Our minds are constantly buzzing with activity, which stops us from being fully present and able to focus on what is going on right now. So what can you do to declutter your mind so you can focus?

Staying present is one way to find a sense of calm, but that can be tricky. Here are five practical ways to clear your overly busy mind.
1. Say no to notifications.

Turn off the alerts on your phone. All of them. Only keep what you need (such as texts and phone calls). Each interruption is a distraction which drains your energy and adds clutter to your overloaded system. Turning off your notifications means you'll quickly free up some brain capacity and become more focused. Then, when you've finished what you needed to do, you can reward yourself with say, 10 minutes of tweeting if you feel so inclined. Continue reading.

Originally posted on Mind,Body,Green.

Some days go really well and some not so much. If your day is taking a turn for the worse and you need to stop the downward slide, you don’t want to add to the stress by eating up your valuable time. Sometimes you don’t really need or have time for a disruptive break or an hour-long therapy session to get your mood back on track.

When you're happy, you're more productive and generally on an easier track to success. A down mood can distract you from accomplishment and sour the relationships around you. Often, you can easily break out of a sudden funk without investing a ton of time. You just need a few quick tips and tricks--try these and watch your happiness grow. Continue reading.

Originally posted on Inc.com.

There’s an aspiring adventurer, entrepreneur or novelist in all of us. Yet when it comes to chasing after our goals and dreams we’re often too scared to take the leap. Fear holds us back. It destroys dreams. It kills productivity and, in all honesty, sucks the fun out of life.

Before embarking on life as a freelancer and starting Nudge, I had a huge fear of leaving my 9–5 job. Whenever a chance to follow my dream would present itself, I wouldn’t take it.

Fear isn’t something you can overcome by simply working harder. You can’t solve it by spending money. And you certainly can’t avoid it by delegating. So, I wanted to dig a little deeper and understand why we let fear hold us back and share with you how we can overcome it.

Why Do We Fear Failure?

It’s quite often not failing itself that strikes fear into us, it’s the other negative outcomes that come along with failing like a lack of income or potential embarrassment.

A few years back, whenever I’d so much as contemplate leaving the safety of my job I’d instantly make excuses and talk myself out of it . Continue reading.

Originally posted on Lifehacker.

The relationship rules that exist are just as important for the relationship we create with ourselves as it is for our relationships with others. Trusting, listening, communicating and most of all respecting ourselves is important to living in our truth.

You can’t be the best version of you without giving yourself the same respect we demand of others. The problem is that we don’t often see how we treat ourselves as either respectful or disrespectful. These signs will certainly help:

YOU MAY BE DISRESPECTING YOURSELF IF. . . Continue reading.

Originally posted on Power of Positivity.

Many people are focusing their energy on concern about memory loss, but few focus on how to keep their memory. What you focus on will dominate your reality, so rather focus on what you want and not on what you don't want.

Nobody has ever taught you how to use your memory. I believe that there is no such thing as a good or a bad memory, only a good or bad memory strategy. Many of the things you call memory problems, like forgetting your car keys etc, are quite normal and can be solved with a bit of attention and a better memory strategy. To keep your memories you need to store them effectively and if you follow these few principles then you will be able to remember more: Continue reading.

Originally posted on Inc.com.

From the outside, it may look like I have things together, but in reality, I’m one of the most anxious people I’ve ever met. Every day I struggle to stop a thought spiral of insecurities from overtaking me. Not even my closest friends know this about me.

The thoughts that plague me are things like, “What if I look stupid?” “If I say that, maybe she’ll get offended and think I’m rude.” “If I act like my true self, maybe they’ll find me annoying and I’ll get rejected."

I’m the kind of person who will say yes when I really want to say no. I’ll be polite just so that people don’t view me negatively. I worry so much how people perceive me, I often can’t even enjoy my experiences.

That said, over the last couple of years, I’ve had some realizations that have deeply impacted the way I make my decisions, and helped me move much closer to a version of myself that does what I want regardless of other people’s perceptions. (I can’t know what they are anyway!) Here they are. Continue reading.

Originally posted on Mind,Body,Green.