#2 – Tired Thoughts

When you’re tired, pay attention to what you think about. In particular, pay attention to the thoughts you only have when you’re tired. They are probably sad, frustrating, or scary thoughts. Explore those thoughts, cry about those thoughts, and write those thoughts down, but don’t try to resolve them then. Return to your written “tired thoughts” when you have the energy you need to work on them.

What is stuck in your head when you are exhausted? What internal conflicts do you struggle to resolve? What do you regret or feel shame for? What do you feel self-conscious about? What deeply confuses you? Are there people that you think about? Are there relationships that have fallen apart? Are there goals that have been missed? Are there things you wish you could say to someone at that moment, but you can’t?

These are thoughts that always exist at some level in our brains and require significant mental resources to keep at bay. Consciously holding and managing these thoughts hurts, but we usually have the cognitive defenses on guard to remain emotionally safe and stable by avoiding these thoughts. When we have plentiful mental energy, we don’t dwell on these thoughts because they are buried beneath an unconscious layer of mental armor.  However, when we are tired, we lack the mental energy to maintain our defenses and suppress negative thoughts. So, we think tired thoughts. 

Of all the problems that we all have, our tired thoughts are the most important to resolve. Mental fatigue uniquely opens a window to see exactly what is eating away at us, all the time. Unresolved thoughts burden our cognitive capacity, requiring mental energy to keep them suppressed or managed. This causes a constant drain on our cognitive resources, even when we are not actively thinking about these issues. The mental energy we perpetually spend to sequester tired thoughts is energy we are unable to access in our work, relationships, goals, and personal lives. Tired thoughts are like the unnecessary background applications on a computer, constantly sucking battery and computational power away from every other task we try to accomplish. They prevent us from making the most of our lives.

So, when you are tired, write down your thoughts, feelings, and emotions. When you have the energy, try to resolve them. That way, you can take back space in your brain and your heart that tired thoughts once occupied. Resolving tired thoughts will lead to personal growth via a greater capacity to progress and develop. While it will require significant intentionality, time, and effort, resolving tired thoughts may be the most freeing thing we can do for ourselves.

7/14/2024 – Salt Lake City, Utah