Alone with my thoughts (I wish)

I don't remember where I found this, but I loved it. It's from a letter Emily Dickinson wrote to Thomas Wentworth Higginson:

How do most people live without any thoughts. There are many people in the world (you must have noticed them in the street) How do they live. How do they get strength to put on their clothes in the morning

Unusual punctuation aside (I've left it as it was printed), it's true. How do people get strength to get through their days without any thoughts in their head? There's always something on: tv, radio, internet, texts, something, someone, always poking their head in. I notice on the days when I spend too much time with the TV on, or too much time on the Internet, that I'm crankier, my head is not clear, and I don't want to do anything. I'm stuck in other people's thoughts instead of focusing on my own.

I've noticed this in my son as well. One day I found him sitting in our living room, staring at the blue wall, pretending to watch tv. How weird is that? The more we watch tv, the more he wants. We had a Thomas DVD from the library a couple weeks ago, and as long as he remembered it was in the house, he wanted it on. All the time. He'd watch it for hours if I let him. I was very glad I had the excuse of taking it back to the library to end that little phase.

I've realized this is especially true with spiritual things. I loved (I think it was?) Elder Christofferson's talk about how everything we do in the gospel should be about inviting the Spirit to be with us. That's hard. Thinking about spiritual things is hard when my job wakes me up in the morning and stays with me until I go to sleep. Kids, housework, some leisure time (maybe), where does the spiritual fit in? Back in the lovely days when I had one child who could feed himself, I'd read the Ensign over breakfast. Those days when I can do that now, though, are hard to find. If I could find a better balance, I bet I'd find more joy in serving.

How do you guys do it?