By Ushara Shamini Everyone experiences times throughout the day when we wish we could be relaxed and calm, even for a few minutes. Relaxation helps your body re-energise, but sometimes you’re so busy and caught up in the moment that you just don’t have the time to unwind. There are simple ways to have a relaxed and calm mind – even during your busiest days – that don’t require a lot of time or equipment. Here are five good ways to relax and calm the mind. Learn to avoid procrastination: One of the best ways to relax and calm the mind is to stay on top of your priorities and beat procrastination. First, we need to understand why we procrastinate, and then after we resolve that, we have to know how to stop procrastinating, which is the biggest hurdle. Procrastination can lead you to act reactively. It can cause stress and negatively affects your health and sleep quality. It’s very important to get in the habit of making a to-do list organised by priority and give yourself realistic deadlines and work your way down the list. Learn to say no: Not all factors that disturb your relaxed and calm mind are within your control, but some are. Take control over the parts of your life that you can change and are disturbing your mind. One way to do this may be to say “no” more often. This is especially true if you find yourself taking on more than you can handle; juggling many responsibilities can leave you feeling overwhelmed. Being selective about what you take on and saying no to things that will unnecessarily add to your load can help you to keep a relaxed and calm mind. Learn to be action-oriented, not result-oriented: Most of us try to have control over the results of our actions instead of focusing on making the best possible effort to reach our goal. At the end of the day, this leads to disturbing our relaxed and calm minds. If we become action-oriented, we will be more productive and the stress levels will automatically reduce. What is meant by being action-oriented is goal-setting, meticulously planning, scheduling, prioritising, and implementing the plans. Connect to nature: Nature is the best and most powerful resource we have, not only to reduce stress but also to boost our morale and improve our overall well-being. Simply going for a walk or sitting in nature will immediately help you to gain a relaxed and calm mind. Being in nature or performing activities in contact with nature such as gardening help you feel calm and lift your mood. Write down your thoughts: When you cannot stop thinking, start writing all your thoughts in a book or a piece of paper. Getting things off your mind by writing them down may help you to have a relaxed and calm mind. When you feel stressed, take a few minutes to write down some short notes about how you’re feeling or how your day is going. Keep your thoughts organised; put down your all unnecessary or frustrating thoughts on a piece of paper. It’ll make you feel less burdened by those thoughts. PHOTOS © UNSPLASH, AMALIA HOME COLLECTION, TODAY, MEDIUM, INNERDRIVE BLOGS, BLOG-WRKIT