"Busy Brain" Is this normal?

Thanks baubles will read through in more depth later, however I think I might have the same problem with this as I had with the self hypnosis.

Sounds exactly like mine at time phoenix

Buddhists call it The Monkey Mind. I've been on a few Buddhist meditation weekends and am rather better at controlling it now.

www.theroadtosiliconvalley.com/personal-development/buddhism-tame-monkey-mind/

I too have a white noise machine. I urn it and it sends me sleep almost immediately. It's also useful when I awake in the night as it means I go back to sleep quickly. TV has the same effect on me!!

This thread has gone to sleep

What happened to good old-fashioned sheep?

Imagine you're on the panel of a programme like Question Time. You're involved in a boring debate and you're determined to get your point across. Everyone's arguing with you so you give up........and go to sleep!!

Works every time.

I've tried doing HIGNIFY but can't go to sleep because I'm having too much fun.

Listening to the sound of the surf is nicer though.

Yes, that's another way to get to sleep! Lists of things. Try and say in your head all the kids names you were at primary school with [or teachers names] soon gets you to the land of nod.

I find concentrating on foods I really like can help me get to sleep. Like treacle tart, Xmas cake, cheese straws, etc.

Oh, me too. I am so pleased others out there hsve the same trouble. Night after night I go to bed tired out only to start singing songs in my head and thinking of umpteen things. I have tried focusing on one thing but regardless of how much I practice I always wander off thinking of something else. I find boring myself helps. I say times tables from two to twelve forwards and backwards until I go to sleep. I don't think that years of night duty have helped me though, it's taking longer than I thought to readjust.

No it's not 'talking to yourself' Tegan because you're not supposed to answer it yourself when it rings, you let the answer bit kick in..

wanders off muttering to herself

Isn't it called talking to yourself? I hadn't thought of that. I could phone my landline from my mobile to remind myself of things I've got to do the next day such as 'dentist tomorrow' .

Me too.

I think we are all just highly intelligent and good at multi-tasking.

Yes, it's annoying. I've lost count of the times I've had to go back downstairs and make a hot milky drink, which does seem to work but then involves a loo trip at some point.

I also leave a notebook open by the side of the bed. I can write in the dark now, and sometimes I can even read it! But if I suddenly think of something that needs doing I can clear it out of my brain straight away.

I was worse when I was working. I'd wake up in the early hours with all sorts of queries, solutions, questions, things to do, people to contact, etc buzzing in my brain.

My solution was to call my work answer-phone and leave myself messages. I believe it's called 'brain dumping'

A friend said to me years ago that she couldn't understand why I had so many thoughts going on at the same time when she had only one at a time. I've always got a song going round on a loop as well; ok when it's a good one but annoyng when it's an irritating one that won't go away [You Can't Hurry Love by Phil Collins is one that I particularly hate..bugger, the seed of that has been planted now]. I wonder if that's why I've taken to falling asleep at night watchinG BBC4? What does worry me is that the bombardment of thought seems to be getting more scrambled as I get older and there seem to be more of them . I think the internet doesn't help because the amount of information is so great and I'm always flitting about with one query leading to another. I find white noise frightening; when I used to look after the chidren when they were babies the white noise from the intercom used to give me the creeps [I used to think to myself 'what if I hear something on it, such as a voice..do I run up to the babies room or do I run out of the house screaming ?'

I'm another who couldn't switch off at night and would have stuff running through my head. I bought a sound machine that played various calming sounds: rain, streams, birds, waves, white noise (can't remember the others). It really worked for me and I'd fall asleep pretty quickly - now I don't need them at all.

I tried to find a link but it's all modern stuff now! This link lets you put the sounds onto your computer/laptop (but no birdsong): https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/rain-rain-sleep-sounds/id478687481?mt=8

DD has found white noise very effective phoenix she actually bought it for the baby, but found it was putting her to sleep. We've been reading about over excitability in gifted children (re: GS!) and I think a lot of your problems are down to intelligence. Your brain just has lots of things it's trying to do, would you really want to be some one whose brain could only think one thing at a time? I know I drive DH mad because I'm often talking to him while having a completely different conversation with someone else in my head - it never ends well!

I thought you seemed quite normal, phoenix, but then perhaps I'm not either! Yes, my brain 'buzzes' but not so much now I am retired, so it may have been stress. However, I can be on here but another part of my brain is worrying about the DC and DGC as well as having a vision in front of me about how nice was the place we visited today and seeing the lovely gardens there.

This sometimes happens to me phoenix just now and then, as I am older than you and retired [so less stress.] When it does I switch on [this is at night obviously] a button on my plug in clock, which has the sound of waves coming into the shore, you can have it as loud or soft as you like. There is also the sound of the rainforest, and something else, but I only use the wave sound.This was bought for me years and years ago by my son [from Argos] wonder if they still do them? Don't worry about your different sense of humour [me too!] there are lots of us out there.

Thanks Coolgran (b.hell, I'm at risk of sounding like someone else!) I would find it very difficult to change from my preferred bedtime reading, i.e. a book, and currently don't have a kindle or tablet etc. Only (ONLY! ) currently 55, knocking very heavily on the door of 56, no idea why I think that might be relevant, numpty disclaimer.

I use an audio book.
Something without a real plot.
Light and humerous short stories, read by Thora Hird etc.
Use ear phones and keep it just loud enough to hear. Doesn't bother anyone else.

I also downloaded 'sounds' onto my Kindle. I was looking for 'white noise' and found, bubbling water, pan pipes, birds chirping.

My head is definitely too busy, often I'm wandering about at 3 or 4 am having had no sleep. I've heard of a condition called hyper-alertness which I guess is another way of saying - can't switch off !!

Thank you so much to all that have posted, it really is appreciated!

Quite a few years ago I had a course of hypnotherapy for eczema, which worked well. I was taught techniques for a sort of "self hypnosis" which worked up to a point. I wish I could apply those techniques now, but the "busy brain" gets in the way and makes it very hard.

So glad to hear that I'm not going mad (well, no more than usual) or if it turns out that I am, I definitely wont be travelling solo!

All aboard the busy brain express, no tickets required......

I call it flight of thought.