Mental noise refers to the ever-present, ongoing inner dialogue of the mind. What makes it ‘noise’ is the fact that it is constant and repetitive. It seems to exist in the background, no matter what.
It is an inner dialogue that is so built-in that it is present with you from the moment you awake to the moment you sleep. Often it can prevent restful sleep from even occurring.
This inner dialogue is often crippling because it overanalyzes every aspect of virtually everything. Additionally, this noise is repetitive, as though running on an endless loop.
The most notable and debilitating of all is the fact that mental noise tends to revolve around negative thoughts. This can intensify feelings of stress, worry, frustration, and anger, among several other negative emotions.
This constant replay of negative thoughts becomes distracting and prevents us from being functional and effective in our daily lives. Our attention is focused on these ‘false’ things, and we miss those things that hold true value and importance.
As a result, we find ourselves stuck in patterns of thinking and behavior. This just keeps us from being able to experience true personal growth or development.
Types of Mental Noise
There are different ways to classify mental noise. Then we can better understand what it is and how it works. Then we can effectively address it so it won’t be problematic in our lives.
Hypothetical
Hypothetical mental noise is that which focuses on what could or what might happen.
While it can certainly be useful to think about potential outcomes, sometimes known as forecasting, in certain scenarios, this type of thinking is paralyzing.
This is because of the focus on what could happen, which clouds the ability to focus on other more realistic and prominent factors.
In nearly all instances, hypothetical information drowns out useful information that could presently be used to make better, more thoughtful decisions.
Examples of hypothetical noise can include:
- Visualizing worst-case scenarios
- Constant focus on the “what ifs.”
Unusable
Unusable mental noise is that which provides little or no value.
It is simply information that takes up room or space in the mind but has no influence on our decisions or behaviors, nor does it have an immediate impact on our lives.
This can be seen in the human tendency to obsess over events broadcast on the news.
While these events certainly hold importance and being informed is of great significance, holding onto information in our minds about situations we cannot control or impact in any way is useless.
Likewise, continually worrying or thinking about data and information that has no immediate impact on our lives keeps our focus off of those things that matter in the here and now.
We need to take the information from a place of thinking about it constantly to actually doing something with the information.
Otherwise, we are wasting our time and mental energy.
Distracting
Distracting noise is that which keeps us from reaching our goals.
It’s essentially any thought or bit of information that would detract you from making progress toward those things we’ve set out to do.
Distracting noise does not have to be negative, although it can be.
Negative distracting noise can include:
- Reliving negative past situations
- Constant analysis of other people’s situations, reactions, and behaviors
However, more often than not, distracting noise is simply irrelevant information.
We intentionally or unintentionally seek to keep our minds off of useful information.
This will, unfortunately, not help us make progress toward those goals we aim to accomplish in life.
Distracting noise can include:
- Reading sports news all-day
- Binge-watching a television series on a media platform
- Spending hours on social media platforms
- Gossiping with peers about others
- Daydreaming
Untimely
Untimely noise is that which has no imminent bearing on circumstances or situations in your life.
This type of information is noise because, by the time you reach a place where you might be able to use that information, the information will no longer be relevant or valid.
This focus on untimely information can rob your attention and cause you to misplace your time and focus.
Thus, you end up spending your time and attention on information that cannot be applied to your current situation, thereby wasting valuable mental resources and energy that could have been used to help you actually reach your desired goals.
An example of untimely noise can be seen in the following example. The goal is to reach a specific financial goal as a means of tackling debt within one year.
Untimely noise would be focusing on an upcoming MLM business launch projected to launch in 18 months.
Focusing on the business and the potential success one might see with the MLM business would distract one from focusing their time and energy on efforts that would help them establish financial success in the present.
By the time the MLM business launched 18 months in the future, the 12-month benchmark for the financial goal would have already passed, making this information untimely and useless.
The Impact of Mental Noise
Mental noise may seem like a minor issue, but it can truly have major impacts on our mental, emotional, and even physical health.
