When Your Brain Feels Like 27 Tabs Are Open and One Is Playing the Drums: A Gentle Way to Calm a Busy Brain
What ADHD overwhelm can feel like
Some days my brain feels crowded before the day has properly started. Too many thoughts, too many tabs open, too many tiny things all asking for attention at the same time. On those days, I’ve found that making art can help in a way that the usual advice like make a list, prioritize. focus. Focus! Ha! I can’t even get myself a glass of water without cleaning the cat’s litterbox and loading the washing machine on my way to the sink.
Those things can be useful on good days, but on overwhelm days they can feel like an additional task when what I probably need is a little less pressure.
Why making art helps me when my thoughts feel too loud
I make myself a cup of tea and start drawing simple lines on a piece of paper. Over and over again. Simple lines. Doodling. Maybe adding patches of color to the page. Outlining the patches of colour with a black pen.
Note: this is about making the kind of art that doesn’t ask me to be sophisticated or organized. It just gives all the mental buzz a place to go to.
This can be especially helpful for ADHD brains because overwhelm is often not just about having too much to do. It is also about having too much happening inside your head at the same time (including some joker playing the drums!). Too much noticing. Too much seeing. Too many emotions. Too many starting points. Too many unfinished thoughts. And not enough filters.
Making art gives the brain one place to land without demanding perfect focus first.
So, on days like that I sit down with a piece of paper and simply draw what feels good. Lines. Dots. A page full of circles. Small ones and big ones. Round ones and wonky ones.
Not because I will fix my life, but because I know that I can shift the buzz, restlessness and overwhelm through the pen onto the paper. And if it makes me feel a bit calmer afterwards it’s a win. It’s a small shift but it counts!
Creative prompt
If your brain feels overloaded today, here’s a simple prompt you could try: Picture your mind as a tangled thread.
Use a single line for each thought and if you want, different colours for different thoughts. Or just keep it black and white.
Don’t think. Don’t try to make it symbolic or clever. And for God’s sake don’t try to make it pretty! I repeat: You are NOT required to produce a masterpiece.
You can make small squiggles and long lines. Thick, bold lines and very thin ones. Let all the buzz and the deafening noise in your brain pour through your pencil onto the page.
Necessary art supplies
Minimum: a scrap of paper and a pencil.
Use whatever you have: pencil, pen, your kids crayons… Find a sheet of paper or use the back of a junk mail envelope.
Time needed: five minutes are enough. More is lovely. The point is NOT to end up with a good drawing. The point is to let your nervous system relax. Stop whenever you feel better.
That is one of the quiet ways making art has helped me. It doesn’t erase the cause of your overwhelm. But it does enough for me to hear myself think again.
Try the prompt for 10 minutes and notice whether your brain feels even 5% less crowded afterward
