Grown up coloring books sound good, my daughter has a few of those. They're really neat looking, and you do get that mental zone out.
For me, getting comfortable in a dark room with good headphones and a big unending chunk of great music I loveworks wonders. Dive into it, ride the waves of that ocean of sound, feel it. Then come out a new person. Just eliminate any and all possible distractions.Spoiler: show
This one might not work for everyone, plus it does eat a good chunk of your time without any additional benefit beyond getting your thoughts in order.
So, as another close alternative, you could go running or cycling into the sunset with those same tunes playing in your head... or without them. The goal here is to get you focused on the activity, really, and I find that music has a profound thought-modulating effect on me. It might be different for other people.
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Actually, as an afterthought, playing some music yourself might be even better if you can do it. If you can't, it's probably a great excuse to learn.
How do you do the black out text?
If you are having to raise your husband, as well as your 8 year old, I suggest your husband pick up some emotional labor. Such as attending to the emotional needs of the child, planning activities, school and doctor scheduling, dealing with the in laws etc.
Well, a lot of these mentions sound like general hobbies. I'm talking about mental zone outs, like staring at a fire, needle point, the coloring books... those were all things that fit what I was asking about.I think you just have to experiment a figure out what zones you out. I could go run 10 miles and it turns me into a machine, no thinking required! It probably doesn't do that for other folks. My wife like to crochet. That's her mental zone out. It's been my experience that anything physically engaging enough that it forces you to focus on the work at hand, but is easy to accomplish, splitting wood with an axe for example, is great for zoning out.
Agreed. Knitting wasn't always a mental zone out for me, but now my hands just know what to do. I don't really pay attention when I'm working a simple pattern, but I have to be engaged enough that all my other thoughts just kind of fade out.Well, a lot of these mentions sound like general hobbies. I'm talking about mental zone outs, like staring at a fire, needle point, the coloring books... those were all things that fit what I was asking about.I think you just have to experiment a figure out what zones you out. I could go run 10 miles and it turns me into a machine, no thinking required! It probably doesn't do that for other folks. My wife like to crochet. That's her mental zone out. It's been my experience that anything physically engaging enough that it forces you to focus on the work at hand, but is easy to accomplish, splitting wood with an axe for example, is great for zoning out.
Reading through these replies was interesting for me. I do some of these activities (such as go for a walk), but not to "zone out." I can't think of a time I purposefully "zone out."
Is this something everyone does?