There have been a number of research findings that suggest mental noise can interfere with semantic processing and performance.
Research linked to the mental noise theory indicates that when there is a high presence of mental noise, the ability to process information effectively and efficiently is severely impacted.
Similar to atmospheric static and its impacts on radio communications, it was seen that the processing of information was affected by as much as 80% when mental noise was present.
Not only that, but research findings show that mental noise leads to emotional arousal and mental agitation, which can create strong feelings of anxiety, worry, fear, hostility, panic, and outrage.
The presence of these emotions, in turn, made it extremely difficult for individuals to engage in rational discourse.
USC researcher Martin Hilbert presented a synthesis of decades of research that proposed irrational decision-making and poor estimations were the results of “noisy” deviations in our mental processes.
In his paper published in the journal Psychological Bulletin, Hilbert and colleagues at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering and the Department of Psychology at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Science demonstrated how mental noise was linked to a range of seemingly unconnected biases shown in past psychology experiments.
According to the study, this mental noise which led to the mathematical deviations from the input (observations) to output (beliefs) accounted for at least eight human decision-making biases that were observed experimentally.
Among these were a tendency to conservatism, stereotyping of minority groups, and exaggeration of our own position relative to others.
This model suggests that mental noise is the first step in a psychological and physiological process to describe irrationality in human decision-making.
There have also been a number of research findings that suggest there are links between neuroticism and mental noise.
The mental noise hypothesis posits that neurotic people have noisier, more chaotic mental control systems.
The evidence proposes that people with high levels of neuroticism experience hypothetical, unusable, untimely, and distracting noise at high levels.
This contributes to them being off-task and disconnected from tasks they are supposed to be attending to.
This noise often shows up in individuals diagnosed as neurotic as ruminative thoughts.
As a result, there is an attempt to undo things that cannot be undone. This includes constant worry, attempts to control something that cannot be controlled, and intrusive thoughts that interfere with focusing on the task at hand.
Strategies for Turning Off Mental Noise
Turning off mental noise requires taking control of our minds and our thoughts. There are a variety of tools and strategies that can be used and implemented to do just that.
Mindful Meditation
Mindful meditation can be an effective strategy for combatting mental noise. It teaches us how to first silence our minds and become consciously aware of our thoughts.
From that place, we are able to take control of our thoughts.
There are two types of silence: outer and inner.
The first layer requires removing external distractions. The second layer requires removing those internal unusable, untimely, distracting, and hypothetical thoughts. Those thoughts are intruding and preventing productivity.
A 2013 study found that two hours of silence could create new cells in the hippocampus region, a brain area linked to learning, remembering, and emotions.
A 2011 study by Harvard-based neuroscientist Sara Lazar found that mindfulness meditation physically changes the brain.
Lazar and her colleagues reported that participation in a mindfulness meditation program for just eight weeks altered gray matter concentration.
Gray matter was altered in the left hippocampus, posterior cingulate cortex, temporoparietal junction, and cerebellum.
These areas of the brain are linked to learning, memory, emotional regulation, and self-referential processing. The research suggested that mindfulness meditation had the ability to positively improve the way we learn, think, feel, and process meaning.
We ultimately have the potential to use mindfulness meditation to help us control and even alter what we think so that we can be more effective and productive.
The work of Lazar and colleague Josh Summers also found that mindfulness meditation had the ability to impact “the area of the brainstem where a lot of neurotransmitters that are related to mood are released.”
That suggested that there were links between mindfulness meditation and changes in mood. Additionally, a part of the brain essential to the processing of fear, stress, and anxiety was also impacted by mindfulness meditation.
Guided Meditation for Positive Mindset & Motivation Video:
Affirmations
Affirmations are one way to change our internal dialogue for the better.
Often, we are unaware of just how negative our thinking is on a day-to-day basis.
According to Dr. Walter E. Jacobson, an affirmation is a statement used to reprogram the subconscious.
In so doing, we begin to believe and then create the reality we desire.
