If Your Brain Won’t Shut Off, Try These 6 Habits

Rumination can often feel inevitable and unavoidable, where your mind drifts into unwanted thought loops without your permission. First you think about something that happened, then you replay it over and over again in your head, and before you know it, you’ve lost an hour of your day.

Now the thing is, rumination is a pretty common human experience. Most of us ruminate occasionally, especially after a stressful event. It only becomes problematic when the rumination grows in frequency, intensity, and starts to interfere with your ability to function on a daily basis.

When this happens, your thoughts become debilitating and your mind begins to prevent you from focusing on the present moment. And the time you’ve wasted stuck in your head can quickly add up to days or even weeks of your life that you will never get back. 

So in today’s episode, I'm sharing six habits that will help you to think clearly and break out of these mental spirals. These habits are practical, simple, and backed by neuroscience. And the best part is that you can start using them immediately after this video. Let’s get into it.

One of the biggest drivers of rumination is due to something called cognitive overload. This is when your working memory gets full, making it difficult to think, learn, or make decisions. It’s like your brain is holding too many open tabs, making it difficult to process or organize information clearly.

A daily brain dump fixes this.

Here’s how it works. Sit down with a journal and write down everything that is floating around in your mind. Tasks, worries, or things you don’t want to forget. It doesn’t have to be super coherent, it’s just about offloading your thoughts into a tangible form.

What this does is reduce the mental load, giving your prefrontal cortex space to function because the act of externalizing your thoughts stops them from being recycled inside your head. So if you’re someone who struggles with overthinking at night, try doing this before bed. And if you struggle with rumination during the day, try doing this in the morning.

Don’t underestimate the positive effects of this habit. A five minute brain dump can calm your nervous system, reduce mental clutter, and make your thinking feel clear instead of chaotic, ultimately giving your mind space to breathe.

Rumination is really an attention issue. Your mind gets pulled into a loop and you don’t have enough cognitive strength to pull yourself out of it. And this is why your attention is like a muscle. If you never train it, it stays weak. The simplest way to build that strength is through basic focus training.

Here’s an easy habit you can try. Sit comfortably, set a timer for two minutes, and just focus on your breath. Notice the feeling of air coming in, and going out of your body. Your mind will start to drift, which is normal. When it drifts, gently guide your attention back to the present moment.

That single rep of noticing your mind wandering and then returning your focus is what strengthens your prefrontal cortex. This part of your brain is responsible for redirecting attention, which is exactly what you need when your mind starts looping.

Most people think meditation is about clearing your mind, but it is also about building awareness and control. So over time, you can start catching your ruminating mind sooner, which prevents you from spiraling as deeply. And this is what makes your thinking become more intentional. 

Most mental loops occur because your mind is trying to understand an unclear emotional discomfort. You often replay a situation because you feel an emotion beneath the surface that you haven’t yet defined. So when your feelings are vague, your mind tries to make sense of them by looping. This is where labeling your thoughts becomes incredibly powerful.

The practice is simple. When you notice yourself spiraling, try saying: “I am thinking about X because I feel Y.”

For example: “I am replaying this conversation because I feel embarrassed.”
Or, “I am worrying about next week because I feel uncertain.”

The moment you name the emotion, the intensity drops. This is because labeling your thoughts activates your prefrontal cortex and reduces activity in the amygdala, which is the part of your brain responsible for emotional reactivity. The goal here isn’t about fixing the emotion, but instead, bringing clarity to it.

Once you can name what you feel, the looping loses its strength because you are no longer reacting unconsciously. You are now observing it with awareness, which gives you the ability to choose a healthier response instead of staying stuck in the same cycle of thought.

Rumination often happens when your mind is trying to avoid an uncomfortable feeling. The mental loop becomes a distraction that unconsciously tries to circumvent these negative emotions. Ironically, the more you try to push these thoughts away, the stronger they can become. So in this scenario, cognitive flooding allows you to flip the pattern.

Instead of resisting the thought, you intentionally face it for a short, controlled period of time. Sit down, close your eyes if you want, and bring the thought into focus. Hold it there for about thirty to sixty seconds without trying to analyze it or fix it. Just observe it as if you were watching it on a screen.

What this does is remove the emotional charge associated with the thought. When your brain realizes the thought is not dangerous, the fear response quiets down and you stop feeling like you need to escape it.

Over time, the loop weakens because you are no longer feeding it with avoidance. It becomes just another thought instead of something that takes over your entire mind. When you break the avoidance cycle, you basically break the rumination cycle.

By the way, if you’re ready to stop overthinking and reclaim your mental clarity, I’ve put together a free ebook called “Don’t Overthink It.” It’s a simple guide that helps you understand the root cause of overthinking and gives you actionable strategies to build confidence in your decision-making. So grab a copy using the link in the description below. 

A lot of people don’t realize that rumination is often a body issue pretending to be a thinking issue. When your nervous system is activated, your mind starts scanning for danger, replaying conversations, or predicting worst case scenarios. What you have to realize is that this isn’t logic, but rather, your physiology.

If your body is on high alert, your thoughts will follow. So the fastest way to interrupt this pattern is by shifting your nervous system back into a calmer state. One of the easiest ways to do this is by cyclic breathing, where you inhale for four seconds, and then exhale for six seconds. The longer exhale communicates safety to your vagus nerve. If you do this for a few minutes a day, you’ll notice that your body starts to relax, feelings of tension will decrease, and your thoughts will become easier to control.

Another quick reset is cold exposure. Splashing cold water on your face or taking a quick cold shower activates the mammalian dive reflex, which slows your heart rate almost instantly. If you can’t do this, you can instead, simply take a five minute brisk walk to increase blood flow to your prefrontal cortex, helping you think more clearly again.

Sometimes your mind doesn’t loop because something is wrong, but because your nervous system is overwhelmed. So when you’re able to calm your body, you also calm your mind. 

Your mind loops when it has no direction. When your brain doesn’t know what to do next, it fills the space with worry, replaying, and overanalyzing. Implementing intentional rules give your mind structure so it does not drift. This idea is simple. Create an if-then rule, where if this mental event happens, then you will do that action. This gives your brain a clear path forward.

For example: If I catch myself replaying a conversation, I will shift my attention to my breathing for 20 seconds. If I start worrying about the future, I will write it down and choose one small action I can take today. If I start spiraling at night, I will journal for five minutes and then read one calming page from a book. These self-induced protocols act like an instruction manual to help you reduce cognitive uncertainty, which is one of the biggest triggers of rumination.

Your brain loves instructions. So when your brain knows exactly what to do, it stops wandering, looping, or trying to predict every outcome. Instead, you regain control over your attention by giving your mind a structured path out of the spiral. 

You don’t need to fight your thoughts to stop rumination. You just need to build the habits that help your brain operate with clarity instead of chaos. These six habits can help you to think more clearly, feel less overwhelmed, and get out of your own head faster.

Just remember that you can always start with one of these habits, and later decide to stack one habit on top of the other (aka habit stacking). And over time, your mind will become a fortress that you’ve developed with the intention to find peace and safety for yourself.