How do you stop thinking?

[NormannTheDoorman]

I approach anything with possibilities swirling around my head constantly. Not sure how others just not think. I suppose you could follow the Nike slogan. Just do it. I find that extremely difficult to do.

 

[SpaceYeti]

Don't stop thinking. Learn to focus it, learn to become more critical, but never stop.

 

[OptiMist_Prime]

Practice mindfullness? I think it's supposed to help with the swirling. Use the Force?

 

[Belak]

Is it even possible to stop thinking?

That's like asking someone to not think of penguins, it's a bit difficult to not think of something you are trying not to think about.

 

[nanook]

There was a time, when i experienced my thoughts as painful. A part of it may have been due to nutrition causing mental fog, however another part was induced by a dissociation from the body, which has caused my thoughts to appear "too loud" or sharp, that's the best way i can put it into words.

If parts of you are dissociated, the rest of you becomes narrow and inside of a narrow room, every movement appears to hit on the edges of a cage and you feel trapped.

I managed to integrate me with my body by paying attention to timing, by composing thinking, feeling and body movements into a harmonic composition. This means moving extremely slowly, while absorbed in thoughts, even standing still, when emotions come up, so that what little attention is left for the body can stil follow all details of physical experience, which includes visual perception of passer bys or objects as much as body movements. Give everything that comes up in you whatever space or time it needs to come up and pass by, to dimn down again. However it can also mean jumping or running to express a certain emotion.

I payed conscious attention to this for months if not years, it was enjoyable right away, but it took a while until the problem of "noisy mind" was forever history. I still think every bit as much, but it causes no stress.

 

[Deleted member 1424]

Are you trying to meditate?

 

[scenefinale]

Don't stop thinking. Redirect your thinking.

 

[Yellow]

Distraction is the normal method, I think. Traditionalists prefer television. Personally, I read comic[strip] books to stop the brain-din enough to sleep.

 

[Teffnology]

THC brings the conscious mind to the here and now, in general. My best cleaning, grooming, organizing, list making, random task doing, etc all have a common denominator with this gift of nature. In moderation as with all things, easier said than done.

 

[Brontosaurie]

i save thoughts for later - when i feel confident that loose ends will tie up given enough analysis, and that said analysis is trivial dirty-work. this actually gets more thinking accomplished, because a sense of perspective and priority is crucial to effective mental modelling, which is what thinking (in a colloquial sense) means when functional.

it's easier to do this when i'm in a good mood (or as i'd rather call it: hypomania, because i don't have "good mood", i have hopeless sarcastic despair or cosmic hyperconvergent synergistic triumph). when i'm in a bad mood, i never stop thinking, turning things over, criticizing and doubting. but i do it very poorly, very dimly. deliberation, volition, effort; a high degree of these indicates bad mental health for me. stumbling on truth upon truth without shame or pride, enacting insight and discovery - that is the best state. this may be personal but i think it's quite universal.

getting into the more confident mind-zone that i try to describe could be understood as "engaging Ne" if that helps. but i think the important thing is simply to ensure conditions that facilitate a good feeling/mood, however imprecise and dull that may sound. no shortcuts. we are animals, not gods. willpower or a magic secret mental trick will never solve our problems. if our nutrition, social environment and learning stimuli are sufficient, our thoughts will be balanced and adaptive.

sorry if this is condescending. maybe i'm giving you nothing.

 

[Teffnology]

Bronto, I fucking loved that man!

I identify with it 99.2%. Thought deferment is a definite part of my arsenal. I couldn't agree more with your closing sentence.

Drenth's concept of working through problems in order of your functional stack applies here I think. Ti to Ne, then vetted by Si, and related via Fe.

 

[Cognisant]

It's impossible to think of nothing, rather a mind clearing technique used for meditation is to broaden your mind's focus until you're not focused on anything in particular, if you broaden your focus enough you won't have enough processing power to think consciously about anything in particular thereby entering a state of wakeful unconsciousness.

There's two ways of doing this, you can either broaden your focus externally (listen to every sound, feel every tactile sensation your body is experiencing, be aware of every taste/smell, etc) or you can broaden your focus internally, relax and imagine something large, then something larger, then something even larger, by the time you're vividly imagining an entire city you're going to be totally unconscious, i.e. asleep.

