the way you are actually supposed to meditate is to keep your mind completely clear. I have been testing this for almost a year now and even I cannot manage more than 5 mins of it but the idea is that as soon as you get a thought inside your head, open your eyes and stop the timer. It doesnt matter if it was 5 seconds or 2 mins but slowly and steadily your times will increase and so will your focus
i would chant "Ommmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm" while meditating because that is one way to force your mind to keep it from having thoughts but then maybe it is just me