Classic meditation method: don’t block any thoughts, just accept any thought that pops up, and visualise it floating away. Usually does the trick for me.
Or visualize a water flow like a river streaming through your mind, taking all the thoughts with it.
There are lots of visualisations you can do to help clear your mind or control your emotions.
I honestly don’t know what that silence would be like. I’ve spent my programming career jumping between domains, becoming an expert then moving on to find a new challenge. Now I’m building AI stuff for medicine.
In my down time I learn languages, watch videos about physics and math, and play puzzle games.
My brain actually won’t let me stop. Boredom = pain.
You sound like you’re way smarter than I am, but I can absolutely relate to bordom=pain.
I’m constantly learning new things, or delving deeper into subjects I’m already familiar with. I can’t help it. My brain won’t have it any other way (otherwise I get destructive)
I could just be further down the path due to lucky opportunities. 20 years ago I had no ambitions beyond game programming. It was only when I got a biology-related job that learning in my free time started displacing mindless entertainment. The whole field is one big nerd snipe - there are endless opportunities where you can advance the frontier of knowledge by combining a few existing ideas and working out the kinks. The more you read, the more opportunities you see. It’s thrilling. I don’t think I can go back to non-science work.
I think the dopamine from constant learning also helps to keep my ADHD in check. If I start the weekend with some study, I’ll usually also get the housework done. If I start with a video game or TV show, I’ll probably spend the rest of the weekend stressing about my todo list and not getting anything done.
I learned to sketch, and paint miniatures. It gave me some kind of silence. I have to study painting techniques also. So, if I want to keep my mind occupied, but not too heavy, then I could watch some painting tutorials.
The edge to overoptimize yourself is very close and thats even more a hassle when hobbies become hustles and the brain doesnt distinguish anymore between work and hobby and freetime and me time.
Its a spiral which can lead fast to burnout or other related stuff.
Kudos to you that you made it this far and successfull in a challenging field.
As someone with ADHD with severe hyperfocus, I feel you. Just once I want to think about nothing. Even with meds, it only helps me defocus. Doesn’t stop the thinking.
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