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🦆 CHILL THE DUCK OUT

Volume 046: Your brain won't shut up.

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🦆 Cold Open

Something that I’m not particularly proud of lately is that I've missed more of what my wife and son tell me because my brain has been throwing a temper tantrum. They'll be talking, like standing right there with words coming out of their mouths and I'm nodding along like I'm listening while my brain is somewhere else entirely.

Replaying a conversation from three days ago. Rehearsing what I should have said in that work meeting. Running through my screenplay assignment for the seventeenth time. Worrying about whether I'm handling everything correctly. Planning tomorrow. Analyzing yesterday. Catastrophizing next week.

And then my wife will say "so what do you think?" and I'll realize I have absolutely no idea what we've been talking about. I was physically present but mentally somewhere between last Tuesday and three weeks from now.

My brain was too busy having 60,000 thoughts to notice that my actual life was happening right in front of me.

Yeah, 60,000. That's not hyperbole. Research shows that humans produce approximately 60,000 thoughts per day. If you're awake for 16 hours, that's roughly 62 thoughts per minute. Your brain literally never shuts up. It's running a constant internal monologue that you didn't ask for and can't easily turn off.

And the problem is that most of those 60,000 thoughts aren't useful. They're not profound insights or brilliant ideas or meaningful reflections. They're repetitive noise. Mental clutter. Your brain cycling through the same worries, rehashing the same conversations, planning the same hypothetical scenarios, and generally just... being busy.

Research calls them "future chasers" and "past dwellers." Thoughts that pull you everywhere except where it actually matters… the present moment. The moment where your wife is telling you something important. Where your son is sharing something about his day. Where your life is actually happening.

I've written about overthinking before. About how it masquerades as problem-solving while actually just making you miserable. But this is different. This isn't just overthinking. It’s just the baseline. This is your brain's default setting. Sixty thousand thoughts per day, most of them stealing you away from the only moment that actually exists.

And the worst part is that you don't even realize it's happening. You think you're present. You think you're paying attention. You think you're here. But your brain is running its 24/7 radio station of past regrets and future anxieties, and you're missing everything that's actually in front of you.

I've been a card-carrying member of the overthinkers club my entire life. Top 1%, probably. But lately, life has been demanding more mental space and the 60,000 thoughts have gotten louder. More insistent. More distracting.

And I'm tired of missing my life because my brain won't shut up.

So this week, we're talking about why your brain produces 60,000 thoughts per day, why most of them are garbage, how this constant mental noise steals your ability to be present, and what you can actually do about it without becoming a monk who meditates for eight hours a day.

🧠 The Science Bit

Let's dig into why your brain is a chaotic radio station you never asked to listen to, and what all this mental noise is actually costing you.

Your brain produces approximately 60,000 thoughts per day. 

Research shows humans generate tens of thousands of thoughts daily, with estimates as high as 60,000 to 80,000. That's roughly one thought every second while you're awake. Your brain never stops generating mental content, most of it automatic and unconscious. The kicker is that studies show that up to 95% of those thoughts are repetitive. You're not having 60,000 original ideas. You're having the same 100 thoughts 600 times. Your brain is basically that one friend who keeps telling the same story at every party.

Most of these thoughts pull you out of the present. 

Research identifies two main categories of unhelpful thinking: rumination (obsessing about the past) and worry (catastrophizing the future). Studies show that the average person spends 47% of their waking hours thinking about something other than what they're currently doing. Nearly half the time, you're mentally time-traveling instead of being here. Which means you're missing roughly half your actual life while your brain tours yesterday and tomorrow.

This constant mental activity is exhausting. 

Your brain's executive function (the part responsible for focus, decision-making, and self-control) has limited capacity. When your brain is running 60,000 thoughts per day, many of them demanding attention, your cognitive resources get depleted fast. Studies show this mental busyness contributes to decision fatigue, reduced focus, and increased stress. Your brain is like a computer running 50 programs in the background while you're trying to have a conversation. It's slow, glitchy, and prone to crashing. Have you tried turning it off and on again? Spoiler: you can't.

The cost is actual presence. 

Neuroscience research shows that when you're mentally elsewhere, you're literally less able to process what's happening in front of you. Studies using fMRI scans demonstrate that mind-wandering reduces activity in brain regions responsible for sensory processing and attention. When your wife is talking to you but your brain is replaying yesterday's meeting, you're not just distracted. Your brain is actually processing less of what she's saying. You're physically there but neurologically checked out.

