How to Declutter Your Mind With God’s Help: 8 Steps
Sometimes, it’s hard to know where to begin when it comes to sorting through our mental chaos. Today, we’ll explore some practical ways to declutter your mind and find peace and clarity.
Be sure to read to the end of today’s post for a free eBook to help you set aside time for resting with God daily.
First, I invite you to join me in a place where I regularly sort through my thoughts: the forested valley behind our home.
How to Declutter Your Mind With God’s Help
Last night I took a walk beneath a canopy of beech trees as patches of fog hovered over the creek beside me. I’d spent the week keeping up with the kids and trying to stay on top of a full schedule. Desperate to sort through my thoughts and declutter my mind, the forest called me.
I go outside when my mind feels cluttered.
As I watch the sun sink beneath the hills or listen to the sound of red squirrels gnawing on walnuts, my mind clears.
Nature offers space to sort through my thoughts, assess my troubling circumstances, problem-solve with God, and file my concerns in the appropriate parts of my mind—where they can rest and settle.
Making Space to Declutter Your Mind
I need this space to clear my mind.
When I don’t get outside and create space to sort through my thoughts, my brain shifts into overdrive and keeps me awake at night instead. Without space to clear my thoughts, life feels out of control. I feel anxious. I snap at my kids and feel overwhelmed about even small decisions.
We all need spaces where we can problem-solve, meal-plan, make lists, cast vision, assess relationships, and clear our mental chaos.
When life is full, finding this space can be tough. However, if we look closely enough, most of us can find this space within our full schedules.
Practical Tips for Sorting Through Mental Clutter
The secret for decluttering our minds is stepping away from the noise of our days and finding space to sort through the clamor.
Let’s begin by exploring times and places for sorting through out thoughts. Then, we’ll talk about how to actually declutter your mind.
Times and Places for Decluttering
1. Declutter your mind in the morning.
The morning can be a good time to sort through thoughts about the upcoming day.
Sort through your mental clutter while you eat breakfast beside a window. Don’t touch your phone or turn on the TV. Think through the day ahead and make a plan. (We’ll look at steps to take during this time later in this post.)
2. Sort through your thoughts in the shower.
Have you ever noticed that some of your most compelling thoughts come to you in the shower?
The relaxing process of warm water flowing over your body creates a great space to sort through mental chaos.
This can be a good time to ask God what he wants you to know about a troubling issue. Be open to wise impressions from him as you relax in the warm shower.
3. Declutter your mind while you drive to work or drop the kids off.
A quiet car can offer a natural place for sorting through things like weekly dinner menus and shopping lists.
It can be a good place to hear from God about relational issues and problems at home and work.
Turn off your radio when you drive in your car and sort through your thoughts in silence.
4. Process your thoughts during your lunch break.
Spend part of your lunch break quietly regrouping and talking to the Lord. If you can get away, take a walk outside.
I took a walk to decompress from the morning and prepare for the afternoon throughout the last several years of my teaching career. This reset helped calm my nervous system and energized me.
5. Take a short walk in the evening to declutter your mind.
As often as possible, I try to walk outside in the evening, even if it’s only for ten minutes. This time helps me reflect on the day, plan for tomorrow, and talk to God.
If you can’t get outside in the evening, even sitting by a window or going to a quiet room in the house for a few minutes can work.
6. Declutter your mind while you undertake a simple task
Declutter your thoughts while you undertake a simple task like folding laundry or washing dishes.
The secret is to step away from the noise of your day and find space to reflect.
How to Declutter Your Mind
Now that we’ve established a time and place that might work, what do we actually do during this time?
Let’s walk through some steps.
1. Be still.
Take at least 30 seconds to do nothing but quiet yourself. Focus on your breathing. Think about how much God loves you.
The goal here is to slow down and calm your limbic system.
2. Cultivate gratitude.
This might not seem like a necessary step, but if we are going to declutter our minds with God, we need to be able to connect with him.
Mental clutter can be a huge hindrance when it comes to relating to God and connecting with him. One way to open relational neuropathways is to give thanks.
Take a moment to thank God for any gifts that come to mind. You might give thanks for some part of your day or for something you see as you look around you.
3. Thank God for being with you and ask him to help you attune to him.
God is always with us. Thank God for his presence with you. Ask him to help you become more attuned to his presence.
He knows things about your life that you do not know, and he wants to help you sort through these things. This leads to our next step.
4. Ask God to help you identify what feels cluttered in your mind.
At this point, it might help to have a pen and paper (or an open note on your phone). Write down anything that comes to mind (unless you are driving in your car or showering).
If one major issue arises, you might not need to write about it. You can dive into sorting through it with God.
5. Ask God what he wants you to know about everything you wrote down.
Now, take the time to look at everything you listed, focusing on one part of the list at a time.
Don’t rush this. One at a time, ask God to help you solve any necessary problems and sort through challenges.
