A few days ago, I was looking for the first draft of an article I had written a while ago. In the process, I stumbled upon a journal entry I’d made in January 2022. It wasn’t very long, but spending a few minutes reading it gave me a headache. There was so much…chatter in it! I want to do x but I need to think about blah blah blah but then what about so and so and oh, won’t it be nice to do XYZ but wait, what about ABC and, ummm, what was I thinking of doing in the first place? 

This isn’t surprising because a lot of times, I journal to free up my mind and gain clarity. Many of my journal entries tend to be a stream-of-consciousness reflection of the random workings of my mind. Pouring my thoughts out of my head and into a journal helps me get to a place where I can think more clearly. Without journaling, I can just circle in mental loops all day long. With self-compassion and spirituality, things have gotten better, but my mind can still get caught up in unproductive, energy-consuming loops that don’t go anywhere. 

Stepping Away from Mental Chatter

But lately, I’ve been using a shortcut to stepping away from mental chatter. I first read about it in the book Chatter: The Voice in Our Head, Why It Matters, and How to Harness It by psychologist Ethan Kross. The shortcut is this: When you find yourself caught up in mental chatter and unable to break free, ask yourself: What should [insert your name] do now?

For instance, let’s say my mind is chattering about choosing a writing topic: There are so many ideas! I could write about this or that. But what do I feel like writing? Will this be useful to anyone? Haven’t I already written about this somewhere? Oh, maybe I should try to find what I have already written? 

In situations like this, I want to write, but I am hardly making any progress. This particular line of thinking will send me down a rabbit hole of looking at old writing-related folders for hours, only to realize I am not organized enough to find my old writing when I need it. (I can now go in another mental loop about how disorganized I am, but I’ll spare you the details.) But according to Kross, here’s what I can do, instead. I can ask myself: What should Yashi do now?

Why this Works: A Psychological Perspective

Talking about myself in this way may feel strange, at first, but it gives me some distance from my mental chatter. My mind loves to solve problems, and it almost feels like this approach makes the problem about someone else (Yashi) instead of “me.” This helps my mind think more clearly because its survival isn’t dependent on the solution to the problem. (I am not saying choosing a topic to write about is an actual life and death issue, but it does send my mind into panic mode sometimes.)

So, how does my mind respond when I ask “What should Yashi do now?”

Hmmm. Yashi is freaking out about choosing a topic to write about. It’s actually not that big of a deal. I think Yashi should either just write about what feels more resonant at the moment (which is when she gets any writing done anyway) OR she should just take a break and come back a bit later when she is feeling more grounded.

As you can see, this can quickly get me to a much clearer path forward .

Weird? Yes. Effective? Also yes.  

Why this Works: A Spiritual Perspective

When I first read the book Chatter, I enjoyed it as a student and practitioner of Psychology. However, I have changed a lot as a person since then. I feel like I have a deeper explanation of what might be going on here.

The truth is, many of us live our lives in our heads, driven by our minds. Trust me, I’ve done that for years. Here’s the thing, though: we are so much more than our minds. We are whole beings. We have a mind, yes, but we also have a body, a heart, a soul. It is only when we step away from the frantic, survival instinct of our minds (which is what minds have evolved for) – can we step into our fuller wisdom. 

By asking “What should Yashi do now,” I am stepping away from over-identifying with my mind and tapping into the other elements of my existence. This helps me make wiser, more wholesome choices.

And you can do this too.

Over to you

Whether you want to take the psychological or the spiritual perspective on this topic is up to you. My point here is that if you find yourself in the throes of unrelenting mental chatter and want a respite, take a couple of deep breaths and ask yourself: What should [insert your name] do now?

Experiment with it in a few different situations and see what happens.