Mindfulness actually works to quiet the noise. 

Research consistently shows that mindfulness practices reduce mind-wandering and increase present-moment awareness. Studies show that even brief mindfulness sessions (10 to 20 minutes daily) significantly reduce repetitive thinking and improve attention. The key is focusing on your breath or physical sensations interrupts the automatic thought generator and brings you back to now. It's not about eliminating thoughts (impossible). It's about not getting swept away by every one of the 60,000.

🍟 This Week’s Happytizer

This week, instead of trying to stop your brain from producing 60,000 thoughts (good luck with that), I want you to practice noticing when you've left the present moment and deliberately coming back.

Here's how:

1. Notice when you're mentally gone.

Start paying attention to when you're physically present but mentally elsewhere. When someone is talking to you and you realize you have no idea what they just said. When you're eating and can't remember tasting the food. When you're driving and don't remember the last five minutes.

Don't judge it. Don't beat yourself up. Just notice: "Oh, I left. My brain went somewhere else."

That awareness is the first step.

2. Use the breath to come back.

When you notice you've mentally left, take three conscious breaths. Just three. Feel the air coming in. Feel it going out. That's it.

Those three breaths interrupt the automatic thought stream and bring you back to your body, which is always in the present moment even when your brain isn't.

3. Practice "life gazing" once per day.

Pick one mundane moment each day and actually pay attention to it. Really look at what's around you. Notice what you can see, hear, smell. Not to analyze or judge - just to observe.

Stopped at a red light? Look around. Notice the sky, the buildings, the other cars. Making coffee? Actually watch the coffee pour. Feel the mug in your hand. Smell it.

Your brain will want to wander. That's fine. Just keep gently bringing it back to what's actually here.

4. Ask "Where is my brain right now?" several times per day.

Set random reminders on your phone. When they go off, pause and ask yourself: "Where is my brain right now?"

Are you here, present, aware of this moment? Or are you mentally in yesterday's argument, tomorrow's to-do list, or next week's hypothetical disaster?

If you're gone, just notice it. Then take those three breaths and come back.

5. Choose one interaction per day to be fully present for.

Pick one conversation, one meal, one activity where you commit to actually being there. When your brain tries to wander (and it will), gently redirect it back to the person or moment in front of you.

Just one. You don't have to be perfectly present all day. Just practice it once.

6. Stop the brain's busyness before bed.

Your brain doesn't need to run 60,000 thoughts while you're trying to sleep. Before bed, spend five minutes focusing only on your breath. When thoughts come (they will), acknowledge them and let them go. "That's a thought about tomorrow's meeting. Not thinking about that right now."

This isn't meditation. It's just giving your brain permission to stop being busy for five minutes.

Permission slip for the week:

You are allowed to have 60,000 thoughts per day - you don't control that. But you are also allowed to stop letting every single thought hijack your attention and steal you away from the life happening right in front of you.

Reflection questions:

• How much of today have you actually been present for?

• What moments did you miss because your brain was elsewhere?

• When you notice you're mentally gone, can you come back without judging yourself?

💬 Tell me about your 60,000 thoughts.

How much of your day are you actually present for? What moments do you miss because your brain won't shut up?

📩 [email protected]

If this made you realize you've been nodding along while your brain was somewhere else entirely, share this with someone who's also been missing their life because their brain won't shut up.

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🫶 Duckin’ Done

That's Volume 046.
Here's to acknowledging that your brain produces 60,000 thoughts per day, accepting that most of them are noise, and practicing the simple act of coming back to the only moment that actually exists - this one.

Until next time: breathe deep, come back to now, and chill the duck out.

Jason

🔬 Behind the Curtain

Research on cognitive activity estimates humans generate 60,000-80,000 thoughts daily, with up to 95% being repetitive. Studies show the average person spends 47% of waking hours thinking about something other than their current activity (mind-wandering). Research on cognitive load demonstrates that mental busyness depletes executive function capacity, contributing to decision fatigue and reduced focus. Neuroscience research using fMRI shows that mind-wandering reduces activity in brain regions associated with sensory processing and attention. Multiple studies demonstrate that mindfulness practices reduce mind-wandering and improve present-moment awareness, with benefits from interventions as brief as 10-20 minutes daily.