Calm In The Center Of The Storm

One of the bad (?) habits I have is that my mind is racing all the time. Morning, noon, or night, my brain is always putting out something. Now a lot of you may feel the same way, that your brain is constantly in motion. Either writing a project proposal or thinking about what to fix for dinner, all day long the thing won't shut off.

 My main problem with a mind on overdrive is, being able to focus on the task at hand. To take all that spinning, moving energy and focus it into one thing. Well, I'm not gonna tell you I discovered a full proof cure. What I am gonna tell you is these tricks work for me (most of the time). So here they are.

 One thing that I do is find a quiet place, close my eyes, take deep breaths, and sorta' empty my mind. Now this may sound very Zen Buddhist of me, but no matter what your faith it works. I don't chant mantras or hum my brains out, I simply breath in and out, with my eyes closed and do my best to think nothing. You may ask, how can I do this in my office or cubical? Simple, during a break take a walk. Instead of sitting and unthinking, simply take a break and walk, even if it's just to the restroom or water cooler. I know it can work, I do it all the time. 

 Along with that, you can also pre-occupy your mind by doing something else. Here you may say, "Doesn't this defeat the whole point of focusing on something?" Well before taking on a major task, I go outside or inside (I work from home) and maybe pick-up fallen branches in my yard or do the dishes (my wife really loves that one). The point here is doing something that's low on focus is kinda' like stretching before a run.

 Finally, to ready myself to focus, I distract myself with a game or a lite read. A lot of times before studying for school or working on a major task at the computer, I'll play a game like solitaire. Although, this one totally mystifies my kids ("how can you do that over and over"), for whatever reason I find that this or reading some short story on my kindle, really sets me up to focus and work. 

 Well there you have my secrets (?) on re-focusing and quieting my over-active mind. Hopefully, this can help you too. If not, at least you didn't have to pay $14.95 at the online bookstore for something you already knew. 

 Everyone, have a peaceful-focused-day.   

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