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Ask HN: How do you stop overthinking?

2 points by gallerdude ↗ HN
I feel like as programmers, so much of our life is in the conscious realm. But when it comes to identifying what makes happy or sad, and more importantly, recognizing our feelings of happiness or sadness, we must look to the subconscious. And our conscious mind clouds our awareness of how we're feeling.

4 comments

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devchris10
Try meditation. It is literally meant to quiet ego-based thinking. Maybe it will help you approach problems with clarity after.

For me, the concepts "feedback loop from hell" and "expecting a positive is a negative" from the book "The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck" were gamechangers.

gallerdude
Hmm - I've tried meditating for 5 or 10 minutes with limited success. Is meditating for more than that qualitatively different?
devchris10
Def. not an expert and from what I gathered, it's a lifelong effort. But for me, it takes a few min just to concentrate on the breath and remind myself to observe my thoughts, emotions as separate from my self-awareness. So maybe try extending your sessions to 20-30 min before/after sleeping?
boomahora
Writing things out on paper allows me to better evaluate my thoughts. I find it less overwhelming when I can visually see things rather than everything floating in my head.