How Do You Organize Your Thoughts Properly?

Everyone experiences nighttime awakenings where they are unable to sleep again because their minds are racing. You might be preoccupied with thoughts of a deadline, a vacation, or a change in the status quo.

While not all of these thoughts are necessarily negative, they can keep you from getting the sleep you require at night to be productive during the day. When you are thinking about something else, it is impossible to concentrate.

The solution to this is to organize your thoughts, and this has other benefits besides improving your sleep and productivity, as your positivity and ability to absorb information will increase, and finally, you will achieve your goals.

7 strategies that will help you to organize your thoughts properly

1. Choosing Your Preferred Way to Organize Your Thoughts

The first step in organizing your thoughts is knowing how you want to get them out of your mind so that they don't occupy your mind and bother you until you deal with them. It depends on you to choose the proper way, but here are some suggestions in general:

• Add everything that requires action — like scheduling a meeting or buying groceries — to a list, to your calendar, or both. Lists are a great way to organize clutter and relieve stress, which helps us focus and prevents us from procrastination.
• Write thoughts or wishes on a sticky note, flipchart, or in a planner app like Evernote.
• Add numbers and contacts to the address book or phone.
• Add household responsibilities to your to-do list, the app you use for planning, or the shared family calendar.

Productivity consultant Rachelle Isip, also known as the system guru, suggests some other excellent ways to organize your thoughts, and here are some of them:

• Write ideas on sticky notes, cards, or any piece of paper so you can analyze, evaluate, and process them.
• You can also draw a mind map or create a diagram.
• Unleash your creativity and make some changes to your style, as you can write a handwritten message, create a schedule or program, record your voice, or you can simply take a shower to freshen yourself up.
• Work on routine tasks, meditate, or go to sleep before making a decision.
• Do physical activities that force you to focus on the surrounding world, express your thoughts in body movements, and interact with others. Obvious examples include spending time outdoors and playing sports, but you can talk to a friend or family member.

There are many methods, each suitable for a person, such as outings or self-talk, so choose the one that works for you to organize your thoughts, and regardless of the method that you use, know that you inevitably need some kind of system to collect and coordinate your thoughts.

2. Turning Thought-Collecting into a Daily Routine

Sometimes you need to write down a thought as soon as you think about it. For example, while working on a task, you might randomly remember to add an item to your shopping list from the grocery store, so you should write it down and get back immediately to the task at hand.

Other times, you need to implement your thoughts right away. For example, say you meet someone during a social event, then you should add their contact information to your phone immediately, and of course, add a reminder to your calendar to contact them again soon.

You should generally organize your thoughts consistently, which calls for making the process into a habit. Therefore, take 5–10 minutes in the morning or evening to get all of your thoughts out in the way that you prefer, there is no need to go into detail. The point is to put these thoughts in writing and then choose what to do next. For example, you could set aside the afternoon of the last day of the week to plan the following week. However, once you have listed everything you want to get done, if you find that the majority of the tasks are not priorities for you, you can outsource them or remove them.

3. Dividing the Information into Groups

“ It’s much easier to remember information when it’s grouped into smaller chunks. I find that my brain prefers to remember things in groups of five, but maybe groups of four or eight will be your magic number,” says Mike Byster, founder of Brainetics.

“Groupings allow you to organize information and sometimes apply other memory strategies, such as keywords, or a code you totally make up using your imagination. This method can be used for a wide variety of tasks, from recalling lists of items to remembering basic concepts,” Bester explains

Bester suggests, “ In a studying environment, if you're trying to figure out how to commit to memorizing a long batch of notes, see if you can break down your detailed notes into chunks of five main concepts. This will help you mentally organize all the material and recall the important facts."

4. Categorizing Your Thoughts

In addition to grouping, you can also categorize your thoughts. This is a quick and easy way to see what they have in common or how topics relate to each other. You can also add subcategories, as Leon Ho, Lifehacker’s founder & CEO, writes: “For example, if you are a writer, you could categorize some of your thoughts into a group of ‘stories’ according to the style you think the story should take, like a dramatic screenplay, novel, short story, etc. Then, append it to a separate genre subcategory, such as historical fiction or science fiction."

Also, he recommends, “Kill your darlings. It is important advice for every writer, and it means that you should get rid of the ideas and words dearest to you. Thoughts vary greatly in worth. Your notes may contain a truly brilliant and original idea, but there is little chance that all of them are great, so there is no point in wasting your time on something that will never work.” 

He adds, "Sometimes, it can be difficult to determine which of your thoughts are great and which are not. So, one way to do that is to follow your intuition, and another way is to talk to people about your ideas and observe their reactions to them." Always remember to be honest with yourself, and don't let emotions influence your decision. If that is difficult for you, ask for feedback from someone you trust. However, he concludes by saying: "You can start working on implementing your ideas once you've reduced them and chosen the best ones."

5. Reframing the Thoughts That Cause You Anxiety

With age, we become more anxious, and the pandemic has exacerbated these feelings even more. This is a problem because it is difficult to get rid of anxious thoughts even if you write them down, go for a walk, or try to categorize them. Moreover, the worst is that they make you feel like everything is out of control and distort your perspective of reality.

To deal with these types of thoughts, reframe them so you change your viewpoint and get rid of the incorrect ones, here are some proven tips:

• Validate your thoughts by stating facts rather than using emotional statements.
• Ask yourself, "Is this helpful?" rather than "Is this right?"
• Think about what you would say to a friend if they were you when you find yourself engaging in negative self-talk.
• Focus on being realistic, not just positive.
• Replace the idea of "finding the bright side" with the idea of "finding the benefit".
• Move from thinking to action.
• Try different techniques until you find what works best for you.
• Try something else if reframing doesn't work, like breathing exercises.

6. Taking Breaks

According to Dr. Travis Bradberry, author, and co-founder of TalentSmart, "Our bodies and minds are not designed to work for long periods. While it may seem that working eight hours straight is the most effective way to get everything done, it can actually harm your productivity."

He adds: “Research has shown that the most productive work cycle is closer to 52 minutes of continuous work followed by 17 minutes of rest. While it is probably unrealistic to structure your schedule so rigidly, for most people it is enough just to remember to take breaks.” Also, you can set an alarm or use the Pomodoro Technique to remember to take frequent breaks throughout the day.

If this is too strict for you, you can simply take breaks when it suits you. For example, if you are trying to focus on your work and notice that your thoughts are racing, it may be best to stop what you are doing and go for a walk to clear your head.

"After you take a break, you should try to focus back on your task," says Dr. Bradberry. "No matter how focused you were before you took a break, sometimes you will need to start over to get your focus back."

To reconcile periods of work and rest, you must reorganize your thoughts, and that is through:

• Ensure that the task at hand is neither too difficult nor too easy.
• Control and manage your emotions.
• Keep your focus by removing distractions.

"You'll find that getting back into focus quickly after a break is possible, but you have to set it as a goal and work on it," Bradberry says.

7. Letting Go of Negative Feelings

Anger, frustration, and anxiety are all normal feelings, but they are not healthy or necessary, and they take up your precious time and energy. Therefore, get rid of these feelings and abandon them if you can, and this is possible using methods such as:

• Accept what is real and practice gratitude.
• Focus on what you can control.
• Live in the present moment through the practice of meditation.
• Understand that perfection does not exist.
• Find creative outlets, such as drawing or writing.
• Act with sincerity and accept vulnerability.
• Seek moments of solitude and silence to reflect and make a plan.

After you get your thoughts out of your head and organize them, you can continue working on the ones that have value and get rid of the rest.