How To Get Mentally Unstuck – 8 Hints To Follow

“How to Get Mentally Unstuck” is my list to go to whenever you feel mentally drained, dim, or even defeated. 

Life can be messy, lethargic, or even confusing at times, and our mental capacity is stretched to the fullest to cope with its demands. We all know that because we all live it. But this is the reason why we need to recharge and refresh our minds from time to time to avoid becoming mentally stuck.

The hints that I recommend below are simple to follow, and like any information, it is worth trying to apply them.

 

HOW TO GET MENTALLY UNSTUCK – 8 HINTS TO FOLLOW

ALLOW YOURSELF TO BE STUCK FOR NOW!

Feeling stuck sometimes is normal and unavoidable. But being mentally stuck can be a red flag to warn you that you are mentally overworked. This fact is not surprising, considering that every day you have an average number of 50,000-70,000 thoughts that go through your head, and in addition to those, you also have all the daily personal or professional duties that require your full attention.

All these actions, after a persistent time without the necessary break, can lead to stress and fatigue. As a consequence, generate a kind of protective shield through this mental blockage, in order not to make the situation worse than it is already. Also, the lack of proper sleep and good hydration only accentuates this state of blockage even more.

So, just allow yourself to be stuck for now. Take advantage of the situation to give yourself a well-deserved rest break. It may be exactly what you need at the moment.

” Sometimes the easiest way to solve a problem is to stop participating in the problem.” Albert Einstein 

CONNECT THE DOTS

When you feel mentally stuck it’s good to trace your thoughts back to the last time you felt good, resourceful, and productive, and to catch the WHY. You need to pay attention to what is going through your mind and why this is happening.

Connect the dots (your thoughts) by looking backward to the root where the blockage was created. In this way, you recover, and at the same time refresh your mind and restore its proper functioning to move forward productively.

 

 DO A CURE WITH NEGATIVE IONS

If you take advantage of the break I was talking about before, also do a cure with negative ions. When negative ions are predominant in the atmosphere, general well-being is activated, it clears your mind, raises your morale, and reduces your anxiety and stress. The mountain air contains this type of ions, but they are also generated in the area of moving waters, such as waterfalls, seas, oceans, or flowing springs.

On the other hand, when the concentration of positive ions predominates in the atmosphere, as in the case of cities, we can notice irritability and persistent fatigue. So, for a while get away from the jungle of the city, and do a little self-reflection, lost in the simplicity and uniqueness of nature.

 

 

BE MINDFUL (RAINBOW EXERCISE)

By being mindful, you turn off your autopilot mind and thus leave no room for those automatic negative thoughts to be created. As a result, you free your mind and start being present in your life, and focused on the things that matter.

I want to propose to you a simple but effective awareness practice by applying the Rainbow exercise. Probably as you know, the rainbow has 7 colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet.

Do these colors refer to something in particular?

Maybe you guessed or already know the answer. If not, I’ll tell you. The rainbow colors follow the same pattern as the chakra’s colors. By applying this exercise, you will not only be attentive and present to everything that surrounds you, but at the same time, you will also activate each chakra individually.

RAINBOW EXERCISE:

Assign a color to each day of the week:

Monday – Red

Tuesday – Orange

Wednesday – Yellow

Thursday – Green

Friday – Blue

Saturday – Indigo

Sunday – Violet

Start the exercise on Monday, and on that day, wherever you are: at home, at work, on the street, in the park with children, or on a terrace, focus your attention on things that contain the red color. (E.g. a red scarf, a bird with red feathers, a jewel with a red stone, a flower, a mug, or any other things that surround you.)

Try to mentally collect a minimum of 20 red items on that day. The more you focus on doing this exercise, the more you will pay attention to the details, thus you refresh and stimulate your mind, and you will turn your day into a funny one full of positivism.

You can do this exercise alone, but also you can be mindful when you are with your kids, involving their attention too. What could be more beautiful than being a child again for a moment?

 

 SHAKE UP THE THINGS

For new results bring new energy. The energy of change breaks the daily monotonous cycle, and here I refer to making small changes that will get you out of that mental routine. In this way, you will give your brain a much-needed workout to improve your cognitive skills.

• try a new route, not the usual one

• listen to a different genre of music

• visit new places you wouldn’t normally go to

• engage in discussions with people who have different perspectives from yours

• change the place of things around the house to set the energy in motion

• try new activities that you are not quite top-notch at

• take the stairs instead of using the elevator

• walk or ride a bike instead of driving

• if the right hand is predominant, start changing your hand when you engage in different activities.

The idea is that to give the brain enough stimulation, you have to shake up things from time to time and do something unusual for you.

 

 

FREE YOUR MIND (EXERCISE)

Another exercise that I propose to you is to let your mind be free to create what it wants. For an entire minute, write on a piece of paper or the computer everything that comes to your mind: every word, idea, or phrase, without forcing them, without logic or a particular order. Write exactly what comes to your mind at that moment.

Perfect. Now that you have a list of random words, ideas, or phrases, take them one by one and associate them with an image that conveys exactly what the word or phrase refers to.

This freedom of expression seems to bring adrenaline to the stenography of information. Not only does it set your “wheels” in motion, but it can serve you with new ideas for a business, profession, or personal life.

” We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.” Albert Einstein 

 

 CLEAN THE PHYSICAL SPACE

It is proven that by cleaning the surrounding space, you send a message on a subconscious level that you want more flow in your life. The messy things, in general, have the power to keep you stuck, so a messy room, with many things piled up and thrown here and there, barely lets you breathe, and above all, it in no way allows mental fluidity, focus, and creativity. So, tidy up your space, and you’ll see how that will set your mind free.

 

ASK FOR HELP

To ask for help is nothing to be ashamed of. To feel more comfortable, you can turn to someone you trust and think is resourceful, it can be a family member or your best friend. Just ask them what they would do if they were in the same situation as you. They could give you new perspectives.

If all your mental decongestion attempts have no positive results, I recommend you to turn to a professional who will help you discover the real reason why you are mentally stuck, and who will provide you with solutions to overcome the situation.

Being mentally stuck can be a cause of the reasons listed at the beginning of the article or, in the worst scenario, be due to a mental health disorder. Sometimes, asking for help can be the most hopeful and powerful step which can bring you real and effective solutions.

BOTTOM LINE

The one-size-fits-all approach does not fit everyone. Although these suggestions are efficient and to the point, they could not work all for you. In this case, let me know in the comment below if you have tried any of them, or if you have different ones that could be effective and you would like to share them with us.

Till next time…

Find the “door” that keeps your mind free!

~ Diana O. Debreczeni~

Founder of Dare and Be.