How to deal with an overactive mind
One of my favorite quotes is, “Great minds have great chatter.”
When you’re someone that has an overactive mind, you are certainly coming up with some delicious gems and nuggets of gold in there. Many of the overacheivers I work with experience this. Their minds spin out of control, they have tons and tons of thoughts and ideas, and the flow never ends. It can be hard to reel it all in! (It’s one of those things where, if you get it, you get it.)
If you’re someone that has an overactive mind, then this blog is for you. I have three quick tips to help out.
Accept Your Reality
The first step to resolving this is accepting that this is just how your brain works. As my mom always told me, a busy mind is a sign of high intelligence. You have a lot going on in that head of yours so it’s a sign it’s working! Be proud of your mind. It’s doing its job.
But, not only should you accept that you’re a genius in the making, this is also an opportunity to accept that it doesn’t have to be this way. What do I mean? If you’re experiencing your mind as victimizing, that’s just one way to look at it. You can change your mind about your mind! You’ve simply not tamed it or taught it well. And that’s most likely because you didn’t have someone to model for you how to tame it.
I work with my clients in a 1:1 way to give your amazing mind a framework for how to process all of that amazingness and put it into good use. Don’t let a good mind go to waste.
Store Your Thoughts
One important concept here is to have a place to store all of your thoughts. It can’t be just any old place--it must be a thorough system that works for you. Otherwise, your incredible brain will run laps around your system.
For many people, it’s to create a system that allows your brain to dump the information, know it’s taken care of or assigned for a future time, and just like En Vogue suggests, you allow yourself to:
Implement Daily Planning
Another tool that promotes success in creating space for yourself is to plan what’s feasible each day. Otherwise, you’re setting yourself up with unrealistic expectations and a feeling of failure. This not only feels gross but decreased your productivity and efficiency. Boo.
Instead, start your day with a daily planning moment. For me, this is three steps: (1) look at my calendar to see what appointments I have that cannot be moved. Really, I’m looking for what time I have free so I know “what else” I can focus on. (2) Look over my emails. Scan for emergencies and read them. See if they require other appointments. (3) Go over my daily to-do list and forward anything that is completely unrealistic for the day. Out of sight, out of mind, in the best way.
These three steps go a long way into making my days more palatable and positive.
Bottom Line
This is just the beginning. There are so many more ways to go about this. Your mind is endless, and so are the ideas. One of the best ways to secure your perfect system is to hire someone that shares a similar mindset and manages it successfully. I’m here for that. Talk to me!
P.S. I have a confession. That quote at the top? I made it up. Cuz, why not?
