Do you have any idea how many thoughts are live-streaming through your mind on a daily basis? Older studies suggested that on average, you could have 50,000 – 70,000 thoughts per day. However, a more recent study from HealthLine in 2020 suggests that it is actually about 6,000 separate thoughts per day.
But here’s the glitch – about 95% of our thoughts are repetitive and up to 80% can be negative. These two factors can multiply and amplify the 6,000 average. No wonder we feel weighted down with constant content.
We actually have more agency to manage our thoughts than we realize. While it might seem a bit like trying to herd cats, letting our thoughts come and go can get easier — with practice.
To a large degree, we already do this subconsciously. If we stopped and interacted with every thought we had throughout a normal day, we would not get much accomplished. So, we really only have to get more discerning about those streaming thoughts that snag our attention and keep us distracted.
There are several helpful tools we can use to help us:
Brain Dump:
Writing down your to do list, making a grocery or errands list, and using a calendar are just a few examples of “brain dump”. You simply capture the relevant streaming thoughts and commit them to paper. Take notice of how you feel when you create some cognitive space by writing down the things you don’t want to forget.
Journaling:
Putting pen to paper and being unfiltered about how you are feeling with honesty and reflection is an incredibly beneficial practice for stress reduction and improved emotional regulation. Arthur C. Brooks, author of Build the LIfe You Want, shares that journaling about a particularly troubling experience – over time – reveals some of our greatest insights. He recommends that you journal about it in the heat of the moment, and then return to it a few days later, when your emotions have cooled a bit. What are you learning about yourself as you look at it with more emotional clarity? Arthur Brooks also suggests that you do this a month later, three months later and even a year later. This “time lapse” practice of journaling reveals a lot about how you process emotions, learn from life’s lessons and find meaning embedded in adversities.
Is It True?
As Dan Harris, host of the 10% Happier Podcast, would share: Don’t believe everything you think. Your thoughts are not always factual or helpful. You can become more discerning and do a little check in by asking yourself: Are these thoughts helpful, true and necessary? Ruminating is an example of repetitive, negative thoughts that keep you focused on a past you cannot change.
An important reminder: Our brains start out with a “factory-iinstalled” default negativity bias. This is the main reason that such a high percentage of our thoughts are negative. Just like you customize the settings in your car to suit your optimum driving experience, you will want to dial down the default negativity bias. This will shift you from judgement to curiosity and help you be open-minded and emotionally agile.
Strengthen Attention Retention:
We live in a cultural where our attention is not only up for grabs, but is a commodity traded in the futures markets. We give away our attention for free with very little awareness of the personal hidden cost. When we are continuously distracted, our ability to stay present atrophies.
Commit to strengthening your ability to focus your attention where YOU want it to be.
Meditation practices can help jumpstart your attention retention program. The primary goal of mediation is to help you recognize when your attention is drifting and gently bring it back. Think of it like putting in the reps like you do for physical strength training. A few sets of bringing your attention back to the present moment will build your ability to self-direct your attention.
Use some guardrails to keep you from falling into rabbit holes and doom scrolling. You can set personal limits for discretionary screen time; turn your phone to greyscale to make it less appealing; put your phone in another room; don’t bring it as a plus one to dinner, a meeting or bathroom buddy. Begin to keep tabs on how often you reach for your phone when you are waiting in line, stuck in traffic or craving a distraction.
The reality is that our social media diets contribute to our repetitive and negative thoughts. Dr. Laurie Santos, host of the Happiness Lab podcast, points out that it’s the equivalent of junk food for our brains. Pay attention to what you are consuming and how it affects your thoughts.
One of the easiest ways to strengthen your attention retention is to take 20 minute walks in nature. No air pods, no friends, no dog. Just you and Mother Nature. This is ground-breaking science coming from a new field – environmental neuroscience, pioneered by Dr. Marc Berman. Think of time spent in nature as a daily supplement for your cognitive functions. Not only are we cognitively sharper after a 20 minute walk in nature, our ability to retain focused attention dramatically improves.
Organizational psychologist, Adam Grant wrote a compelling testimonial about Dr. Berman’s findings noting that “green and blue outdoor spaces can transform our thoughts and our lives.”
Put It All Into Your Practice:
Just imagine how much easier it will become to manage your live-streaming thoughts when you cultivate greater awareness, become more discerning about your thoughts and social media content you consume, and strengthen your attention retention.
Check out this short clip of Dr. Marc Berman and Andrew Huberman discussing the benefits of improved attention by spending time in nature:
Posts Related to Thoughts:
This short video is excerpted from a July 2025 Huberman Lab Podcast episode that took a deep dive into how we can re-build our attention “retention”. If you find yourself easily distracted, this will help a great deal.