I've made two observations since this quarantine and work-from-home experiment began. First, I am spending much more time by myself than normal. And second, my environment is much quieter than normal.

Working in an open floor plan means we are "with" people practically all day. At any time we can turn to our neighbor and bounce an idea around, ask a question, or just generally converse. At the same time, even when we are quietly working, there is constant, subtle background noise. Keyboard clacking. Printers processing. Tickers ticking.

But now, one-off conversations require a Zoom meeting. And the only real background noise comes from dropping my pen or swiveling in my chair. It's odd.

However, this quiet has created more time for uninterrupted, focused work, which I've enjoyed. But filling this void of conversation and background noise has been my inner voice— the voice inside our heads that likes to commentate our every move, often critically. It's as if this voice has appointed itself as an unsolicited and unwelcome committee of one whose sole purpose is to provide an opinion on how we are spending our time— that's how it feels at least.

While this inner voice is always there, I've become more aware of it over the last week. I've decided that letting it run rampant for the duration of this quarantine won't be sustainable. So I set out to spend a few hours flipping through and gathering resources and strategies for both investigating and quieting this inner voice when its noisier than usual.

What's listed below are a few books, podcasts, and quotes I've been revisiting that each presents their own ways or ideas in bringing awareness to this inner voice. Each one links directly to the source and lists a few of the ideas I took away from rereading or revisiting. While the gathering of these resources was an exercise done for myself, I figured I would share a few of them in case anyone is experiencing the same thing at the moment. If you find any of them particularly interesting or useful or have any of your own that you think I should add, definitely send them my way.

Books

Awareness by Anthony De Mello

The most impactful book I've read over the past two years. If you read anything on this list, start with this book.
Process negative emotions systematically with the following process:
1. Identify the negative emotion
2. Accept that it is due to your perception, not reality
3. Recognize the illusion or false belief through which you are viewing the event
4. Refuse to identify with the emotion

“I” is not your thinking, because your thoughts go and change.
We have thousands of gigabytes of sensory information coming at us at all times — who is doing the filtering? Our programming? Our conditioning? Yes.

Meditations by Marcus Aurelius

A gold mine of wisdom and insight, this book has had a profound impact on my life. It could be listed as a resource for 20 different topics, but harnessing our thoughts and ability to alter our perception are keys tenants of Stoic philosophy. Some directly applicable quotes:

What are you doing here, Perceptions? Get back to where you came from, and good riddance. I don't need you. Yes, I know, it was only a force of habit that brought you. No, I'm not angry with you. Just go away.
To erase false perceptions, tell yourself: I have it in me to keep my soul from evil, lust, and all confusion. To see things as they are and treat them as they deserve. Don't overlook this innate ability.
Stop perceiving the pain you imagine and you'll remain completely unaffected.
Your ability to control your thoughts— treat it with respect. It's all that protects your mind from false perceptions.
Turn to these two: 1. Disturbance comes only from within our own perceptions. 2. Everything you see will soon alter and cease to exist.

Love Yourself Like Your Life Depends On It by Kamal Ravikant

This quick read is a powerful, thought-provoking read on how we talk to ourselves and how that talk shapes our behavior.
Kamal processes persistent negative emotions quite simply: he pauses, says to himself "Not Useful," and moves on. I found this simple approach very helpful.
Another point he makes is creating our personal "light switch" — a checklist of tactics for turning on the lights when our inner voice starts to speak too much. That's really what this exercise has been for me, identifying all the potential "light switches" from things I've read and listened to this year.

The Untethered Soul by Jeff Singer

The core message of this book is recognizing and stepping back from the story we are telling ourselves every day. Once we form the habit of recognizing objectively the melodrama our minds are constantly creating, we can slow them down.

Does that mean that you stop your mind from going around in circles trying to figure out what’s going on? No. It simply means that you are ready, willing, and able to watch your mind create its little melodrama.
You are not your thoughts; you are aware of your thoughts. You are not your emotions; you feel your emotions. You are not your body; you look at it in the mirror and experience this world through its eyes and ears. You are the conscious being who is aware that you are aware of all these inner and outer things.

Podcasts

Tim Ferriss | Tara Brach

Tara Brach is the author of Radical Acceptance, a book that's come highly recommended but I have yet to read. My biggest takeaway from this podcast is Tara's idea of Inviting Mara to Tea, which she describes in the linked post.
Inviting Mara to Tea is a frame of mind that when negative thoughts or emotions begin to come in, instead of pushing them away or trying to ignore them, we make space for them. We become aware of the physical sensations that are present as a result of the thought.

Tim Ferriss | Jack Kornfield

Jack Kornfield is a trained Buddhist monk, one of the most influential teachers of Buddhist mindfulness in Western society.
There are a few ideas that stuck out to me from this podcast. The first is how Jack approaches negative emotional thought patterns. Similar to Tara, he first pauses and notices. He then thinks about them and says to himself "Thank you for trying to protect me, but I'm okay for now." — Being grateful to these thoughts as they arise, but not letting them overstay their welcome.

You can either give in to your fear and anxiety, or you can take this time to train yourself in steadiness, trust, the ability to have a broader perspective, and perhaps more than anything, to develop your sense of care and connection for everyone else.”
“We were wandering in the rice paddies on our way to a village with my teacher, Ajahn Chahm, and some monks. Out across the rice paddies was this big rock—a huge boulder. Ajahn Chah asked us, ‘Is that boulder heavy?’ … We said, ‘Yes, it is, master.’ He smiled and said, ‘Not if you don’t pick it up.'

You can find detailed show notes for this podcast here.

Peter Attia | Sam Harris

Sam Harris is the founder of Waking Up, my meditation app of choice. I'm currently in the middle of his 50-day course which you can try for free here.
This podcast discusses Sam's meditation practice, his thoughts on dealing with the story we are constantly telling ourselves, and ideas around human distraction.

Our default mode, as humans, is to be lost in thought. We’re telling ourselves a story all day long, and we are not always aware of it.
The disease of human distraction in the form of living outside of the present — has been studied and pondered for millennia

You can find detailed show notes for this podcast here.

Tim Ferriss | Graham Duncan

This podcast introduced me to some of my favorite books and articles I've read over the past year including The Tail End, Awareness by Anthony De Mello, and This is Water.
Graham Duncan has a unique practice of handling persistent negative thoughts and emotions. He pretends he is the host of the house party, and enthusiastically welcomes the emotion to the party. Hearing him describe himself saying "Welcome to the party fear of failure!!" is something I won't soon forget.
You can find detailed show notes for this podcast here.

Peter Attia | Dan Harris

Dan Harris is the founder of 10% Happier, another very awesome Meditation app. This podcast discusses meditation, addiction, and cultivating awareness. It was listening to this podcast that got me back into meditation after recently falling out of the routine.

“Meditation isn’t about what you’re feeling right now, it’s about knowing what you’re feeling so that your feelings don’t own you”

You can find detailed show notes for this podcast here.

Quotes

“Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space is your power to choose your response. In your response lies your growth and your freedom.” – Victor Frankl
“We suffer more in imagination than in reality” – Seneca
“For there is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so” – Shakespeare in Hamlet
“When you’re not aware of the non-stop conversation going on inside your head, it owns you” — Eckart Tolle

What else?

If you have any resources that you think complement these, be sure to send them my way Be sure to reach out as well if you found any of these helpful or want to bounce ideas around from any of them.