It has often been remarked that Shakespeare is full of quotations, and here's one to ponder - 

 

'....All the world’s a stage,

And all the men and women merely players;

They have their exits and their entrances...'

If I dust off my English Literature studies, I recall this is from 'As You Like It'. It came into my mind when I was reading this fascinating book, 'Your Brain at Work: Strategies for Overcoming Distraction, Regaining Focus, and Working Smarter All Day Long'. I want to share just one of those strategies with you. 

The author likens the prefrontal cortex, the bit behind your forehead, the executive centre of the brain, to a theatre, imagining that thoughts leap onto the stage like actors, in ways that may or may not be useful. We don't always want every actor on stage at the same time, just as we can't keep track of too many things in our heads at once.

 

As the author says, ' the mental stage is smaller than you might expect' (loc 415 in Kindle edition).

But we can deliberately say to the less useful thoughts, Exit stage right until I want you! This can really help with focus. I say to my extraneous actors, thank you for the thought but I'm not ready for you at the moment - go and sit in the audience and I'll call you back later. 

It can also help with sleep when you have thoughts buzzing round your head. I imagine the theatre director (i.e. me) turning off the lights in the theatre, bringing down the curtain and saying, The theatre's closed just now; come back tomorrow.

 

Why not try it and let me know if it helps?