Rational mind getting tired and shutting down
- Gilles Marin
- Jan 11, 2022
- 2 min read
Q:
When I start with all my ideas and projects, within 30 minutes I am sure to want to have a nap - like my brain shuts down.
So I am thinking that I am not balancing my elements, if that’s even an expression. I must somehow be draining myself.
How can I learn to be more focused on a task? What can I adjust better?
A:
Yes, it takes a lot of energy to think and focus mentally on a project. But it is not the only thing that could make you want to sleep. I believe that what you are experiencing as "fatigue" might be a need for your whole mind to catch up on the whole project by "sleeping over it". Also your emotional mind might be working on something also very important in the background of your consciousness.
Unfortunately, we were raised in a rational thinking dominant culture, focused on problem solving and to be ahead and on top of things. Once we realize that there is more to life than to turn it into a problem to solve, then the "need to sleep over it" becomes dominant and prevents the mental takeover from rational thinking to assess emotional, existential and spiritual conditions in a way that's not translatable into a rational language. Our Wood thinking part of our mind always wants to get things done as soon and as fast as possible. If it had its choice, we would never sleep. Fortunately, somewhere, somehow, we know better... without being conscious of it.
What to do? Bargain with yourself, interact positively with the different intelligences of your mind so you get self support. Write down the main lines of your project down and ask you emotional self and your spirit how they feel about it. Then ask yourself when would be the best time for the realization of the project. Maybe your spirit knows about something that might require changing something major.... We don't know until we ask and are able to wait for the answer, which will always come only at the right time.
This is my experience as a teacher and a writer. To write takes a tremendous amount of time. For me it is like painting on a canvas. A whole day or even a week can be spent on a small detail. Then giving it some time to rest, and, the next time around, a whole new layer emerges on its own like a new foliage that grew overnight. We need to learn to work with our whole mind and it takes time, energy and patience.
I love how this frames mental fatigue as your mind working on deeper layers, not just shutting down. Honestly, this belongs in cursed images territory for anyone who’s ever felt guilty about needing a nap mid-project. The advice to bargain with your own emotions and wait for answers feels like a gentle permission slip to slow down.
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Feeling mentally drained after just half an hour is more common than you think, and the advice about letting your whole mind “sleep over” a project really resonates with me. Taking a step back can feel counterproductive, but it’s often where the real breakthroughs happen. If you enjoy this kind of thoughtful puzzle-solving, you might also like the arrow puzzle — it’s a great way to engage your mind in a different, more playful way.
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