What to Do When Your Mind Won’t Stop

You may have heard that journalling is recommended for mental health support. It’s not necessary to write every day. It’s not even necessary to actually write things down. Even just writing with an ‘air pen’ — using your finger in the air — has been shown to be therapeutic. The key is that what you write is never meant to be read by anyone, not even by yourself. In other words, you write and then it’s gone. Vanished!

Alongside journalling, when you’re worried or feeling confused, it can be helpful to write things down on paper. You might be surprised at how simple your concern looks once it’s out of your head. When worrying thoughts go round and round in your mind, they can feel enormous — but on paper, they might only take up a few lines.

As my colleague once said, “You were counting the same worrying thoughts many times.”

Slightly different, but I sometimes use a pen and paper during meditation.

Have you ever noticed that as soon as you sit down to calm your mind, a list of tasks suddenly appears? Things like, “I should have phoned my mother,” or “I need to book the MOT.”

When you’re busy rushing through day-to-day life, it’s easy to forget the less urgent things. But the moment you stop, your mind starts to remember less urgent but important things.

When this happens, and I notice my thoughts circling the same thing, I actually pause my meditation, grab a pen and paper, and write it down.

If I keep those thoughts in my head, I find it difficult to let go and settle. But once they’re on paper, I can release them and return to my breath or mantra.

I’ve never heard anyone formally recommend this technique. It might seem non-standard, or even ‘wrong’, but it works for me. I suppose sometimes the mind just wants to be heard before it can settle. Giving your thoughts a place to land on paper can be enough to create that space.

If you experience something similar, you might like to give it a try and see how it feels.