And how about... now?

那... 現在呢？

Our brains are incredibly active, but sometimes, you just want that big ball of grey meat to shut the hell up, right?

我們的大腦非常活躍，但有時候，你只會希望這顆巨大灰色肉球閉上它的嘴，對吧？

Thinking is good - it's what makes humans special.

思考是件好事，它能讓人類變得獨特

Without thinking we'd have no farms, no books, no jobs.

如果停止思考，我們將沒有農場、書籍、工作的存在

It would just be reality TV, no thinking required there.

生活變成電視實境秀，沒有思考的必要

But often, we over-think, and cause ourselves a lot of unnecessary anxiety.

然而有時候，我們會過度思考，導致自己產生許多不必要的焦慮

So, today we're going to look at how we can tune out those annoying thoughts and make things quieter inside our heads.

所以今天我們就要來看看如何去除那些惱人的想法並讓自己的腦袋安靜一些

This is todays episode — How to not overthink by Health Chronicle

今天這集主題是由 Health Chronicle 所做的 — 如何停止過度思考

Like most problems, the first step is seeing that there is one.

如同大部分的問題，第一步是察覺一項問題

You need to learn to recognise when you are feeling anxious because of your internal problems, not external.

你必須了解當你感到焦慮是起因於你的內在而非外部問題

For example, being anxious that you might crash when your friend is driving fast — that's fine.

舉例來說，你朋友開車開得很快讓你感到著急 — 這是正常的

That is a sensible thing to worry about, tell them to slow down.

對這件事情感到擔心是很合理的，告訴對方慢下來就好

But if you feel the same when you have a presentation tomorrow, then the problem is coming from within.

但如果明天有場簡報讓你感到焦慮，那麼問題便來自內在

You're overthinking and stressing yourself out.

你過度思考並讓自己承受太多壓力了

And, let's be honest, you're not thinking about how well it's going to go.

坦白來說吧，你不是想著這件簡報會如何順利進行

No, you are telling yourself you will fail, you'll forget what to say, your boss will hate it, and you'll forget to wear pants.

你在告訴自己我會失敗、我會忘記要說什麼、我老闆會討厭我的簡報、我會忘了穿褲子

When you realize you're doing this, start picturing all the ways it can go right.

當你理解自己的內心想法，試著想像所有可以通往成功的方式

You'll charm them like Barack Obama.

你會跟前美國總統歐巴馬一樣迷人

Your boss will love it and promote you.

你老闆會喜歡你的簡報並提拔你

You'll wear pants!

你會記得穿褲子！

Once you've pictured all these things, write them down.

一旦你想像完這些事情，請記得把它們寫下來

In fact, write down all the worries too.

事實上，把所有的擔心也寫下來吧

It's a well established idea in psychology: writing things down helps you to combat stress.

這是個被大眾所接受的心理學概念：將事情寫下來能讓你對抗壓力

It's especially useful before bed, as a way to help you get to sleep.

尤其對入睡相當有用，這是個幫助你入睡的方式

But the important thing with this type of journal is to focus on what you need to do, not what you have done.

但寫這類日記的重點是專注在你需做的事情上，而非你做過的事

It's a to-do-list, not a diary.

這種日記是一種待辦事項清單，而不是日記

A study published in 2017 in the Journal of Experimental Psychology, showed that writing a list of tasks for the next day helped people fall asleep 9 minutes faster.

2017 年由《實驗心理學日誌》刊出的一項研究顯示：為明天寫下任務清單能幫助人們快 9 分鐘入睡

That may not sound a lot but it's a similar result to a lot of pharmaceutical trials for sleeping aid drugs.

聽起來沒有很多，但這跟許多針對協助入睡的藥物進行測試的結果相似

The reason you focus on a to-do-list is that these are the type of thoughts that normally keep us awake.

專注於代辦清單事項的原因是因為這類型的思考通常能讓我們保持清醒

Sure, sometimes you will sit there embarrassed about some stupid things you did like missing a meeting or calling your partner someone else's name.

確實，有時候我們會坐著並並思考某些愚蠢的事情像是錯過一場會議或把你的伴侶的名字叫錯，並對此感到尷尬

But normally it's about things in the future: tests, bills, work, the apocalypse, you know, that stuff.

但通常能讓我們保持清醒的事情都是關於未來的：考試、帳單、工作、末日來臨，你知道的，這類的事

Our mind pays more attention to uncompleted tasks.

我們的心思通常著重於未完成的事項

For example, most of us have one person we were attracted to but we never did anything about it.

舉例來說，我們內心大多都有一位暗戀的對象，但從未做出任何行動

That memory can stay with you for a lifetime.

這樣的記憶可能會伴隨你一輩子

If you had asked them out and you had dated a while and then broke up, you're much more likely to forget them, the task was completed.

如果你邀對方出去並約會了一段時間然後分手，這樣的過程會使你更容易忘掉對方，這項任務便大功告成

So, the process of writing things down will help you to stop overthinking.

因此，寫下代辦事項的過程能讓你停止過度思考

It's like you have taken some of the weight out of your mind.

如同減去內心多餘的重量

You're saying “hey Brain - I know this is important, I promise I will do something about it”.

你在跟腦袋說：「嗨大腦，我知道這很重要，我保證我會採取行動。」

Another method is to try to distract your mind.

另一個方式是試著分散心思

But not just any distraction, something peaceful that requires concentration.

不是做任何讓你分心的事情，而是某些需要專心去做的安靜活動

If you just watch TV, it's still easy for your mind to wander.

如果你只是看電視，你的心思很容易就會飄走

So, meditation is an excellent option but if that doesn't appeal, try practising a new skill.

所以，冥想是個絕佳的選擇，但如果這不吸引你，可以試著練一項新技能

Maybe you learn to paint or draw.

可能是學著畫畫

How about learning a new instrument or teaching yourself to cook.

不然學會彈一個新樂器或教自己煮飯如何？

Not only will these skills bring you happiness on their own, they will act as an excellent distraction because you need to concentrate.

這些技能不只本身能帶來快樂，還能扮演一個用來分散注意力的極佳角色，因為你需要集中注意力

And our final message is — give yourself a break.

最後一點是 — 讓自己休息一下

All you can do is your best, so stop trying to make every part of your life perfect.

你盡力做的就是最好的，所以別要求你人生的每個部分都是完美的

Because, here's a secret: we're all just making it up as we go along.

因為，秘訣是：我們總能見機行事、隨機應變

Make sure to check out our other videos here.

記得點擊這裡觀看其他影片

You can also click on the left to subscribe to our channel for weekly videos on how to make your tomorrow a little bit healthier than today.

你也可以在螢幕左邊訂閱我們的頻道，觀看每周關於讓你的明天比今天健康一點的影片！