most energetic in the first few hours of the morning. Energy depletes through the day when we get to work and our mind and body start using it. By evening, it is at the lowest and we will need immense willpower to finish a difficult task. Hence it is advisable to complete the toughest and most important tasks in the morning. Here is the hack: get up early, finish your personal work within next 4 hours, like meditation, workout, reading, writing etc., anything that you want to do for yourself. Use the next 4 hours for the most important business / career related tasks because you would be most alert at this time. By 2-2.30 PM, you would have achieved most of the important tasks of the day. Use the next 4 hours for important, but not urgent tasks. Spend the next 4 hours of the evening relaxing, socializing and reflecting upon the day before you hit the bed

Feel Good Instantly

Do you often feel low? And you want to get over that feeling? Here is a sure shot formula to feel good instantly. Oxytocin is a hormone that is released in our body if we help someone. This release makes us feel good instantly even if we are in a bad mood. So if you also want to feel good, find someone you can help. Do something good for that other person and see your moos rise. If you cant find someone, just try to think something good about 3 people that are around you in that moment. This is definitely going to give you a huge soar in mood. Let me know in comments how it made you feel. Take care.

How to be Consistent

We have all made those new year resolutions and go for it for the first few days…and then have given up. If you want to remain consistent, here is an easy hack – 1) Plan to do the activity everyday at the same time. This will keep the time trigger intact 2) Dont miss the activity for 2 consecutive days. Even if you miss it for one day, ensure you do it the next day so you dont break the habit.

How to get rid of Negative Thoughts

Do you sometimes feel that a lot of negative thoughts keeps coming to your mind and then it bothers you for a long time. It just doesn’t go away, however hard you try to push it aside. Sometimes, you are able to suppress or shove away the thought, but it comes back again to bother you. Here is an easy hack to get rid of those negative thoughts forever. Step 1) Let the thoughts come to your mind. Acknowledge it. Step 2) Write down all the thoughts that is coming to your mind on paper. Pour your heart out. Write all the negativ things to want to feel or say. Step 3) Destroy that paper immediately after that. Doing this exercise tells your subconscious that the thought you just destroyed is not important, and it will stop bothering you. If it doesnt work the first time, keep repeating these steps, until it goes to your subconscious mind. It will definitely work. Try it.

How to get rid of Negative Thoughts

Do you sometimes feel that a lot of negative thoughts keeps coming to your mind and then it bothers you for a long time. It just doesn’t go away, however hard you try to push it aside. Sometimes, you are able to suppress or shove away the thought, but it comes back again to bother you. Here is an easy hack to get rid of those negative thoughts forever. Step 1) Let the thoughts come to your mind. Acknowledge it. Step 2) Write down all the thoughts that is coming to your mind on paper. Pour your heart out. Write all the negativ things to want to feel or say. Step 3) Destroy that paper immediately after that. Doing this exercise tells your subconscious that the thought you just destroyed is not important, and it will stop bothering you. If it doesnt work the first time, keep repeating these steps, until it goes to your subconscious mind. It will definitely work. Try it.

Time Boxing technique for focussed activity

You need focussed time to do a task and unable to do so because there are just so many distractions around. Use Time Boxing to bring back focus for the task in few easy steps. Step 1) Choose the task 2) Fix a time zone to do the ask, say 10AM to 12 PM on Monday morning. Step 3) Ensure you do not get distracted by sitting in a distraction free space, telling everyone to not disturb you at that time, keeping away your phone etc”

Power of Positive Thinking

Remember our parents telling us to always think positive. Well, there is a reason for it. Our mind works on belief systems which gets formed basis events happened in the past. It gives us stress response for every negative belief that we have formed and positive response for every positive belief. Since a stress response is not good for our mind and bosy, it makes sense to form positive belief patterns from every situation. This will keep us happy and healthy for a long time. Think about it. And think positive always

