Thinking Sucks

I have come to the official conclusion that thinking sucks.?I’m pretty sure that I concluded this a very long time ago, but I’ve decided to share it, expand on it, and hopefully shed some light on it today.?Let’s at least explore how this came to be and then we can dive right in.?When I say I officially concluded this I’m literally talking about 20 minutes ago.?I was sitting here at my computer doing maniacal circles in my head about the most mundane garbage and I simply decided “thinking sucks.”?Here’s the mundane garbage I was thinking about.?I’m a stats checker.?I check my site traffic ALL the time.?Too much of the time.?Too much of the time to the point that it invades my headspace.?So when I was checking my stats yesterday and noticed a significant drop, I was freaking out.?And this drop wasn’t even from the prior day’s stats.?It was from?real time?stats, which is a black hole abyss of an area every webmaster should stay the hell away from.?You can literally see how many users are online on your site at any given moment.?Seems cool until you get completely wrapped up in it and freak out like I did when I saw that my users online wasn’t what it was?supposed?to be.??I calmed down later when I realized that Google Analytics was glitchy that day and that stats were eventually showing up normal.?But what happened this morning??The same exact thing.?The same annoying problem is happening and it looks like I have a third of the traffic I normally do.?I’ve probably checked 50 times today and no changes.?You see, I’ve known this all along and will continue to know this.?No matter how much I check live stats, it won’t make a shred of difference what actually happens with my site traffic.?But I check it anyway.?And this is where I decided that thinking sucks.

It’s like an addiction – being stuck in a loop

I’ve used the term “being stuck in a loop” before.?Being stuck in a loop is when you keep thinking about the same thing over and over again. And what sucks about being stuck in a loop is that one of the only ways of getting out of it is by refocusing.?Refocusing is the act of changing up your activity to “reboot” your brain so that you stop perseverating on whatever issue you can’t stop thinking about.?Thinking is like an addiction.?There are moments when you feel like it’s completely out of your control.?You think one thing and then you keep thinking about that one thing over and over again.?It’s like even when you intentionally try to stop thinking about that thing that you think about it even more.?It’s no wonder why I said thinking sucks.?Because it does.?Especially when you’ve got a brain working at 1000 miles an hour with zero hopes of slowing down.?And yet thinking is where some of the best of us comes out.?Thinking is where the ideas are generated.?Thinking is what allows us to make decisions.?So how in the hell can thinking be so great and yet so shitty at the same time? And can we control that?

When thinking is good

I mentioned that thinking is good.?But when is it good??I’ll give you a perfect example of when thinking is good.?Let’s say you’re reading a book.?You’re 100% focused on reading that book.?Nothing is getting in your way.?The only thing you are thinking about is the words you are reading.?Then, all of a sudden, out of nowhere, an idea pops up.?The idea is magical.?You can’t believe you just came up with this thing.?You jot down the idea, can’t wait to work on it, and you return to your book.?That, to me, is thinking at its finest.?Have you ever noticed that some of the best ideas in the world come at the weirdest times??People mention coming up with great ideas while in the bathroom, while doing the most random tasks and being in the most unexpected places.?Why do you think this is??It’s because the brain is free from stress.?It’s not being pounded.?It’s not purposefully trying to come up with ideas.?When we’re in the moment somewhere else, our brain is relaxed.?It’s stress free.?It’s in these moments that our best thoughts come to us.?I don’t make the rules.?I just observe them.?I for one know that my best thinking is done when I’m fully focused on something and generally not intentionally trying to think of stuff.

When thinking sucks

You know when thinking sucks??When you have too much time to think.?Seriously.?When you’re out and about, doing stuff, staying busy, the ideas flow.?Your brain is stimulated with cool stuff and that cool stuff turns into cool ideas.?But when you’re just sitting around with tons of time on your hands??That’s when thinking can be destructive.?That’s when thinking can result in these horrible loops.?There’s something to be said about intentional thinking vs. non-intentional thinking.?I’m no scientist but this is the kind of stuff we really need to be studying about our brains.?I mean I’m sure there are plenty of studies out there but I haven’t seen any this specific.?Put it this way, when the brain is left to its own devices and is given zero direction, it can go in a million different directions often resulting in chaos and bewilderment.?But when the brain is given a task (i.e. if you’re reading a book), it stays on the path and picks up cool things while on that path.?Does that make sense??Does any of this make sense at all??I don’t know what’s going on.

So how do you get the good part more than the bad?

Now that’s the big challenge isn’t it??I guess the main question is this: How do you get the brain to “relax” more??How do you get the brain to realize that its OK to take a break??That’s the million dollar question right??Well, for some people (like me), the brain itself is the problem and it’s no fault of our own.

• Medication?– in the most extreme cases, medication can help tremendously.?By inhibiting some of these insane neurons and receptors that are always firing, medication can help slow things down.?It obviously depends on what your issue is.?It could be depression.?It could be anxiety.?It could be A.D.D.?It really depends.?But if the problem lies in the brain itself, a medication can really help a person to reduce shitty thinking and bring out the constructive thinking.?I’m a Prozac guy and it’s worked for me for years.
• Meditation?– If the problem can be solved without medication, all the better.?Meditation is one form of relaxation that people swear by.?Even just 10 minutes a day can do the trick.?I’m not here to tell you how to meditate.?Sit in a chair and breathe for 10 minutes.?No, seriously??But yeah, do your own research and see if any meditation formats suit you.?Give it a shot, you’ve got nothing to lose.
• Yoga/Exercise?– these are activities that put you “in the moment” that I would consider to be “refocusing” activities.?There are tons of them.?Taking a walk.?Driving your car.?It doesn’t make a difference.
• Therapy?– the key to therapy is the right therapist.?Without this, you’re toast.

Whatever Gets it Done

It doesn’t matter what your method is.?What matters is that said method works for you.?Whatever you can do to get your brain to move from intentional thinking to non-intentional is a good thing. Good luck.

This article was originally published on Uncoached.