The Power of a 3-Minute Mind Reset

Have you ever had one of those days where nothing really goes wrong, but you find yourself getting annoyed at every little thing?

You wake up in a good mood, ready to conquer your day. Then when you get up to go pee, you realize there’s no toilet paper in your bathroom and you have to race to the linen closet, your bladder fighting the clock. Then, when you’re done and you head to the kitchen to make coffee, you step on a lego. FRIIICCCCK. Moving on, it’s all good. You grab your second-favorite mug (because your other one is still dirty in the dishwasher) thinking your pot of coffee is ready… then you realize: you never put the coffee grounds in the coffee maker, and now you have a fresh pot of murky weird 2% coffee water.

WHAT THE HECK. At this point, you’re just over it. “Why me?” you think, as you dramatically pour the hot water down the sink. After that, even the things that aren’t a huge deal (like your kid asking for a snack for the hundredth time even though it’s only 9am) just irritate the heck out of you. You realize you’re getting annoyed at everything and even though you know it’s unjustified, you find yourself just in a crappy mood. Which then rubs off on your kids. And before you know it, the whole house is just in crap-mode. Everyone’s grumpy, the vibe is way off, and nothing productive or positive happens.

I’ve been there, girl. It sucks. BUT, I HAVE GOOD NEWS FOR YOU: It doesn’t have to be this way! I have a tool that I use every time I get into one of these funks. I call it the “3-Minute Mind Reset”, and when I do this, it dramatically shifts my day from a bad one to a positive, more productive one.

You can hear all about it in podcast episode 003, which I’ll link right here for you:

In case you don’t have time to listen though, I’ll lay out for you below what my steps are.

THE 3-MINUTE MIND RESET

1. Stop and recognize that you’re falling into this bad mood/negativity spiral.
2. Allow positivity and gratitude to overwhelm your mind instead of the negative thoughts. Start mentally (or out loud, whichever works best for you) listing off EVERY SINGLE THING you are grateful for in that moment. Even if you think you have nothing to list off, think harder, and find something. It can be as mundane as the roof over your head or the air you’re breathing. Just find as many things as you can to show gratitude for at that moment.
3. Breathe. Now that you’ve replaced those negative thoughts with grateful ones, take a minute to lower your stress levels. Take deep breaths. If you can, do this for at least a full minute- but even doing 10 deep breaths can reduce your heart rate and help you calm down and feel at peace.
4. Do something that makes you (or the whole family) feel happy. Whether this is reheating your 2 hour old cup of coffee (or better yet, make yourself a fresh cup or a cup of tea), take the kids outside to play in the yard and get some sunshine + fresh air, or pet your dog if that’s something that brings you joy! Just find something that will make you feel happy and this will be the hard reset of your day. THIS is what really transforms your day and separates it from before, when things were crappy and bleh, to after, which will be happier and more productive!

And there you have it! Those are the 4 steps to my 3-minute mind reset. (Side note- after I do this, I also make any amends I need to- if I yelled at my kids or argued with my spouse due to my crap mood, I go say sorry and make things better.)

I hope that this is a tool you can also use in your life! I promise that if you actually stop and put the mental energy in to do this next time you’re in a funk, it WILL help. Even if there’s stressful situations going on around you, this can still help you approach things from a calm, more positive mindset which is always the best way to go.

If this helped you or you know a friend that could use this, share this post or my podcast episode with them! It’s SO easy to get overwhelmed in life, especially as a mom, so having things like this that can help us out mentally when we are just not feeling 100% is so helpful.