Tips to slow down racing thoughts, sharpen your mind, and clear your head.
By Tchiki Davis, Ph.D.
When we get stressed or overwhelmed, our minds can start to feel hectic and cluttered—we might ruminate about the past, struggle to stay in the present, or worry about the future. Our buzzing thoughts can make it difficult to focus, hard to sleep, and challenging to just enjoy the simple things in life.
On the other hand, clearing our minds can be really helpful—we can be more productive, healthy, and happy. With a clear mind, we can better focus on the task at hand, so we’re likely to make better progress and fewer mistakes. We’re also less likely to be thinking about things that might stress us out—like our endless to-do list or worries about the future. And we may even be able to connect with others better because we’re not worrying about doing something wrong or what they might think of us. Overall, a clear mind is a happy, healthy mind.
So how do we clear our minds? Here we’ll talk about some ways that we commonly experience a messy mind and some science-based ways to clear the clutter.
How to slow a racing mind
When our minds are racing, we might feel anxious or panicky. Our thoughts are going a million miles a minute and no matter how loud our inner voice is screaming “stop!” the thoughts just go on and on. Because our brains can get kind of stuck repeating and cycling thoughts, we sometimes need a jolt to force our brains to focus on other things. That’s why it can be helpful in these instances to do a few sprints or take a cold shower[1]—these intense experiences can turn on our parasympathetic nervous system, which helps the mind and body slow down. The result for us is a clearer and calmer mind.
How to stop mind wandering
Maybe it’s Friday and our minds keep drifting to ideas for what we’ll do over the weekend. Or, maybe we’re supposed to be paying attention in a boring meeting and our minds are off pondering what to have for dinner. Whatever the reason, mind wandering can be frustrating, especially when we’re trying to get work done or pay attention to something.
If your mind begins to wander, try to mindfully pull yourself back into the present moment by first focusing on your breath. You might even imagine your thoughts floating away like leaves on a river or like clouds in the sky.[2] Try not to judge yourself for your wandering thoughts though—they are natural. Rather, gently imagine letting them go and shift your focus back to the task in front of you.
How to redirect a spinning mind
When our minds are spinning, we are living in our heads. We might be imagining worst-case scenarios or practicing what we plan to say in an upcoming interaction. Regardless of what is running through our minds, the first thing to do is to pull ourselves out of our heads and back into the moment by paying attention to the present moment and things around us. For example, we might count the tiles on the floor, observe the details of an object, or try to notice all the flavors and textures of a food. By using our five senses, we shift our attention to the real world and away from our thoughts.[3] By doing so, our thoughts begin to lose hold and fade away, which eases the mind.
How to sharpen your mind
Perhaps your mind is feeling fuzzy, not because it’s full of thoughts but because it’s dull or not as quick as you might like it to be. To sharpen a dull mind, we might opt for some different strategies. First, it can help to think about what you’re eating. Are you getting all the nutrients you need? A sharp mind is a well-fueled mind so consider having a healthy snack. Something with Omega 3s or folate are good choices for brain health.[4]
Or are you feeling bogged down after your morning caffeine has worn off? Common symptoms of caffeine withdrawal include cognitive deficits, fatigue, and depressed mood.[5] So replacing coffee with decaffeinated herbal tea can help keep your mind sharp in the longer-term.
Another reason your mind may feel dull is that you’ve not gotten enough sleep recently. The brain uses a lot of energy and making sure we get the rest we need is essential for optimal functioning. Inadequate sleep can even be a risk factor for cognitive decline.[6] So take care of your body and your brain to stay quick and clear headed.
How to wind down a stressed mind
If it’s been an especially stressful day, you may want to wind down a stressed mind. One strategy can be to color in mandalas or other complex designs. This level of focus combined with a relaxing activity can help your mind clear and calm. One study even found that complex coloring can help reduce levels of anxiety, and it works better than unstructured coloring.[7] So if your mind is stressed and you just want a creative way to wind down, give coloring a try.
How to focus a cleared mind
Now that we’ve got our minds clear, we likely want to use them for some task—we probably need to focus, pay attention, or do something mentally challenging. Luckily, honing our focus and learning how to pay more attention is a skill. We can practice it and get better over time. For example, we might try to notice what our attention is doing—maybe we’re distracted by something that happened to us recently or we’re thinking about all the stuff we have to do later. By noticing that our mind is not focused on what we want and by intentionally bringing our minds back to the task at hand, we can improve this skill. In time, it may be easier to keep our minds focused and clear of clutter.
In sum
There are a variety of reasons why our minds can feel unclear, but the strategies we take to clear them might depend on what, exactly, our mind is full of. Hopefully these tips helped you think through which strategies are best for you to clear your mind for a happier, healthier, more productive day.
For a 4-minute reset to clear your mind, pop into the ThinkNow app.
References:
- Mourot, L., Bouhaddi, M., Gandelin, E., Cappelle, S., Dumoulin, G., Wolf, J. P., … & Regnard, J. (2008). Cardiovascular autonomic control during short-term thermoneutral and cool head-out immersion. Aviation, space, and environmental medicine, 79(1), 14-20.
- Hayes, S. C. (2005). Get out of your mind and into your life: The new acceptance and commitment therapy. New Harbinger Publications.
- Cardoso, R. (2021). The Mental Health Awareness Week-Long Curriculum.
- Gómez-Pinilla, F. (2008). Brain foods: the effects of nutrients on brain function. Nature reviews neuroscience, 9(7), 568-578.
- Shapiro, R. E. (2007). Caffeine and headaches. Neurological sciences, 28(2), S179-S183.
- Spira, A. P., Chen-Edinboro, L. P., Wu, M. N., & Yaffe, K. (2014). Impact of sleep on the risk of cognitive decline and dementia. Current opinion in psychiatry, 27(6), 478.
- Curry, N. A., & Kasser, T. (2005). Can coloring mandalas reduce anxiety? Art Therapy, 22(2), 81-85.
