Welcome back to the Santa Clara Meditation blog! ๐ฑ
“Is there really a way to reduce and eliminate wandering thoughts? I want to break the habit of having useless random thoughts, and I don’t want to waste my time overthinking anymore!” ๐ซ
There are some things we do effortlessly. Negative overthinking is one of them. Procrastinating, giving up, blaming ourselves, or pointing fingers at othersโthese happen so easily without us even having to try. ^^;
“Why can’t I do this? Why does that person hate me? Why does nothing work out for me?” ๐ช๏ธ Wandering thoughts that disrupt our work or studies tend to pop up even more frequently.
Everyone has experienced wasting time due to wandering thoughts, right? Even a CEO responsible for a company with 100 employees reportedly struggles with thoughts like, “Why am I so bad at management? Is it because it wasn’t my college major?” ๐
๐ฌ The Science Behind Wandering Thoughts
The body and mind are connected, meaning our physical posture affects our mind, and our mental state reflects in our body. ๐งโโ๏ธ When the body is tense, more wandering thoughts tend to arise. The reason these thoughts flood in particularly when you stay still is that your brain feels anxious.
The habits formed over 6.9 million years of a hunter-gatherer lifestyle are engraved in every single cell of our bodies. Back then, staying completely still meant you could get eaten by a lion! ๐ฆ Because of this, our brain finds it difficult to endure a physically still state. Therefore, for the sake of survival, the brain constantly searches for past experiences. That is exactly what wandering thoughts are.
“All animals, including humans, somehow recall past experiences when preparing their bodies for a certain action… The most important mission of the brain is allostasisโefficiently controlling the body to perform valuable movements by predicting when and how much energy will be needed for survival.” โ Seven and a Half Lessons About the Brain, p.27, p.31
We have a choice! ๐ก We can choose whether to let those wandering thoughts stop us from working, or to shake them off and focus on the present!
The only reason making this choice is difficult is that our emotions aren’t sorted out, we stubbornly believe our own thoughts, judgments, or feelings are right, or we simply don’t know our priorities. Today can completely change depending on whether you get dragged around by those thoughts or channel them toward growth. And if your today changes, your life changes~ ๐
โ๏ธ How to Reduce Wandering Thoughts
When a random thought pops up, run it through this quick filter:
- ๐ค Ask yourself: “Is this wandering thought a problem I actually need to solve?”
- ๐๏ธ If it doesn’t need solving: Discard it without lingering regrets!
- ๐ If it requires a solution: Think about how to tackle it, and then execute!
If your wandering thoughts arise because you are avoiding a task you need to do, it’s easier to write them down on paper! ๐ Taking your thoughts out of your head makes it easier to objectify them, allowing you to observe your own state from a slight distance.
The root cause of these thoughts could be that you simply hate the task itself, or it could be stress from a boss’s inhumane attitude or poor treatment by your company. Alternatively, the wandering thoughts might stem from issues outside of work, such as family matters or interpersonal relationships.
2010 Study by Matthew Killingsworth and Daniel Gilbert: The percentage of people who reported their minds wandering to thoughts unrelated to their current task was 46.9%. They were not happy… They felt even more anxious when they tried to resolve the wandering mind or suppress the thoughts and failed.
Have you tried writing it down? โ๏ธ If the thought “I don’t want to work” is triggering your wandering thoughts, how about taking just 30 seconds to think about why you don’t want to work?
- Is it because you lack physical stamina? ๐โโ๏ธ
- Are you afraid of failing if you proceed with this project?
- Or is it simply a hassle because the task requires you to study? ๐
Categorizing your thoughts like this makes what you need to do very simple. If stamina is the problem, exercise to build it up. If you are afraid of failing, discard that thought through subtraction meditation so you can focus on work. If it’s just a hassle, discard the thought of it being bothersome and simply start studying. It becomes even easier to execute if you combine this with time management! โฑ๏ธ
๐๏ธ 5 Steps to Eliminate Wandering Thoughts
1. ๐ท๏ธ Name the wandering thought
Ask yourself, “Is this thought helpful for my work?” If not, label it as “Fake.” The moment our brain attaches a name to it, it stops generating further thoughts about it.
“Do not think in nouns. If you think in nouns, the thought stops there.” โ Lee O-young, First Minister of Culture
2. โ๏ธ Make the wandering thought ‘resolved’
When wandering thoughts arise while working, write them down separately in a notebook. You are emptying out what is currently clogging your head. For example, write down the random thought, “What should I eat for lunch?” ๐ If a menu comes to mind immediately, write it down. If you can’t think of anything, write your own action plan, like “Ask a coworker at 12 PM.” Then, draw a line through it or mark it as resolved! By making that random thought “resolved,” your brain will no longer bring that problem up again.
3. ๐ฅ Set priorities
Ask yourself, “What is important right at this moment?” When you know what the most important task is right now, you gain the power to cut away the things you shouldn’t be doing. Then, your exhausted brain will start producing more constructive thoughts. Doing just this much will reduce how often you get swayed by random thoughts by more than half! โจ
4. ๐ฅ Meditate to discard wandering thoughts
If you have learned subtraction meditation, close your eyes for a moment and imagine a giant fire about 100 meters away. Following the method suited to your current level, bring to mind the wandering thoughts and the image of yourself having those thoughts, and throw them into that fire over 20 times. It won’t even take 5 minutes. (Tip: If it’s hard to discard, have you ever seen a scene in a game or movie where a piece of paper burns up and disappears? ๐ฎ Imagining that makes it a bit easier!)
5. ๐ฌ Take action
If you’ve done this much, you’ve stripped away the unnecessary, and only the important things remain. Now, you can immediately start your work or studies! ๐ช
โจ Discard Wandering Thoughts and You Will Realize the Truth
You will realize on your own that the wandering thought you just had wasn’t a real entity, but merely a shadow that can be eliminated. You will also realize that you were buried inside that wandering thought, like a coin buried in the sand. ๐ช
Once you realize this, you gain the strength to not be dragged away by those thoughts! So, even if a wandering thought pops up again, you won’t be shaken and can hold your center! ๐ณ
Having wandering thoughts is also a habit. When trying to work, when staying still, or when talking with peopleโthe endless wave of wandering thoughts is a habit. This is not easily fixed. Choosing to become anxious and depressed because of those thoughts is also a habit.
If you meditate a little every day to change the habit of falling into wandering thoughts, you will feel a small sense of accomplishment and gain confidence. ๐ป Discarding your wandering thoughts, anxiety, and worries according to the method for just 10 to 20 minutes a day will solve the problem.
If you want to fundamentally resolve your wandering thoughts, challenge yourself with subtraction meditation right now! The 10 minutes of meditation spent discarding wandering thoughts will accumulate day by day. In 6 months or a year, you will feel for yourself that you are working with deep concentration, completely free of wandering thoughts, whenever you want and as much as you want! ๐ฅฐ๐