Easy hack to track water intake

Our body is made upto 60% of water. Our brain is composed of 75% Water. Water is a very important element in the cognitive functioning of our brain and body. 90% of Indian population is dehydrated. I have been able to use an easy hack to drink 3 litres water everyday for the last one year. I draw 4 vertical lines in 3 groups everyday along with my to-do list. Keep a large mug and water bottle beside my working desk. After drinking each mug, i tick off one line. This brings awareness to how much i have drank since morning and how much is left till the end of day. This has kept me consistent and it will keep you too. Try it

Understand Stress Response Manage Immediately

A stress response is when we have any of these three feelings: 1) Fight – Anger, Retaliation, Irritation 2) Flight – Run away, avoid the situation, ignore 3) Freeze – Feeling of numbness, withdrawal, stuck, procrastination. When any of these feelings emerge, it means that our body has been activated for stress response. In such situation, the oxygen supply gets cut off from our pre-frontal cortex which means, it stops working, and we take illogical actions in that moment, which we often regret later. The best way to reverse this response is to send oxygen back to your pre-frontal cortex and actiovate your logical reasoning brain. Take 10 deep breaths for this while counting on your finger, and feel instantly relaxed.

How to start reading and be consistent

Have you always wanted to read books but you wither dont find time, energy or the will to do it? Follow this easy tip to start reading and be consustent. Step 1) Identify a habit that you follow everyday, like morning tea at your favourite spot. Step 2) Keep the book at that spot the night before Step 3) Read just 5 pages of the book and then close it. These steps basically mean you have set trigger for a new habit around an old habit, and given your brain a specific limited task which is quick and easy. This will keep you consistent and will develop a new habit if you do it everyday for few weeks. I have been able to read 45 books in last one year by following just this easy hack. Try it!

The 7 minute Technique to form a new habit

Whenever we want to create a new habit in our daily routine, it seems like a huge task. Follow the 7 minute technique to form the new habit, which is to focus on the first 7 minutes of the big task. Example: If you want to workout for an hour a day, just focus on the first 7 minutes of the task instead of thinking about the whole task, which is wear your workout pants, shoes and pick up the gym bag and let the law of motion work for you.

Eliminate Decision Making

We make around 35000 decisions everyday. Every decision making, whether small or big, needs energy. Many times we lose this energy on taking decisions for insignificant and trivial tasks, which reduces our capacity to take important decisions for growth, whether its in business, career, relationships or hralthy choices. For example – What shall I wear to office today or what to eat, what to cook, sometimes takes up 15-20 minutes of our prime time and energy, but does not add much value to our growth. But what to wear and what to eat still remains a big question. So the hack is, to take this decision once in a week and plan ahead which day you will wear what and keep it in order. Similarly for food, keep a chart ready. So every morning you wont need to take these decisions and it will help you keep your energy intact for more important decisions to be taken during the day.

The Box technique to control anger

How many times does it happen that you get into an arguement with someone and it spoils your whole day. The entire thing takes up your mental space and you cannot focus on important tasks. Its happened to me many times. Use the “Box Technique” at that time, often used by psychologists and neurologists, to bring awareness to negative thoughts and disempower it. Step 1) Close your eyes and take 3 deep breaths. Step 2) Imagine that person is in a small glass box. That person is saying something to you, but you cannot hear it. You just watch. Step 3) When you can manage to smile at that person in your head, open your eyes and get back to work. Let me know if it worked.

Create Habit Triggers

We all want to get healthier, we all know that we need to manage our diet and workout for that, but we still fail to do it. Try this hack that I did in last one year to create habits around our goals. Set triggers for every action required, say for example you want to start a daily routine of workout, then you can follow these steps to make it a habit. Step 1) Pick an already existing habit that you can continue in the new routine, ex: your morning tea. Step 2) The moment you finish that task already existing in your habit, do the new task required for forming the habit, ex: Start your workout immediately after that, you can also keep your dumbbells next to the place where you take tea Step 3) Repeat this for 9 weeks to strongly make it a part of your daily routine.

