Re:The Magic of the Brain Dump
by espeed on Sunday May 26, 2013 @05:05AM
(#5770552)
This little hack works.
Until a couple years ago I often had trouble falling asleep at night because I always had to ride the rapid stream of thoughts rushing through my head. One night the stream went meta, and I recognized it needed an outlet.
So as an experiment, I bought a stack of legal pads and put them next to my bed. Then over several weeks, I wrote down every thought that came to mind and followed every path, no matter how long it took.
The first few rounds took hours -- I'd usually fall asleep with the pad in hand, and the pads were piling up so I had to go get more -- but gradually things subsided. After several weeks and a pile of legal pads, the waters quieted down and I was able to sleep at night. The spillway worked.
Right about the time I completed this experiment, someone serendipitously asked on Quora, "How can I sleep without my mind thinking of a million things?". Just now when I went back to reference the URL (http://www.quora.com/How-can-I-sleep-without-my-mind-thinkin...) I was reminded of the quote by Charlotte Brontë -- "A ruffled mind makes a restless pillow".
Now I use Evernote as my thought outlet throughout the day, and this magical little hack continues to work - no more racing waters, no more restless pillows.
Until a couple years ago I often had trouble falling asleep at night because I always had to ride the rapid stream of thoughts rushing through my head. One night the stream went meta, and I recognized it needed an outlet.
So as an experiment, I bought a stack of legal pads and put them next to my bed. Then over several weeks, I wrote down every thought that came to mind and followed every path, no matter how long it took.
The first few rounds took hours -- I'd usually fall asleep with the pad in hand, and the pads were piling up so I had to go get more -- but gradually things subsided. After several weeks and a pile of legal pads, the waters quieted down and I was able to sleep at night. The spillway worked.
Right about the time I completed this experiment, someone serendipitously asked on Quora, "How can I sleep without my mind thinking of a million things?". Just now when I went back to reference the URL (http://www.quora.com/How-can-I-sleep-without-my-mind-thinkin...) I was reminded of the quote by Charlotte Brontë -- "A ruffled mind makes a restless pillow".
Now I use Evernote as my thought outlet throughout the day, and this magical little hack continues to work - no more racing waters, no more restless pillows.