Stop thinking?
 

Do you ever overthink anything? Do you think it's possible? Do you think 'tuning out' makes you stupid, or might produce "mental peace"?

Please discuss. I find myself overthinking things to the point of distraction and sometimes insomnia.

On a related note, how do you 'tune out'? Go to the gun range? Have a beer (or ten)? Drive the Porsche? Something that does not involve a material possession? Meditate? Chant? Pray to God/Allah/what-have-you?

I think (no pun intended) it is very possible to be paralyzed by indecision. You can "what if" things to death, and my wife tends to be one of those people. She will try to plan for every contingency no matter how ridiculous until I gently remind her "and what if a monkey flew out of your butt? What then?" When making a decision you should take into account some possible coincidences, but you can nitpick anything to death and sooner or later you have to act.

As General Patton said:
A good plan today is better than a perfect plan tomorrow.

As for the tuning out part I don't really have one thing...

women in general are like that. Everything is questioned to the x power, even on decisions already made. That's why it seems like they are talking all the time.

rjp

In the past I had mild bouts of insomnia. I attribute a lot of it to thinking about stupid random stuff and not being able to stop. I would just go to the gym and do about 30 mins on the elliptical or such, shower and then I would be able to crash out.

I've been a techie in the computer business for over 30 years. The answers to some of the most complex problems I've solved have come spontaneous while I wasn't trying to solve the problem. If I have the luxury of time when trying to solve a problem, I will let it go for a while. More often than not the answer will show up.

To quote the Tao Te Ching, grasshopper:

Do you have the patience to wait
till your mud settles and the water is clear?
Can you remain unmoving
till the right action arises by itself?

As I've gotten older, I've learned to just hang back a bit. In general I've found that many times problems solve themselves and opportunities appear that weren't apparent before. As I get more "positive reinforcement" through results like that, I find it easier to hang-back a little more. Through this cycle I've also started to appreciate how much I DON'T know. As I appreciate this more, I hang back even more to let those who do know things use what they know.

BTW, I did read Lao Tzu on Taoism when I was in my 20's, and I'm a big believer in that philosophy in regards to management situations. My favorite tidbit from that book goes something like this:

The king that has achieved the lowest level of Tao does everything and accomplishes nothing.
The king that has achieved the highest level of Tao does nothing and accomplishes everything.

As much as possible to try to operate with a high level of Tao.

I've been a systems programmer/networking techie for 25 years, and I've found that to be true for me also. I typically leave work "at work", but I can't begin to count the times that the "lightbulb" has gone off while I'm in the shower or on the drive in to work while I'm not consciously thinking of the problem at hand. I have no clue how or why, it just is :)

Mountain biking is a wonderful time for me "think things thru." I do 24 hour mountain bike races. After about 15 hours on the bike, I get into a near meditive state. Any problem I have I can solve or decide to live with at that point.

I'm kind of hard-headed. That's probably why it takes 15 plus hours and the threshold of exhaustion to come to my epiphanies.

angela

"Too much analysis leads to paralysis"

I like to remember that the world has a lot of things in it to amaze me. The "WOW" factor.

John has it right, I think. Recognizing how much you do not know. There has to be some zen in that as a step on the path to enlightenment or something.

Keith: Your subconscious still works on problems even when you are unaware it is. Then it says to the conscious..."Hey....I have an answer!!"

"Too much analysis leads to paralysis"

I like to remember that the world has a lot of things in it to amaze me. The "WOW" factor.

John has it right, I think. Recognizing how much you do not know. There has to be some zen in that as a step on the path to enlightenment or something.

Keith: Your subconscious still works on problems even when you are unaware it is. Then it says to the conscious..."Hey....I have an answer!!"

I try to make the best decision possible. That is not the same thing as a perfect decision.

As a Finance major in college, I had a professor say: "A good plan today is better than a perfect plan tomorrow." I live by those words. I stick by a decision until there is a compelling reason to change course. Too much change too frequently causes stress and uncertainty.

I make sure to have some mental down time built into my day. Going to the gym, going to the range, taking a walk around the lake at work, BSing with friends at lunch, playing video games--something to veg out to. I too often find the solutions to problems when I am not looking for them.

Ofcourse, in general, generalistions are generally wrong. Even this one.

give it time..

There was study done years ago that claimed our minds continue to process problems even while asleep as well as when not consciously thinking about them.

I thought that I over thought until I came to the conclusion that I didn't. But then nobody who overthinks, thinks that they do. Therefore how do I know if I do?

"It started out innocently enough. I began to think at parties now and then to loosen up. Inevitably though, one thought led to another, and soon I was more than just a social thinker.
I began to think alone - "to relax," I told myself - but I knew it wasn't true. Thinking became more and more important to me, and finally I was thinking all the time.

I began to think on the job. I knew that thinking and employment don't mix, but I couldn't stop myself.

I began to avoid friends at lunchtime so I could read Thoreau and Kafka. I would return to the office dizzied and confused, asking, "What is it exactly we are doing here?"

Things weren't going so great at home either. One evening I had turned off the TV and asked my wife about the meaning of life. She spent that night at her mother's.

I soon had a reputation as a heavy thinker. One day the boss called me in. He said, "Skippy, I like you, and it hurts me to say this, but your thinking has become a real problem. If you don't stop thinking on the job, you'll have to find another job." This gave me a lot to think about.

I came home early after my conversation with the boss. "Honey," I confessed, "I've been thinking..."

"I know you've been thinking," she said, "and I want a divorce!"

"But Honey, surely it's not that serious."

"It is serious," she said, lower lip aquiver. "You think as much as college professors, and college professors don't make any money, so if you keep on thinking we won't have any money!"

"That's a faulty syllogism," I said impatiently, and she began to cry. I'd had enough. "I'm going to the library," I snarled as I stomped out the door.

I headed for the library, in the mood for some Nietzsche, with NPR on the radio. I roared into the parking lot and ran up to the big glass doors... they didn't open. The library was closed.

To this day, I believe that a Higher Power was looking out for me that night.

As I sank to the ground clawing at the unfeeling glass, whimpering for Zarathustra, a poster caught my eye. "Friend, is heavy thinking ruining your life?" it asked. You probably recognize that line. It comes from the standard Thinker's Anonymous poster.

Which is why I am what I am today: a recovering thinker. I never miss a TA meeting. At each meeting we watch a non-educational video; last week it was "Porky's." Then we share experiences about how we avoided thinking since the last meeting.

I still have my job, and things are a lot better at home. Life just seemed... easier, somehow, as soon as I stopped thinking! "

I do nto remember where I read this but I substantially agree with the principle:

"THE BIGGEST MISTAKE ONE CAN MAKE IN LIFE IS FEARING TO MAKE ONE"

Basically when you "overthink" a problem you are paralized by the idea of getting it wrong. Well everybody does it all the time.

I think the winners are not the ones that do not make mistakes, but the ones that realized it the quickest and correct them.

So if you make a decision after an agonizilgly long thought process it's going to be more difficult to reverse the course of action in case of a mistake.

:D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D

Mow the lawn. It is a fairly mindless activity, good for tuning out.

Tuning out:- Running.

Give the conscious mind some physical discomfort to deal with so that it doesn't have time to bother your thoughts.

For an interesting read :- The Inner Game of Golf.