Stopping the 'Brownian motion' in our minds

When I think about what I think, I find that whenever I am doing anything other than work, my mind wanders around like crazy. I am thinking about one thing after another all the time, continuously. For example, when I am swimming, I am thinking about a hundred other things, each for a few seconds. Instead of enjoying the swim, I am ruining it by not focussing on it. When I am driving as well, thoughts flood my mind; when I am drinking tea as well!

When I am feeling a little weak once in a way and am lying down, I reach out for my phone and check arbitrary things, things that are not at all important. I have noise in my brain all the time. Much like Brownian motion!

Many times, I feel I need to control my mind. I need to focus on what I am doing and live and relish every moment of it. I have heard that meditation helps to make the mind more peaceful, to enjoy the moment, so to speak. However, I find it very difficult to meditate even for a minute. The whole concept of sitting and doing nothing else and just emptying my mind and focussing on one thing like breathing for example, seems totally beyond me. I have tried many times.

So, when this article came up in my Pocket recommendations, I read it and found it to have some practical solutions to this problem. It talks about some easy ways to achieve the same results as meditation without the boredom associated with it. The results are similar to those achieved by meditation - at least the ones I am interested in - to reduce the noise in my brain.

I have started practising some of the techniques mentioned there and I think it might be working.