You may have heard of this uncluttering tip for paperwork - either "file it, bin it or act on it."

Well now you can use it for your wardrobe- "retain, repair, revamp or retire". How many minutes do you spend sifting through clothing that hasn't seen daylight for a couple of years? Uncluttering your wardrobe can have quite an effect on your mood and the time you have at the start of your day!

Use Your Memory: Tony Buzan

I first discovered Tony Buzan when undertaking a psychology experiment at an Open University summer school in Durham about 6 years ago. The experiment was about memory and involved ways of distracting people who were trying to remember about 20 different objects, which had nothing at all in common. To our amazement 2 of the eighteen or so people taking part in the experiment not only remembered all the objects correctly, they also recalled them in the correct order.

When asked how they were able to do this, both said they had read a Tony Buzan book. Intrigued I immediately rushed out and bought ‘Use Your Memory’. I found it fascinating, as it was full of detail about how the brain and memory work and how to put this knowledge to practical use. One of the memory techniques described involves linking whatever it is you are trying to remember to a setting or journey you are familiar with. This could be your own home or your daily journey to work. The trick is to then link or hook whatever you are trying to remember to familiar objects in your story. With a little practice this works very well, but the results improve even more when you bring emotions into the story. This technique helps with everyday items like names and dates but can also help you remember facts and figures for meetings and presentations. Buzan also explains the relationship between your emotions and your memories. If you think about this yourself you will find that your most vivid memories were highly emotional events, both happy and sad. He again explains how this knowledge can be used practically.

The Buzan Mind Mapping techniques are also of great use. I have used them very successfully to help to improve my understanding of organisations or structures that I previously found complicated and confusing. They are also a very effective way of taking notes at a lecture or a meeting. I have also found them to be an invaluable aid when making presentations or any other situation where you need to remember a lot of detail and how it links together. Whatever your need or interest, it is hard to image that you will not benefit from investing in a Tony Buzan book.

INCREASING YOUR ENERGY THROUGH MOOD CONTROL

If you need convincing that your energy levels are directly linked to your moods, consider the following.

Think about the last time you received really good news, like passing an important exam, the birth of a child, the bid for your dream house has been accepted. What’s your natural reaction? Usually it’s to go and celebrate, and regardless of what you’ve been doing or how tired you thought you were before you heard the good news. Suddenly you have all the energy in the world!

Another example is to observe the athletes at the end of an Olympic final. The difference in energy levels is striking, the winner is alert and full of energy and usually sets off on a lap of honour. Contrast this reaction with the losers who generally collapse to the ground exhausted. A lap of honour is the last thing on their minds.

So how can we use this natural reaction to increase our everyday energy levels? There are two angles on this. Firstly, you can take action to lift your mood from a normal level to somewhere higher whenever you feel the need. Secondly, if you are lowering you mood and energy by dwelling on bad memories from the past, then you can take action to stop this.

A simple way to lift your mood, and your energy, is to first of all recall a number of good times in your life when you experienced great happiness, pride, success etc. Now all you need is something specific and easy to remember that can bring these good mood-lifting memories back to you whenever you need them. You can try linking them to a favourite song that was around at the time of the memory. This works really well for most people. You probably already have a song, which every time you hear it, brings back the memories of a special event or holiday from the past. From now on, don’t rely on hearing it by chance on the radio. Instead, every time you need more energy, play that song in you head and reap the benefits.

If however you find you are lowering your mood and losing energy by dwelling on bad memories or future worries, try the following. Every time you find yourself daydreaming negatively shout the word STOP! in your head. Next, take a few slow deep breaths to relax yourself. Then, most importantly, listen intently to what is going on around you. Try to count the number of individual sounds you can hear, you’ll be amazed at how many there are. This simple exercise is very effective at bringing you back to the present, and in so doing, stops you losing energy.

Remember, in common with all the mental skills we suggest, you need to practice these exercises to get the full benefit from them.