I talk to myself. A lot. Not just in my head but out loud, and not just in the privacy of my home.
Although I’ve known I do it for years, I didn’t realize how bad it was until one day a while back a coworker, who had an office next to mine, told me he thought someone was in my office with me because of the long conversation I’d been having.
Nope. It was just me.
I can talk to myself all day long for any number of reasons. For example, I talk to myself when I’m looking for something.
“If I were my cell phone, where would I be?” Then, “Why were you on a shelf in the closet?”
I talk to myself when I’m shopping.
“Where do you think I can find the canned mushrooms?” and “Okay, which one of you is the cheapest?”
I talk to myself when I’m out in the yard.
“Wow, are you lilies beautiful this year,” and “Alright. This weed is coming out whether it wants to or not.”
While driving I often keep a monologue going from the time I get in my car until I reach my destination. I not only talk to myself, I talk to the other drivers on the road, and unfortunately I tend to have a touch of road rage.
“Nice blinker, jerk.”
“Why the *bleep* aren’t we even going the speed limit?”
“Back off! I can’t go any faster than the car in front of me.”
“Get off the phone, idiot.”
“What. The *bleep*. Are you doing.”
“Green means go, moron.”
It never used to fail that I would leave work and suddenly remember something important I had to do the next day, so I would call on the drive home and leave myself a message on my answering machine. One morning I got to work and listened to the message I had left the day before and realized I must not have hung up, because after it was over I listened to myself complaining about everyone else’s driving until the machine cut me off.
I talk to our pets, greeting them when I come home and telling them to be good when I leave. I ask them if they want a treat and if they missed me when I was gone.
I talk to myself when I’m angry, which I hate because it reminds me of listening to my mom do the same thing when I was a kid, but on the plus side it does seem to help me blow off steam.
I always thought my habit of talking to myself was just one of my many quirks and probably made me look a bit crazy to people who caught me doing it, but it turns out scientific research has shown people who talk to themselves are actually smart.
I do it so often I must be bordering on genius.
Talking to yourself helps concentration and stimulates memory because when you speak out loud you visualize the word. It helps you clarify your thoughts and make decisions.
You can talk to yourself to practice a conversation you’re nervous about, to psych yourself up for an upcoming challenge, or to motivate yourself.
Talking to yourself can even improve your state of mind if you focus on the positive rather than the negative. It can help alleviate stress and anxiety and boost your mood.
Apparently talking to oneself is actually a pretty common habit, so I’m not alone. Some of the world’s smartest people have been known to have solo conversations, including Albert Einstein.
Turns out it’s perfectly normal that I talk to myself, so if you ever catch me doing it don’t worry that I’m losing my mind. I just hope I don’t start talking back.
