How to achieve Mental Clarity?

In our day-to-day lives, we use phrases like, “We don’t know what we want”, “have some clarity in life” etc. but have we ever pondered what we are trying to say? We often come across situations in our lives, where we are confused, we don’t know how to go forward, what to do next, how to make things easy for us for example what stream to choose, how to strike a work-life balance, whether to work in India or abroad, etc. All of these difficulties are because people don’t know how to achieve mental clarity. Let us see what this word means and understand its significance and techniques to achieve it.

If we try to understand mental clarity in simpler words, it’s having an understanding of what one wants in life without divided attention and focusing clearly to achieve one’s goals. It’s a part of making cohesion between cognition, emotion, and behaviour. This also involves targeting our goal with limited distraction and working towards achieving it.

What confuses the mind?

There are several reasons behind a confusing mind. Some of these are mentioned below:-

1. Sleep Deprivation:

have you ever gone to an exam without getting enough sleep and experienced as if your mind is clogged and you can’t concentrate? Because you are possibly sleep deprived, it is a prime very important reason for experiencing mental fog. An adult needs between 7-9 hrs of sleep daily to function properly in a day. Sleep serves the purpose of restoring the energy used during the day. Lack of sleep can affect the cognitive functioning of an individual. So, it is very important to have a good night’s sleep.

Read More: Sleep Apnea: Definition, Symptoms and Treatment

2. Stress:

It is another important factor that confuses the mind. However, an optimum amount of stress is required for performing well. Extreme levels of stress can interfere with the ability of an individual to think rationally and perform efficiently. For example, you are well prepared for an interview but as you are close to your call, you experience a sinking feeling inside, and despite knowing everything you just couldn’t speak. A good way to manage stress in these times is breathing relaxing and not overthinking.

Read More: Psychology Behind Overthinking

3. Distractions:

in today’s world, our minds are wandering to an endless number of opportunities, there are so many things to choose from, that at times it becomes difficult to have a clear mindset about something. Distraction can also happen through the excessive use of social media and focusing on one’s work. Every time we hear a notification, we are compelled to see what it is or who has sent a message. It is very important to keep all the distracting things out of the picture when one is trying to focus on his/her work.

Read More: Discovering Blissful Focus: Get into the Flow State

How to Achieve Mental Clarity?

A person can have mental clarity in his/her life if has the following:-

1. Separating one’s thoughts and actions:

This is a very important part, most people make mistakes while doing this. They think about something else and work towards a different goal completely. It results in unambiguity and poor decision-making. This situation is called cognitive dissonance, which means having inconsistency between one’s thoughts and actions which creates difficult circumstances for the person. People should try to align their thoughts with their actions or their actions with their thoughts.

Read More: How Emotions Play an Important Role in Decision-Making

2. Knowing oneself:

As we all know it’s impossible to achieve anything in life if we don’t know our needs, feelings, wants, beliefs, boundaries, etc. How can someone possibly have clarity of thought if they don’t understand themselves enough? One good way of achieving this is practising introspection, which is a technique of taking some time off and understanding ourselves as a person.

Read More: 9 Key Teachings of Budhha that will help you gain Inner peace

3. Stop Overthinking:

Many times it happens that, people overstress and overthink about something they want which results in anxiety and blocks off thoughts which results in inaction. Too much worrying is never a way to achieve something in life. It’s very important to know how to relax at times and people can do it by engaging in their habits, reading books, listening to music, and practising self-compassion and relaxation.

Read More: How to Cultivate Self-Compassion and Promote Mental Well-being

4. Changing one’s lifestyle:

A great way to achieve better mental clarity is changing one’s lifestyle from an unhealthy to a healthy one. We all because of our busy schedules, forget to focus on our physical and mental health. Lifestyle changes take time to achieve, it’s a time-consuming process but not a difficult one. One step at a time will help in achieving greater life goals. So, focusing on one’s sleep patterns, regularly exercising, practising yoga and meditation, setting daily achievable goals, enjoying leisure time, etc, will help in combating the challenges of mental fog.

Why mental clarity is important?

Mental clarity is important because it helps us in dealing with daily life problems. When our thoughts are clear, we can easily set goals for ourselves and also assess our performance.

• When we have a clear mindset, we give our time and energy to important things rather than engaging ourselves in unimportant things.
• When we know, what we want in our life, it automatically enhances our self-esteem.
• It also helps in stop procrastination and complete our work on time.
• It helps us in achieving our long-term goals as well.

In conclusion, we can say that mental clarity is a stream in our lives that will help us flow smoothly through life’s struggles. We all fall prey to mental fog, now and then in our lives, it’s normal. However, it’s very important to know ways to get out of those times. It is very important for our complete mental and physical health. So, don’t stress, try and think with a calm mind, and you will be achieving all your goals within no time.