Use the power of Gratitude to create positive outcomes

Often times we get entangled in thoughts where we get constantly worried about things that we want or things we do not have. It makes us stressed, dampens our mood and makes us feel terrible. This quick hack would help you instantly trick you out of such thoughts. Step 1) Acknowledge the thoughts by being aware of it. Step 2) Take out a pen and paper and write down list of things that you have, like parents, partner, kids, education, home, food on the table, job, money, car etc. This will break your negative thoughts and instantly give you positive vibes. Step 3) Express your gratitude to whoever you beleive in. Do this everyday for 9 weeks to break your negative patterns and see for yourself how your thought process has changed. It will make you feel great, which will transpire into your work, productivity and growth. Try it!

Confidence Pose to feel confident instantly

Have you ever noticed that whenever someone is in a bad mood, feeling low, lazy etc, the person is generally in a slouching posture that projects low confidence, lethargy. heaviness etc. Picking up from this cue, here is a quick hack that will make anyone feel confident instantly. Correct your posture with your back straight, neck straight and breathe deeply for 3-5 times. The moment our back and neck is straight, it sends signals to our 80 billion neurons to get active. Deep breathing clears out unnecessary thoughts from the mind and alerts the subconscious for something important. This will instantly lift you up and help you become productive in the moment. Try it!

Double up tasks to manage Personal Development

We know that everyday learning is important for our personal development, but somehow we are never able to find time in the midst of all managing career, health, finances, family etc. I used these easy hacks to read 45+ books, 15+ Audiobooks, 8+ courses in last one year that helped me grow personally and professionally. I used my time for other activities which needed less cognitive energy to process that task double up with my learning time. Read 5 pages everyday while having morning tea, listen to audiobooks while working out and taking video courses while taking a bath. Small actions everyday, but doing it consistently has proved invaluable to me in the longer run. Try it!

3 day rule to maintain consistency in a habit

Research says that it takes minimum 3 days to break a habit. So if you want to be consistent with a good habit, like working out daily, just ensure you dont take a break from that work for straight 3 days. It can work the other way round too. Example – You have been working out consistently, but suddenly there was a break in circumstances around you, and had to take a break from it, just ensure you dont take that break for more than 2 days. Similarly, if you want to quit smoking, just ensure that you dont smoke for 3 days straight and see the magic happen. Keep Trying!

Practice Delayed Gratification

We are prgrammed for instant gratification, things that gives us instant pleasure, instant satisfaction by giving an instant dopamine kick in our brain and we feel like doing more of those things, which becomes an addiction in the long term. Delayed gratification is a system where we get rewards in future, and it needs a lot of self control and restrain as we need to involve our pre-frontal cortex to make logical decisions for the self control. So everytime you feel the urge to act on impulse, like eating that cake, watching that show on TV, ordering food online or buying that dress you dont need, wait for 5-10 minutes before taking the action. Slowly, this easy hack will ensure that you practice delayed gratification regularly and create a system where the brain will stop craving for instant gratification. Try it!

Use Power of Affirmations to get desired outcomes

Thoughts becomes things. Our Subconscious Mind creates patterns for everything we think, do and beleive. If we believe we cannot do something, or keep repeating a negative self talk, subconscious will accept it and ensure we become what we are thinking. This works the other way round too. If we fill our subconscious with positive self talk and positive beliefs, it will ensure we become what we are thinking. So hack your brain into affirming positive self talk like, “I am getting fitter every day” if you want to get fit, “I am getting wealthier each day” if you want to create wealth. The Subconscious will start accepting it as reality and make you work towards those positive outcomes. Try it!

Use Ikigai for career decisions

We spend at least one-third of our days on our financial career. Imagine having a career where you love the job and get paid for it. I have often been asked what career should I choose. What kind of profile should I go for. I always guide such queries towards finding the IKIGAI which is unique for every person. It is a culmination of things you like to do, things you can do, things which create value for others and things which get you paid. Whatever activity falls under all the four categories, is your IKIGAI and you should pick a career to enjoy absolute personal growth. Try it!