A great approach to stop ruminating. Write out a structured note on the issue and all your thoughts about it.
... and a lot more detail on The Science of Our Inner Voice - Dr Maya Shankar A Slight Change of Plans with Prof Ethan Kross:
Prioritise Emotional Expression and Processing:
- Acknowledge and Address Emotions: Recognise that suppressing emotions is detrimental to mental and physical health.
- Engage in Self-Directed Expression: Understand that emotional catharsis is possible even without the direct involvement of the person who caused the distress. Writing unsent letters is a powerful tool to organise confused feelings, transform pain into understanding, and validate your own experience.
Master Your Inner Dialogue:
- Understand Your Inner Voice's Dual Nature: Appreciate its positive functions for memory, creativity, and planning, but also be vigilant for when it turns into unproductive "chatter".
- Actively Combat "Chatter": When caught in negative thought loops (rumination, worry), employ psychological distancing techniques such as coaching yourself using your own name or "you," or using temporal distancing (mental time travel to future or past experiences).
- Broaden Perspective: Use the "universal you" to normalise personal experiences and gain distance, which also draws others into your world.
Optimise Interpersonal Support and Interactions:
- Seek Strategic Support, Not Just Venting: When sharing problems, choose people who can not only listen and empathise but also help you broaden your perspective. Consider using a pre-commitment strategy to signal your desire for reframing and solutions.
- Cultivate Effective Coaching Skills: Whether you are seeking support or providing it, aim to shift from an emotional mode to a cognitive one, offering broader context, useful information, and insight into blind spots, while maintaining empathy.
Leverage Environmental Influences:
- Connect with Nature: Actively seek out green spaces and natural environments. This can restore attention depleted by chatter and provide experiences of awe, which can diminish the perceived size of your worries.
By integrating these learning and action points, individuals can develop a more resilient and self-aware approach to managing their mental and emotional landscape, fostering greater calm and effectiveness in their lives.