Affirmations interrupt those negative thought patterns by intentionally introducing positive phrases and sayings.
Through repetitive reciting of those phrases, typically out loud, we can reshape how we think.
As a result, we can positively influence our attitudes for the better.
Refocus
Refocusing is about regaining control of your mind and thoughts. You do this in instances where you find yourself wandering off into the hypothetical and distracting noise.
It is also about bringing you back to your main goals so you can again be productive.
Refocusing itself is an action that is made up of tiny actions designed to help regain your attention and redirect your efforts.
While each person can develop a strategy for refocusing that is unique to them, a general model for refocusing can include the following:
- Identify the Goal: Take the time to outline what it is you are trying to achieve. Ask yourself a series of questions to help you get clear about this. What are you trying to accomplish? Also, what is your top priority? What area requires your focus our attention at this time? Goals should always be SMART- Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Time-bound. This will allow goal setting to bridge the gap between where we would like to be and what actually needs to be done in order to get us there.
- Identify the Type of Noise: You need to establish the type of mental noise that is acting as a barrier to achieving your goal(s). Are the thoughts you’re having distracting, unusable, untimely, hypothetical, or a combination of several? Once you’ve identified the specific type of noise, you can work to address it.
- Combat Blockers: Take the time to address each individual area of noise that may be present. If your thoughts are primarily made up of hypothetical noise, replace your ‘what if’ questions with factual information that is available. If your mental noise is primarily made up of thoughts about past mistakes, make a list of present-day successes. This will directly combat the noise. The goal is to eradicate the noise by replacing it with relevant and factual information.
- Move Forward: Once the noise has been addressed and removed, you can once again invest your energy in working towards your goals.
Filter
Filtering will help to ensure that the bits of information you do have within your mind is helpful, useful, and relevant to your goals.
This strategy especially attacks mental noise that may be distracting, unusable, and untimely.
It does this by narrowing in on that which will benefit you in the here and now.
Or that which will get you closer to where you desire to be in the future.
Filtering first requires awareness. This is where mindfulness meditation can come in and be useful. Then, it requires reflection.
This means taking the time to ask whether your thoughts are useful and relevant to the goals you are working towards.
If not, you then have the opportunity to redirect your thoughts toward those things that will be useful.
Thoughts that are relevant rather than continuing down a rabbit hole.
Visualization
Visualization can also be a solid strategy for combating mental noise.
Specifically, the distracting mental noise that may cause one to focus on potential negative outcomes.
As well visualization could help focus away from negative events from the past.
Or away from negative aspects of oneself that would prevent you from being able to take action and move forward.
A study published in March 2016 looked at 102 individuals diagnosed with an anxiety disorder.
One group of participants was asked to visualize an image of a positive outcome to three specific worries they’d had in the past week.
Another group of participants was asked to think of positive verbal outcomes.
The final group of participants was asked to visualize any positive image whenever they began to worry.
The results of this study showed that the two groups who had visualized a positive image reported greater happiness, restfulness, and decreased anxiety.
The Most Powerful Visualization Exercise Video:
Reframing
A final strategy for turning off mental noise can be reframing, especially when dealing with hypothetical and distracting mental noise. It is another means of filtering out thoughts and information that will act as more of a hindrance than a help.
Reframing takes the thoughts and makes a conscious decision to view those thoughts from a different perspective.
This can be useful when it comes to hypothetical mental noise which tends to focus on worst-case scenarios and what-if situations.
Reframing would take a negative worst-case scenario and reframe it to consider potential positive outcomes instead of only negative ones.
This strategy can also be used when dealing with distracting mental noise. For example, one may have a tendency to harbor on past negative situations or decisions.
In this case, reframing would switch the attention of the mind from what was done wrong to lessons that were learned.
As well as the growth that was obtained as a result of those situations or decisions.
Final Thoughts
Turning off the mental noise is less about completely silencing what is going on in our heads and more about ensuring that what is going on in our heads is healthy and helpful.
