I find that for myself so much of how i spend my time is dedicated to thinking, or reflecting on thoughts I've previously had and my brain is always linkaging one idea to another or causing a whole new chain of thought to the point that I can be almost constantly entertained in my appetite for information or ideas. Because I can be so easily entertained by reading and rumination sometimes feel as if I'm a dog chained to a moving vehicle that is my thoughts. For the most part I find such immense satisfaction in this that I am convinced I am not simply hiding myself from the world but I really feel that I am actually throwing myself fully into it in my attempt to learn. I feel that the world offers such an abundance of things to puzzle over, each requiring a large amount of time to become aquanted with that to dedicate oneself to the pursuit of one thing would be to the exclusion of everything else, the opportunity cost of specialization for intp's or me at least feels too great. Thus I'm lead endlessly scouring the internet, mentally taking notes of topics, authors and subjects which I should add to my essentially endless backlog of reading material. This constant input and consideration of data while endlessly pleasurable and distracting does sometime lead me to feel as I'm engaging in the most absurd of all activities by taking this all in to ultimately do not much more with it than to have a more informed picture of the world. I find it very difficult sometimes to rectify these feelings within myself, the tension created from family and society to do something with your life when they can't realize that part of what I'm doing behind my computer, or behind my book IS already doing what I value in life. The issue is how can I translate this into career, especially when my real heroes and people whose principles and lifestyles i would like to model myself on are essentially philosophers and cosmologists. The struggle for me is admitting what I want to really do with my life because it feels too big for me, and always question my own relative intelligence.I feel like I got an extra scoop of intelligence, enough to be fascinated by these things and want to pursue them, but not enough to really do it. Part of it is being frankly intimidated by the workload, I know my history with procrastination and homework, I have huge self doubts about my dedication to everything except my obsessive love/search for understanding nearly everything. I have serious doubts to my ability to build the discipline I will need to live such an ambitious life and worry I will never amount to more than being just another worker in the machine taking home a paycheck to console myself in entertainment and consumerism all the while thinking myself capable of more. I just want to find where I fit in, I want to love what I do so I never feel like I work a day in my life and I feel like it's simply an intellectual challenge to understand myself and what that should be.
Quite sorry for that long ramble, but this is the first time I'm really expressing these thoughts and I don't generally contribute to forums, but I can't help given the simple satisfaction I derive just from finally finding a place on the internet where I don't feel like an alien, or the ONLY person actually understanding the thread of a conversation, it's refreshing to read clearly expressed rational thoughts. Especially when they so often mirror or exactly reflect the same issues I contemplate daily.
Anyways, my actual point I find the best way for myself to stop actively thinking and really relax is a good audiobook(also movies/tv). A great narrator combined with an immersive fantasy or sci-fi story really draws me and my internal monologue is mostly content to enjoy. I certainly am thinking and relating to the book as I listen, but I find the story mostly serves to keep my thoughts enthralled rather than probing constantly for more which is what can be exhausting for me. I sometimes just focus on breathing as an exercise to stop my thoughts, i think I'd like to devote more effort to practicing this, but I wouldn't want to just give myself fully into that like some eastern spiritualists recommend, I use it more just for a breath respite to refresh myself before returning back to my thoughts reinvigorated. I've also been getting into better shape, just try to add a little more overall balance to myself and exercise can often leave me in a better mood, and I almost feel more lucid afterwards, my thoughts have better flow and I feel like I come to understand the drift of my thinking more.