How to Deal With Distracting Thoughts, Fast

Do you have a hell of a time getting rid of distracting or hectic thoughts that keep you from getting your beauty sleep or keep sabotaging that crucial work presentation you’ve been preparing for weeks. Are these thoughts starting to damage your productivity?

You’re not alone. Research suggests that about half of the things we think about each day don’t have anything to do with what we’re doing.

The good news is, there are ways to deal with distracting thoughts fast, and we’ll cover some of the best ways in the rest of this piece.

First, we should ask ourselves what constitutes a distracting thought.

What is a Distracting Thought?

According to psychologist Dr. Patrick Kellan distracting thoughts can involve ”… ruminating over some event” that happened in the recent past, or worrying about an upcoming challenge you’ll have to face.

This can lead to:

• Negative thoughts.
• Random impulses.
• Daydreaming.

Why Do We Get Distracted by Our Thoughts?

Do you know what’s crazy? We’re actually designed to have distracting thoughts. Indeed, our minds wander so often, we sometimes don’t notice it’s happening. We’re only aware of these thoughts when they’re particularly loud. Think of the low hum of a car engine, you know it’s running, but you only really notice the noise when you rev up, right?

We don’t have long attention spans either, meaning it’s difficult for us to focus and we can get distracted by pretty much anything. So, the way we’re wired makes us vulnerable to distractions, and those distractions include annoying, intrusive thoughts. Check out ‘Why Do We Struggle to Focus?’ for more detail.

Now that we know we’re vulnerable to distracting thoughts that can hinder our productivity, it’s time to find out how to deal with them.

How to Deal With Intrusive, Distracting Thoughts

We’ve just learnt that having distracting thoughts is natural and could be seen as a sort of evolutionary defence mechanism, but there are ways to deal with them, and thereby boost your focus and productivity.

Stop Trying Not to Think About Distracting Thoughts – This may seem counterintuitive. But most of us know from experience that trying to push those thoughts away doesn’t always work.

If you tell yourself not to think about something, you’re almost inevitably going to think about it. You’ll end up concentrating on the thoughts instead of disregarding them.

So, instead, don’t beat yourself up for having distracting thoughts. Accept them, and don’t waste time and energy trying to push them away.

List Distracting Thoughts so You Can Deal with Them Later – When you do have a distracting thought, try jotting it down on a piece of paper and consciously telling yourself you’ll come back to it later.

This means you can address intrusive thoughts when you’re ready and on your own teams, instead of being forced to confront something the moment you think of it.

Practicing this is an effective way to set boundaries, so you can stay focused on the task at hand, get more done, and become more productive.

If you promise yourself that you’ll come back to your list of distracting thoughts later, you’ll likely have less intrusive thoughts throughout the day.

Set a Time to Deal with Intrusive Thoughts – This is really an extension of the last point, but when you have a list of distracting thoughts, you must set aside time to deal with them.

When you’re addressing your distracting thoughts, you can ask yourself these questions about each one.

• Can I do anything about it? Could you do something to better prepare for a presentation you’ve got coming up if you’re worried about it, for instance?
• Am I worried about something that might not even happen?
• Is this thought about something in my past? If it is, there’s nothing you can do about it, and the best thing you can do is move on

Practice Mindfulness – We’ve covered meditation and whether it’s good for productivity elsewhere on this blog, but mindfulness meditation can be particularly helpful when we’re trying to deal with intrusive or distracting thoughts.  It’s also great if we have something we can’t stop worrying about, or won’t stop intruding, even though you’ve got it written down.

By accepting your thoughts and getting comfortable with them, you’ll be able to concentrate better when you return to an important task. That’s exactly what practicing mindfulness allows you to do.

Here’s how you can use it to deal with intrusive thoughts.

• Breathe deeply and evenly and close your eyes.
• Begin naming the thoughts in your head as you continue the breathing exercises. It might be something like ‘I’m fretting over that presentation I have to give at work next week’ or ‘I wish I hadn’t said that to my husband yesterday.’
• Accept each thought as it passes through your mind, but don’t try to hold onto it. Let the thoughts ebb away.

The aim of mindfulness isn’t to stop thinking these thoughts, but rather it’s about accepting and viewing them without judging yourself, and recognising that should thoughts exist and are natural, without allowing them to control you. When you master the art of mindfulness meditation, you’re bound to feel more relaxed and at ease.

Being in that mindset alone will set you up to become more productive.

Wrapping Up

In the quest to conquer distractions, focus and get stuff done, be patient with yourself. Try doing mindfulness meditation, try listing your thoughts, and celebrate the progress you make. With practice, you’ll become a master of dealing with distracting thoughts, fast. That means you’ll be able to supercharge both your productivity and focus because you’ll be able to address intrusive thoughts efficiently and without feeling guilty about having them in the first place.

Enjoyed reading this piece? Why not check out our piece on ‘6 Great Apps to Help You Stay Organised’ if you want to know which apps are out there to help you stay on track and keep you organised and productive.

As always, thanks for reading.