 

[Olivia]

I don't ever really stop thinking, but I used to cry when I was little because I couldn't "turn off" my brain and sleep. Sometimes I listen to music; it gives me one solid thing to focus on. Also, physical activity is a good coping mechanism for me. Anything physical really; playing an instrument, doing a sport, riding a bike...It doesn't necessarily make me stop thinking, but it sort of calms my thoughts. Makes me more focused, opposed to three thousand thoughts running around my head like Usain Bolt. Also, caffeine helps. Instead of winding me up, caffeine (especially in large doses) makes me sleepy and calm. Ironic, huh? Welp, that's all I got. Just do something where your body can take over, where it doesn't matter where your brain is. I have no clue if that makes any sense, but it helps me!

 

[Ms.Nobody]

Practicing meditation and mindfulness would likely help in the long term. Or learning to harness and direct your thinking as others have pointed out. But sometimes one needs a quick fix just to get a break. So I recommend THC and some activity to occupy your slowed mind. My favorite combo is THC, movie/TV, and sudoku or some other game I can play on my phone.

 

[Desired Username]

You're lucky, when it comes to everyday occurrences I think I would like to be able to think more often. Have never been greatly challenged or had a huge desire for certain things, and people around my life growing up surely didn't help, only decreasing my desire in people and things. I now find myself staring blankly at things with little or no thought. What is there to think about? Nothing comes as too appealing.

It is nice, though. Every so often, to find something that may be able to rush enough enthusiasm if only for a while. But mostly, little thought. Enough thought to be mindful of things around me, but not enough thought for a nice layer of constant stimulation.

So yes, growing up bitter and alone may help form a great enough isolation of thought that winds up diminishing over time.

Or, I dunno, a duck parade? That's bound to accomplish something.

 

[emmabobary]

I can´t I just jump from project to project, theory to theory, input to input, retaking this one and the other. Usually fall asleep on my tiredness. -head aches by the way-.
Still funy.

 

[RandomGeneratedName]

Yeah I agree with the don't try to stop thinking. Read in a book someone that's just bad for you. Ofc the book topic was selling concentration

Depends on what type of thoughts.
Actual thoughts, impulsive thought, obsessive-chain thought, thought from nowhere.
If the thoughts don't sound like you, then sorry, you're screwed.

Kidding.

All I can recommend is:

Wind down before bed (no screen 1-2 hours before, not even phone)
Set focus elsewhere such as cold shower, hot waterbottle even.

Could try acknowledge the thought/thoughts, avoid attaching any emotion or judgement, remain calm/relax (ie not stressed which will have the opposite effect), then just watch the thought, possibly verbally diminish it, "well this is boring, stupid thought" whatever.

Actually tried this in the store the other day for anxiety. Focused on creeping up tension/incomming anxiety, and "come on Anxiety where are you, and mocked my anxiety a bit, lol, hey it worked!"


Whatever you do, don't try to not thinking abotu thought, as i'm sure you already know, will just make it more persistent.



For CBT which is simple and can do at home by self, search for TEA - Thought Error Analysis. Good stuff.

 

[onesteptwostep]

Try engaging your Si if your Ti-Ne is running amok.

Like.. calling a family or friend, or reading past journals, or playing/listening to music. Or do menial things like washing the dishes or organizing your room (if your room has stuff, I imagine most INTPs not having lots of things o_O)

Oh yeah, I really recommend INTPs to keep journals if they have the time to. It's interesting to see yourself grow lol.

 

[rainman312]

I find reading usually has the opposite effect. I generally think more if I start reading a good book. Playing an instrument helps me to sort out my thoughts and think more clearly. If you don't play an instrument, just listening to music helps. Classical is especially reposing.

 

[QuickTwist]

iirc, my answer is that I engage in an activity that requires concentration more than thought.

 

[Architect]

During the day that's good and normal, but not good at night. I try to do as much thinking with as much ideation as I can during the day. Then relax with a movie and I'll sleep deeply at night. If I am lazy and don't work hard I'll sleep poorly, creating a vicious circle.

So if I get lazy I have to remind myself "get to work jerk off, do you want to have a bad night?"

 

[Inquisitor]

What you describe is not a bad thing, unless you don't feel at peace.

The Ayurvedic take on this is fairly interesting...in Ayurveda the subjective experience is everything.

If you feel you have an overactive mind that never seems to slow down, then this is a problem. On the other hand, if your mind is quite active, but you generally have an overall feeling of exhilaration and enthusiasm, then according to Ayurveda, you have a perfectly balanced physiology. If you are in the former camp, then there are specific, easy ways of remedying this problem gradually using diet, herbs, small daily routines, etc. But in general, an overactive mind is a symptom of high Vata...I know this was and still can be a problem for me, but luckily I know how to manage it now...