What To Do When Your Brain Doesn't Stop Talking

Having a busy mind doesn't mean you're productive. Just as being productive doesn't mean you're burdened with a busy mind. They're not symbiotic. 

~Tricia Daye

You're a doer. You're a goer. But so is your brain.

This busy brain of yours is one of the driving forces behind your success. It tracks all your projects, budgets, appointments, and so on, but it's also scattered to the 9-winds - causing a never-ending cyclone of pestering thoughts.

Trying to keep all of those scattered thoughts quiet can be downright exhausting. 

While there are a lot of benefits to having an energized brain, it can also wreak havoc on our sleep, cause us to interrupt conversations, make us fall into a worry spiral, or forget what we just heard. If you've been there, then you're likely looking for ways to get better control over the internal chatter. 

The good news is we can influence the brain's functionality, vitality, and presence simply by consistently shifting our daily patterns.

Here are a few small shifts you can quickly implement when you need a quiet mind. Over time, consistent practice will train the brain to automatically recognize when quiet time is required. 

Tip One: Turn the mind's volume down so you can sleep 

One of the biggest complaints from people in the hustle-bustle lifestyle is sleep – specifically, the lack of quality sleep. Regardless of which tricks are implemented:

...sleeping pills,

...no caffeine after the morning hours,

...a glass or two or three of wine before bed,

...using the tv for white noise,

the chatter cyclone soars right when the head hits the pillow or, worse, it jolts us awake at 3 a.m. 

Tried-and-true traditional bedtime routine advice will aid in the slowing of your mind and body; however, if you still find yourself suffering from mental chatter at bedtime, lean into one of the easiest sure-fire solutions = a pen and paper. 

Place a notepad and pen next to the bed. Yep, a notepad and pen – not a cell phone or tablet.

How does this help your talkative mind? An innate desire to keep everything 'straight' in our mind typically causes spiraling thought patterns and a certain level of alertness.

By keeping a pen and paper next to the bed, we can easily record our thoughts which then triggers a message to the brain that says, "Everything is okay. We won't forget."

Tips: 

• Put a notepad and pen in a permanent place next to the bed. Instead of removing the pad when referencing what you wrote, tear out the relevant page and take it with you when you leave.    

• When your mind is ruminating, write down all the key points that will help you remember the "what" the next day when you wake up.      

• Keep it short and sweet. Instead of writing, Pick up drycleaning and Go to the grocery store for the kids' lunch – write down: Drycleaning, and Lunch food (or) apple, bread.

Bonus tip: Drinking alcohol to wind down after work offers a nice sedative effect – it calms the brain – but beware that disruption of quality sleep often goes hand in hand with drinking. Not only are REM sleep cycles interrupted, many people also find themselves awake at 3 a.m. with spiraling anxiety (busy brain) due to the body’s natural alcohol and sugar metabolism process. 

Tip Two: Structure your thoughts to promote relaxation 

Have you heard about the competitors who memorize an unbelievable stream of numbers, images, or faces? They implausibly recall the sequence of 80 random digits or a full deck of cards in 13 seconds.

They've learned how to structure their thoughts in such a way that they can tap into this orderliness at any time. 

This isn't an invitation to run off and learn a unique memory skill. Instead, it's a proposal to use specific memory nuggets in your day-to-day interactions. 

One of the reasons we have a busy mind is because our thoughts, tasks, to-dos, or obligations need to be more mentally organized. Disorganization can cause us to fall into the sporadic jittery, quickly shifting, interruptive brain that fails to relax. 

The ancient Loci Method, also called mind palace, is a proven strategy for structuring our thought sequencing. It combines a known image with things we want to remember.

As with anything, the technique takes time and practice to master, so start small. Try doing it with a work deadline, Saturday's errands, or a future conversation. 

To organize your thoughts, follow these steps: 

1) Create your mind palace.

 Think of a location or thing you know well - home, favorite store, painting, work commute - and can picture it clearly in your mind.

Then, 'journey' through the space in an order that feels natural to you (left-to-right, right-to-left, top-to-bottom, or bottom-to-top). This is the same order you will take when building the mental associations.

2) Select objects or focal points in the mind palace.

Mentally move through the space in your chosen order and select specific objects (or focal points) - front door, foot mat, grandfather clock, chandelier, gold picture frame...

Continue 'journeying' through the palace until you've memorized the location of each selected object in order. 

3) Create an object-fact mnemonic image by making associations between the image and the information you want to remember.

The mnemonic images are a visual “interaction” (mental picture) between the object and the fact.

The object (the specific objects in the mind palace) are the memory sequencing triggers in the room.

