Start with awareness.

Mental clutter rarely appears overnight. More often, we build it ourselves — filling calendars, chasing productivity, comparing our lives to curated online versions of others. It becomes a steady buzz of unfinished thoughts, background worries, notifications, and decisions competing for attention. We switch between tasks without pause, surrounded by a flow of content that never fully allows the brain to process one thing before the next demands focus.

Before clearing anything, we must first recognise what we’ve been carrying and how much of it we placed there ourselves.

Once you recognise the pressure, the next step is to lower the volume. The brain was never designed for endless stimulation, and without space to process, everything starts to feel urgent.

A reset doesn’t require dramatic change. It begins with small boundaries — fewer notifications, single-tasking instead of multitasking, moments of stillness between demands. As input decreases, clarity begins to return.

This is not easy in a permanently connected world. Devices blur the line between work and rest, news and noise, urgency and importance.

Boundaries, then, must be deliberate. Curate what you consume. Set screen limits. Turn off non-essential alerts. Protect screen-free moments — especially at the beginning and end of the day — so your attention isn’t claimed before you’ve chosen where to place it.

When the mind has space to breathe, you can set the emotional tone of your day. Without it, stress builds quietly.

And stress rarely stays in the mind. It settles into the body — tight shoulders, shallow breathing, restless sleep. When pressure becomes constant, tension begins to feel normal.

A reset isn’t only about reducing messages and tasks. It’s physical, too. Gentle movement, slow walks, stretching, steady breathing. As spring draws you outside, use that momentum.

If we ignore the pressure and constant input, tension doesn’t disappear — it accumulates. Left unchecked, it settles in the mind and the body, gradually becoming the norm.

Spring offers a natural pause. A chance to clear space before overload takes hold. Small shifts now – reducing noise, protecting attention, moving more – allow both mind and body to reset before stress hardens into something heavier.

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SPRING RESET RESOURCES

Riverside Runners

Free 5km fun run

Mondays 18:30 @ George IV,

185 Chiswick High Road, W4 2DR

Park Tennis Sessions – Free

Saturdays 10:00 -11:00

@ Gunnersbury Park

AppBlock - Focus & Screen Help

The app helps limit distracting apps and create screen-free moments, so your mind has space to breathe.

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