Get Through the Clutter

When I started meditating, the first 25 minutes of my meditation were useless. Absolute waste. I was unable to concentrate on my breath no matter how much I tried. Thoughts just did not go away. On good days, I was able to achieve periods of concentration only after those 25 mins. On bad days, the entire meditation was a waste. This was very irritating. Why couldn’t I concentrate from the start? After all, I knew what I needed to do. Then I read something that helped me understand what was happening.

The book, Accidental Genius, has nothing to do with meditation. It is a book about freewriting. The basic idea is that when you want to think through an issue, generate ideas or write about something, just start writing and don’t stop for a predefined period of time (say 20 or 30 minutes, then repeat). Don’t worry about the quality of what you’re writing or whether the right ideas are coming out. Just write and don’t stop, even writing random words till the next thought comes through. If you do this, i) you’ll be able to pick some good material from the volumes that you wrote, and ii) more importantly, you’ll start seeing better content coming out as the surface level thoughts have been put down on paper and you’re able to access deeper thoughts. This was an eye-opening insight for me, especially because I saw how this concept applied beyond writing.

The first 25 minutes of my meditation were the process of decluttering my mind before I was able to access concentration. If I didn’t let the clutter flow through, I wouldn’t be able to access that stillness. Once I understood that, the initial period just became part of my meditation (it hasn’t gotten less irritating, though). This is true of other endeavours, too.

When thinking of ideas, consider the first few ideas as ‘warm-up’ before you’re able to access the really novel ideas. When taking a break from work, let the anxiety flow through you before you can really relax. When taking a break from social media, let the craving for novelty slowly die down before you can focus on real life again. Let the delay in the feedback loop play itself out.

So if you’re struggling to find that stillness, that focus, that idea or the right words. Keep at it. Do the work. Get through the clutter. It’s there.