The fact (what you want to remember) can be tangible like a spreadsheet or abstract like an emotion.

*When trying to remember an abstract fact, turn it into a tangible one by making a personal association. Exuberant = a little kid with an ice cream cone.

Confused? Here’s an example:

If you’re trying to remember a series of words and exuberant is the first word in the sequencing, and the front door is the first object in your mind palace journey, you could think: an exuberant kid with ice cream all over his hands touches the doorknob to open the door. 

4) Continue moving through the palace until all of the facts have been assigned an object-fact mnemonic image.

5) Make tweaks as needed.

Walk through the palace and try to recall your information. If the recall isn't sharp enough, make image tweaks.

6) Recall and use the information.

That's it. Whenever you need to use this information, like check in on a looming to-do list, go to the palace, and journey through the space. 

Tip Three: Devote attention when pivoting between back-to-back obligations 

Can you picture a conference room with people discussing this week's business jargon where they are nodding in agreement and occasionally humming a yes while looking at the screened presentation.

Now, consider how many people walk out of that room, realizing they cannot recall many precise details because they were too distracted with yesterday's thoughts or today's deadlines. Does this sound like you?

Skip the hassle of splitting your thoughts between the past, present, and future by holding space in the present moment. In the conference room, for example, the most straightforward way to accomplish this is to: 

Take detailed notes. Yep, that's it. Taking detailed notes during a meeting or following an impromptu engagement has multiple benefits. 

• Shuts off the mental chatter - without the bandwidth to wander, our focus stays on point. 

• Rewires the brain - cognition and memory recall increase with handwritten notes. 

• Boosts comprehension - capturing a range of details improves the synthesis of content.

Even though notetaking forces us to focus on the present moment, how we take them matters. Notetaking benefits differ between the computer and handwritten method.

Tip Four: Start (or end) your day with clarity through meditation

Doing meditation with a busy brain may sound counterintuitive. ...Or so we thought.

Different meditation practices, like active movement, present moment, or binaural beats, are perfect for the modern-day doer and goer. Plus, they reap the same clarifying calmness as the other “stillness” styles. Eventually, slowing down the brain chatter altogether. 

Here's how to bring these more active meditation styles into your life.

Active movement meditation is perfect for people that get satisfaction from movement or like to get the best bang for their time by multitasking. Movement can be anything from running, walking, yoga, gardening, or Tai Chi.

Tips:

• Select a daily movement activity that you already do.

• Set the intention to meditate during this activity. Start with 5-minute increments that increase weekly until the meditation encompasses the activity's entire duration. 

• Leave the music at home. 

• Turn your focus away from the day's tasks, regrets, shoulda, coulda, wouldas, and focus instead on your body. Take note of how your feet feel and their sound when touching the ground. Notice your muscles, the air on your skin, or the sky above you. Simply be aware.

• Breathe through spiraling thoughts by feeling, listening, and sensing your breath as you engage in this movement. 

Present-moment meditation mirrors active movement without the 'active' or the 'movement' aspect. This mindfulness style is perfect if you ran out of time in the morning, missed your meditative workout, or need a quick tranquility boost. It can be done anywhere and in as little or as much time as you desire. 

Options: 

• Turn your focus to your body's sensations - how the chair feels underneath you, how the steering wheel feels on each finger and palm, or how the breeze feels on specific parts of your face. 

• Focus on breathing in and out with rhythmic counts - breath in for 5, expand the belly, hold for 2, breathe out for 5, hold for 2, and repeat. Feel, listen, and sense the breath as it moves through you. 

• Turn your focus to what you see in front of you. Zone into one thing you're grateful for - a butterfly, the rainstorm, a coffee cup - and say (silently or out loud) why you're grateful. Keep going until you've completed at least five gratitude downloads. 

Binaural beats, also known as a shortcut meditation, are great to turn to when you're downright slammed and have no time. This auditory illusion is said to have the same positive mental and physical effects as meditation, but more quickly.

The beats work with the five brainwave frequencies and are used for things like focus, relaxation, or concentration, so be sure to select the right one. They're great to play while working on homework or company assignments.

Tips:

• Choose a meditation-based binaural beat audio. Most streaming providers like YouTube or Apple have binaural beats.

• Be sure to listen with a headset.

• Listen to beats only while performing tasks that do not require your full attention, like driving. 

Here's to your calm mind

While these solutions will do wonders for bringing calmness into your life, especially when combined, the best implementation practice is to start slow and with small bites. Pick one that resonates the most with your present-day lifestyle. Then find a small way to fit in another solution once the first habit is built.