Have you ever been “lost in thought?” This is when you enter a room or a situation and you don’t know why you are there. Getting caught up in our internal world of confusing thoughts can be exhausting. Overthinking can create confusion, clutter, and noise in our heads and keep us from seeing all the available options. Sometimes, we try to think harder to solve problems that thinking cannot fix. This causes our minds to race, we have difficulty turning off thoughts, and the body's stress response system kicks into gear.

New information comes to us from the outside world, not from rehashing or thinking about what we already know or think we know. We struggle with choices or decisions because we often need more information, and thinking more does not give us new information. Our mind is sometimes described as the total flow of information available to us at any time; thoughts are usually just an editorial narrative, one piece of this total flow of information.

Listening to or observing others, or tuning in to our bodies, allows us to discover solutions we might not see otherwise. Answers are often found in stillness, letting our thoughts settle, and tuning in or noticing what is happening around us. Solutions usually come from your heart or someone or something you notice in the world around you.

Sometimes, we are not even focused on the solution when we find it. When we let our minds be free from the problem, we can see more clearly. A walk in the park or reading a good book might bring clarity to our minds. By letting go of thoughts, we may see the problem from a different angle, or by not focusing too intently on our thoughts, we allow new ideas to emerge. 

A Note on "The 90-Second Rule"

Neuroanatomist Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor notes that when a thought triggers an emotion (like anger or fear), the chemical flush lasts only 90 seconds. If the feeling lasts longer, it’s because you are "re-triggering" it with your thoughts. If you can use one of the tools above for just a minute and a half, the physical urge to spiral will naturally dissipate.