Longxi Hall’s teacher Sun Yinxuan mentioned in a lecture on insomnia[1] that if your sleeplessness is caused by an endless stream of thoughts, one helpful solution is to write those thoughts down. Once you put them on paper and make them concrete, the swirling ideas in your mind tend to decrease—similar to how uncertainty collapses upon observation (not really, lol).
Recently, I’ve realized this simple method can be extended further.
I’ve often found myself in this situation: open app A, scroll for a bit, close it; open app B, scroll a bit, close it; start task C, work for a while, then give up—only to later reopen A, B, and so on. This pattern closely resembles the insomnia described earlier: a restless state where I can’t transition into the next phase (entertainment, study, rest, etc.). Usually, this happens when I’m tired but still pushing myself to keep going, yet lack the energy to actually enter a new state. But as soon as I make a clear decision—to watch TV, play a game, or go to sleep—the mental idling stops, and I shift into a new mode. Sometimes I promptly rest; sometimes I try working a bit and realize I’m truly exhausted, so I rest; other times, I power through and finish what I started. Either way, it’s all good.
Lately, I’ve come to see that my biggest drain isn’t effort or rest—it’s mental idling. To use a trendy phrase: I’m neither grinding successfully nor lying flat peacefully. If I truly grind, at least I’ve strived and felt alive; if I truly lie flat, at least I’ve rested and felt refreshed. But during idling, I produce nothing and gain no real rest.
So the question is: how do we stop this conscious idling? How do we collapse the many floating options into a single decision? The answer, again, is writing. Writing itself is a form of focus. When you’re engaged in any focused activity, scattered thoughts naturally settle. But unlike outward-focused attention—like studying or gaming—writing is a powerful way to turn your attention inward. Outward focus consumes energy; inward focus replenishes it. After intense studying, you feel drained; after genuinely reflecting on yourself, you often feel insight gained.
In short, the act of writing helps me slow down, filter out distractions, and uncover my true inner choice—like rinsing a riverbed until only the large stones remain. It also allows me to gather my energy, enabling me to either follow through on my decision or honestly admit I need rest.