Here’s an example of my common lists of mental clutter:
- What are we having for dinner this week?
- For which events do I need to plan rides for the kids?
- When are my work meetings?
- What do I need to prepare for my weekly Monday editing meeting?
- What is bothering me right now?
- Which friendships do I need to invest in this week?
- How can I be more supportive of my husband this week?
- What am I going to do about . . . (the fight with my son, my friend’s silence, my daughter’s need for shoes, coaching track practice tomorrow, etc.)
I take the time to write down solutions to every problem I can answer on my list (or I come up with mental solutions if I can remember them).
6. I pause on Question #5: What is bothering me right now?
Most days, something is bothering me.
I return to the question and see what comes to mind.
I talk to God about the issue and ask for direction. When I feel settled, I move on.
7. I stick with the decluttering process until I have a greater sense of peace.
The goal of decluttering time is to find concrete solutions to life’s issues and problems. I want to declutter in the day so I’m not trying to solve problems in the middle of the night or at inappropriate times.
8. I conclude by resting with God for a moment.
Lastly, I conclude my time by closing the mental book of cluttered thoughts and resting with God.
I thank him for being with me and shift to a place of peace.
During this time, I don’t aim to accomplish anything measurable. I simply rest with God and let him enjoy me.
God wants us to bring our burdens and create space for him to direct our footsteps. He is inviting you to create this space as well.
God wants us to bring our burdens and create space for him to direct our footsteps. He is inviting you to create this space as well. #SeekingGod #MentalClutter Share on X
Your Invitation to Declutter:
Ask God to help you designate a space where you might organize your thoughts on a regular basis.
You might choose your car, your shower, a walk outside, your bed, your closet, your laundry room, or anywhere quiet.
Spend some time sorting through your thoughts in this space each day. Ask the Lord to help you. He is waiting to guide you and help you find clarity.
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If these insights have helped you declutter your mind, I invite you to explore our family devotional books and library of free devotional books and eBooks below. May you learn to find peace in God’s presence as you bring him your burdens daily.
Calling All Parents and Grandparents!
As the parent of two sons and a daughter, I have a heart for helping parents develop deeper relationships with their children and with God. Our kids, ages 6, 11, and 15, share this vision. They have helped me write three family devotionals for parents or older relatives to read with the children and teens they love. You can find all three books here or read more below.
Attention All Boy Moms (and Dads)!
God’s Warrior: Devotions for Boys Who Want to Grow in Courage and Strength helps young boys, ages 5-13, learn what it means to trust God and become strong warriors for his kingdom. Now, more than ever, our world needs men who are willing to boldly carry God’s love into the world. I wrote this boys’ devotional book with our two young sons, Aiden and Caleb, ages six and eleven! You’ll enjoy their honesty as we teach boys how to be strong warriors for the Lord. Find this life-changing devotional book here.
Mother-Daughter Devotionals by a Mom and Daughter
Girl to Girl: 60 Mother-Daughter Devotions for a Closer Relationship and Deeper Faith is written for girls ages 7-12. It includes 60 devotions with Scripture, conversation starters, and a shared journaling section for moms and daughters after each devotion. I wrote this book with the help of our daughter, Bekah, when she was eleven. Find this one-of-a-kind shared devotional here.
Heart to Heart: A Mother-Daughter Devotional With 50 Devotions for Teen Girls is for teenage girls ages 13-20. It includes 50 devotions, each with a shared journaling section to help moms and daughters connect through writing. This is a great book for moms who want to communicate about awkward topics—like dating, sexuality, peer pressure, and more—but don’t know where to start. Bekah and I will help you right here.
Find Our Family Devotionals Here
Find all three books right here. They are also free on the Kindle Unlimited plan, which you can enjoy with a free three-month trial! These books make great gifts, and you don’t need to be the parent of young children to read them. Share them with your grandchildren, nieces, nephews, or the young ones you love.
Learn Why Willpower Doesn’t Work and Experience God’s Deliverance and Healing
God wants to work in your life to accomplish what you’ve been unable to do through willpower alone. Lean Into Grace: Let God’s Grace Heal Your Heart, Refresh Your Soul, and Set You Free shares practical ways to experience God’s freedom, healing, power, and presence in your life. Find this life-changing book as a free eBook on Kindle Unlimited or for 12.99 in print right here. (If you do not have Kindle Unlimited, you can try it out with a free three-month trial!) This book will transform your life and revitalize your relationship with the Lord!
A Free Devotional to Help You Connect With God
God is a good Father, and he wants us to experience his healing, deliverance, and replenishment. Most of us have learned that we cannot heal, deliver, or refresh ourselves; we need God to do this work within us. I invite you to create space for God to transform your life by downloading a free copy of my devotional eBook, The Lean Into Grace Devotional: An 8-Day Devotional for Healing, Deliverance, and Replenishment. Find it for free here. I also offer a library of free online devotional eBooks for free. I invite you to explore the collection right here! 
