How to Make Your Mind Sharp and Intelligent
The other day, I was at a café, two tables by my right; this guy was mumbling and fiddling with his phone. He sipped his coffee, brought out his iPad, and started scrolling up and down.
For five seconds, he would stare blankly into space. In between, he would tap his head with his index finger as if trying to remember something. Then he picked up his phone and started dialing a number; next, I heard him ask some questions to the receiver.
I watched in avid curiosity as the guy continued to mumble while scrolling his phone and tapping his head in between. Then I smiled to myself. It was amusing to watch.
Does tapping the head really help one remember?
Obviously, this guy had his head full, processing each thought simultaneously without considering how much damage he was causing his brain.
I was tempted to walk up to his table and ask if everything was alright, but I shuddered. Instead, I took my eyes off him and minded my breakfast. I realized that by watching him and analyzing his movements, I was also overworking my brain. When I was done eating, I smiled at him and walked out of the café.
If we spend too much time analyzing our problems and dilemmas, we often end up losing more than we were before.
Additionally, persistent overthinking can result in a wide variety of symptoms, including insomnia, difficulty concentrating, and loss of energy, which in turn often leads to more worrying, creating a vicious cycle of overthinking. In some cases, this eventually leads to chronic anxiety or depression.
Our brains are complicated machines
The human brain has about 100 billion neurons transmitting the information. Different parts of the brain are responsible for processing and performing various tasks, but in a very real sense, all the different parts work together to make us function, protect, and prepare us to take action or decisions regarding our daily life.
There is a widely accepted theory that we should only use 10% of our brain. But it turns out that we use practically every part of the brain, and most of the brain is almost always active.
Our brain produces 50,000 to 80,000 thoughts per day and 2,500 thoughts per hour. Now 95% of these thoughts repeat themselves automatically. Between 70 and 80% of those thoughts are negative.
This means that 95% of the thoughts you had today are the same thoughts you had yesterday, and this is how overthinking happens. If you pay attention to these thoughts, you will be surprised to find that the most useless and unimportant thoughts pass through the mind at tremendous speed.
It is like being in a busy train station or airport terminal, where large numbers of people come and go.
These are words you repeat in your head, comments your mind makes, you repeat what you’ve heard said, questions, answers, and a bunch of mindless wandering thoughts that you might not even be aware of. Like when I was accessing the café guy from earlier. We consciously or unconsciously overload our brains, and this can cause a mental breakdown.
When we put our brains to the test, it takes its toll on the body, mind, and spirit. And regular chronic stress can even cause the brain to shrink. The release of cortisol- the stress hormone, can decrease neurons’ size and effective function in the brain.
领英推荐
Overthinking is much more common in young and middle-aged adults than in older adults. For example, 73 percent of 25–35-year-olds overthink, compared to 52 percent of 45–55-year-olds and only 20 percent of 65–75-year-olds.
Overthinking is not who you are as a person but a behavior that you have learned and that has become a habit.
Therefore, overthinking is a behavior that you can change if you want to. You can learn healthier ways to handle adversity, uncertainty, and risk while still making good decisions and staying safe.
The One Minute Meditation Switch
One of the effective ways I flip the switch to avoid overthinking is to meditate for a minute before switching to another task. I learned this trick from Darius Foroux , and it has been refreshing.
For example, after writing an article before logging into my trading account, I would take a minute off, inhale and exhale 60 times, making sure to clear my mind and focus on my breathing.
Try using the timer on your phone if you can’t do the counting while concentrating on your breathing. After the exercise, I would then start trading. Before I begin another task after trading, I would repeat the one-minute meditation exercise then continue working.
How to do it:
With your eyes closed, direct your attention to the tip of your nose. As you inhale, become aware of the air that is entering your nostrils. As you exhale, be aware of the sensations of the air flowing again. Do this several times. Repeat several times, inhale … exhale … inhale … exhale …
Meditation has many benefits, but the relaxation effect is more magical to me. I have used different types of mediation techniques to manage stress, anxiety, sleep, relaxation, and anger.
When we overthink, our body becomes stressed. Focusing on body recovery can help calm mental activity, which in turn can result in physical relaxation.
---
About author
Jessey Anthony is a motivational speaker, fitness coach and relationship expert who helps people become confident in themselves in any challenges they face in life. Sign up to my newsletter & more cool stuff.