Taming the 100mph Mind: Finding Focus in a World of Mental Chaos
I currently have 7 Google Docs open (on my laptop) containing 6 different blog drafts, because why work on one blog at a time when my brain has at least 20 tabs open at any given moment?
I won’t disclose the total number of Google tabs I have open, but if you’ve ever worked with me, you’d know it’s more than ten or 12. My tabs serve as my notes to remind me what I am or need to be working on. If I close them… out of sight, out of mind. They’re gone, like Girl Scout cookies on a lone Friday night.
The tabs in my brain are a whole other organization project.
For women, I believe we all have many tabs open in our minds at any given moment. Where men typically have one tab or thought at a time, ours are many. Sometimes they’re short, but most often, our tabs need scrolling. Right?
We have our friends and family tabs where we want to be sure to stay on top of important dates, accomplishments, and check-ins (and if you have kids, add 20 more tabs). We have our to-do’s at home tabs and our to-do’s at work tabs, our meal tabs, shopping tabs, fitness tabs, our worry tabs, our tabs of thought and contemplation, and our tabs of annoyances. All of these tabs want attention, and sometimes I just can’t prioritize them. When this happens, my brain turns into a jumbled mess. It’s like a word map that makes zero sense, and my productivity and creativity suffer and plummet.
What could be causing this? Well, I believe there are a couple of suspects.
I’m wrapping up on a couple of big projects – I had my first gallery opening, which was super fun and exciting. That same day, I accepted a commission for an octopus sculpture that is now in the kiln for its final firing. I was on a creative high, fueled by momentum. But then—silence. And suddenly, my mind started spinning, looking for the next thing before I even had a moment to breathe.
The world seems a little crazy right now, doesn’t it? There’s so much uncertainty—news headlines shift by the hour, it seems, and the speed and craziness of everything happening around us can feel a bit unsettling. I’ve found myself doom-scrolling more than I’d like to admit, taking in more information than I can process. And honestly? It’s bringing me down. One minute, I’m reading headlines about job loss and tariffs, the next I’m deep-diving into the emotional life of penguins (did you know they cheat on their mates?!). It’s that slow, creeping anxiety that can settle in, tightening my chest and making my mind race.
So, I went from a super high, and now things are too quiet—which, for me, can cause a four-alarm fire in my lil’ red head. It’s as if people are feeling the uncertainty as well, and now my gut thinks the sky is falling, and the world as we know it, is over.
Typically, I’d finish up my projects and then hop back into production mode in preparation for spring and summer. Instead, the creativity is slow to come. So, I clean my studio and move on to the business side of things—planning, research, photographing, website maintenance, and the like. And yet, I still struggle to get my brain in check and focus!
So how do we slow our minds down so we can focus and be more productive?
Some Strategies (That I’m Trying to Implement)
Brain Dumping: When my mind feels like 87 browser tabs are open and playing sound at the same time, I do a brain dump. I grab a notebook (yes, paper, because I don’t need more digital tabs) and spill out everything—to-dos, worries, ideas. It doesn’t have to be neat. Just getting it out of my head helps.
Movement & Fresh Air: Sometimes, my best ideas don’t come while sitting inside or scrolling for inspiration. A quick walk, even just around the block, resets my brain. Or, if the weather is terrible, I’ll stay inside and dance like I’m good at it, or hop on the Peloton, or pace laps around my house. Whatever works.
Setting Time Blocks: Instead of bouncing between 50 tasks, I set a timer and focus on just one thing for 30 minutes. No distractions–except Stella the puddy tat, poking me with her sharp nails until I give her attention.
Yoga… Sort Of: I dabble in yoga. And by dabble, I mean I lay on the mat in Savasana (corpse pose) and called it a session. Only sometimes. But in all seriousness, stretching and moving through even a 30 minute sesh helps. A couple of deep breaths in downward dog, a balancing challenge, and some deep, slow hip stretches—it’s like hitting the reset button on my brain. And if I make it to a full session without my mind wandering to what’s next? Gold star for me.
Giving Myself Grace: Some days, my brain is just going to be a circus. And that’s okay. It has to be. Instead of forcing creativity, I’ll eventually surrender and remind myself that rest is also productive.
The truth is, our 100mph minds might never fully slow down. But if we can learn to pause—even briefly—we can learn to navigate the chaos with a little more clarity.