Overstimulated: what it means, and what helps
Quiet Wall ·
What being overstimulated means, how it shows up, why some days it happens more easily, and the change that addresses it directly: less coming in.
What overstimulated means
Being overstimulated means more is coming in than you can comfortably take in. Sound, light, people, notifications, open tabs, a podcast at one and a half speed. Each of them on its own is manageable. Together they arrive faster than you can sort them, and the sorting is what wears you out.
It is a state, not a diagnosis. Anyone can get there after a loud enough day. Some people get there faster than others, and some days faster than other days, which is the part worth paying attention to.
What it feels like
People describe it in much the same words:
- irritable over small things, like a tap left running or a second question
- wanting to leave a room without being able to say why
- reading the same sentence three times
- every sound arriving at the same volume
- tired, without having done anything tiring
None of these needs a phone. A phone just adds to every one of them, because it is the one source of input that is always within reach and never runs out.
Why it happens so easily on some days
The threshold moves. A short night, a day of back-to-back calls, a commute with headphones in, an evening of a series with the phone in the other hand. Each one leaves less room for the next thing. By the time something small tips it over, the small thing gets the blame.
There is also the matter of gaps. Days used to have empty stretches in them: a queue, a bus, ten minutes early for something. Those stretches let the level drop on their own. Most of them are filled now, usually with a screen, so the level has nowhere to drop to.
What helps
The honest answer is the obvious one: less input. Not a technique, not a supplement, not a better playlist. Fewer things arriving.
In the moment:
- leave the room, or turn off whatever is making the most noise
- put the phone face down somewhere you cannot reach it
- sit somewhere with nothing much to look at for a few minutes
Over a week:
- leave some of the gaps empty on purpose
- stop filling the last half hour of the day with a screen
- notice which inputs you chose and which ones simply arrived
If it happens often enough to get in the way of ordinary days, it is worth raising with a doctor, who can tell you whether something else is behind it. This page is not the place to work that out.
Ten minutes with nothing coming in
This is what Quiet Wall is for. A reminder arrives, the phone goes across the room, and you look at a blank wall until a sound brings you back. Nothing arrives for the length of it, which is the whole of the idea. There is more on why a wall in particular on stare at a wall.
What does overstimulated mean?
More input than you can comfortably take in at once: sound, light, people, screens. It is a state, not a diagnosis.
How do you stop feeling overstimulated?
Reduce what is coming in. Leave the room or turn off the loudest thing, put the phone out of reach, and sit somewhere with little to look at for a few minutes.
Read on
- Dopamine detox — what the quiet is for, and what it is not
- Digital detox — removing the input, not just the apps
- Stare at a wall — why a blank wall, and how to be bored again