I wrote a similar article on my anonymous blog. I’m going to remove that blog soon so it is time to “move” over all interesting stories from there to over here. So lets go!
The Thought Train?
I’m not sure if this is an official term, but I use The Thought Train to describe a particular mental state — a kind of (hyper)focus in which I consciously get “lost” in my own thoughts.
It often starts innocently enough, like thinking about what I did at work yesterday. But before I know it, my mind jumps to the periodic table, then to The Matrix, black holes, the universe, the Big Bang, and what might’ve come before the Big Bang. Then, just as suddenly, I’m back in IT mode, revisiting system architecture diagrams or a bug I once encountered in a tool I built years ago.
All of that can happen in just a matter of minutes.
I have no idea if this is an autistic trait or not — and honestly, I don’t really care. What I do know is this: these random Thought Trains are incredibly enjoyable.
There’s something deeply satisfying about letting your mind roam freely, connecting wildly different topics at high speed, with no agenda, no filter, and no one telling you to stay on track.
But there is one small “but.” Sometimes I catch myself thinking, “Wait… what was that idea I had five minutes ago?” And more often than not, it’s gone. Just like that. Vanished into the mental void.
It’s like watching a brilliant train speed by, only to realize you forgot to take notes — and now you’re stuck on the platform wondering what station it was even heading to. Ironically, trying to take notes during such a Thought Train tends to derail the entire process. It’s disturbingly similar to how quantum superposition works: the moment you observe a quantum state, you collapse it. Likewise, the moment I try to capture a thought in the middle of that mental state, the magic often dissolves.
The basics remain the same. It always starts with something mundane — a simple thought about work, a memory, or something I saw earlier that day.
And then, out of nowhere, a word, a smell, a sudden mental image… something triggers a shift. In a split second, the topic changes. I’ll be thinking, pondering, or having an internal dialogue — and before I know it, that very process triggers another shift. Sometimes it’s abrupt, other times it’s a smooth transition — but it never stops for long.
And in my Brain Factory metaphor, it’s like Randy and Dandy — my two overly enthusiastic Scrumicons — are hosting a chaotic retro-fest in the Thinking Department. At the exact same time, Roger the Janitor is rolling through with his garbage trolley, hurriedly dumping bins. But of course, he misses a spot.
As trash starts mixing with the retro materials, nobody notices. Some of it ends up on the planning board. And somehow, it all gets turned into ideas — pinned there with pastel-colored Post-its like it was meant to be.
Normally, I’m not a big fan of Randy and Dandy chaotically dancing through my carefully constructed factory. They tend to stir things up that were deliberately kept separate — and honestly, they can be exhausting.
But in this specific case? They’re pure gold. Somehow, they manage to link things together that were never meant to be glued — and yet, it works.
Sort of.
Kind of.
Don’t ask me how. 😛
When creative chaos ensues in my brain, Randy and Dandy — and probably Roger — are right there at the center of it all. They’re fetching random pastel-colored Post-its from the board, reading them out loud in front of everyone — and probably over the intercom system.
And my CEO, Bob? He’s probably off fetching a strong mug of coffee — caffeine, right? Except his machine is broken (again), so now he has to take the stairs all the way down because the elevator is out of service.
So he’s blissfully unaware — ignorance is bliss, after all — that Randy, Dandy, and Roger have completely taken over the factory upstairs. Somehow, Bob has even managed to close his own ears — completely oblivious to what’s being shouted over the intercom system. 😛
And when he finally returns…
The Thought Train, unfortunately, is already gone.
Sure, I can control how long Bob stays downstairs sipping his lukewarm coffee. But I can’t, for the life of me, get Randy and Dandy to properly document what happened during their helium-balloon mayhem™® retro. 😛
So yeah — when I try to recreate the mayhem retro, a.k.a. the Thought Train, it’s simply not possible. No documentation exists. And Randy and Dandy sure as hell didn’t inform my memory guys to properly store, save, and back up all the information.
Questions
Am I the only one with these Thought Trains?
Is this an autistic trait?
Or are there more people out there with their own Randy and Dandy — hijacking retros, mislabeling Post-its, and throwing pastel chaos into the mix?
And please share your own story! I’m curious!
Postscript – The rewrite
Originally, I was planning to copy over the old version of this story almost one-to-one. But halfway through, I realized how much fun it is to actually rewrite it — and to let my Brain Factory metaphor run wild inside the narrative.
Turns out, letting Randy, Dandy, and Roger join the Thought Train made it more chaotic… and way more fun.
And knowing now that those three are probably involved whenever one of these Thought Trains takes off… Might just make me smile the next time it happens.
Hopefully without disturbing the process.
Their process. 😛
Brain out!