How to escape from problems? Often, when we are at home, with our family, or trying to sleep, a heap of thoughts continues to spin in our heads: “Do this, then that...”, “Call tomorrow...”, “What should we do?” etc. Quite often this prevents us from living fully, communicating with loved ones, and finally deprives us of sleep. Today I will talk about how to get all this husk out of your head.
It's quite easy to put other people's problems out of your mind, for example, if they are related to work. I left work and forgot until the next day. However, what if the problems are ours? If they concern our business? What if they concern our property? If they concern our personal life? It is not so easy to get distracted here, although we are aware of such a need.
Methods of distraction from problems
Write down the problem
It may seem strange, but often problems are in our heads only because we are afraid to forget them. To remove this fear, we need to record the task on paper or in some other way.
The method works better if next to the recorded problem we mark what we will do when the time comes to solve this problem. The action plan is very reassuring.
Why does this help? The fact is that our minds can only accommodate so many tasks at once. Psychologists have even calculated how much (7±2). This means that if the problem contains more components, it is very difficult for us to “settle” it in our heads. We begin to consider one part of it, then another, forgetting the previous conclusions. Thus, we get into a “cycle”, our thoughts become looped, and we make useless mental efforts.
On paper, everything is clear, you can fit as many elements as you like, and most importantly, the paper doesn’t forget.
Take it out of context
This method helps a lot if bad thoughts keep you from falling asleep. It requires imagination.
The fact is that all our problems and experiences are clearly tied in time. A man lies and thinks: “Here I am, now is such and such a date, and now I have problems “A”, “B”, etc.” But fortunately, our mind can easily travel back in time to a place where there were no problems. It is important not to overuse this method and only use it to fall asleep.
To do this, you need to remember when you felt good. When you fell asleep the same way, but thought, “Actually, everything is fine with me.” But at the same time, this must be a situation some time in the past when you really wanted to sleep.
You can also change the way you think about yourself. For example, you can imagine that you are an eagle, flying above the earth and looking down.
The most important thing in this method is to immerse yourself in the sensations. The sensations should be monotonous. For example, if you imagine that you are an eagle, imagine air pressure on your wings. Or, if you are remembering the past, try to imagine the bodily sensations then, in the past.
“Catch a thought” method.
It also helps with falling asleep. Imagine having the equivalent of windshield wipers in your mind, like a car's windshield. Try to imagine that they can sweep away thoughts and images and sounds.
Now you can play. When you catch yourself thinking about any thought, imagine that it flies away somewhere to the side.
This is quite difficult and requires practice.
Humble yourself
This method is also for falling asleep. When nothing helps and problems still creep into your head, you can try telling yourself the following: “okay, let everything go to hell, but I’ll sleep now.” Trouble may be inevitable, but you have 8 hours (or however much sleep you have left) of peace.Right now everything is fine.Enjoy it.
Method “Counting Sheep”
I think many people have tried this method and found that it doesn't work. In fact, this method is extremely effective, but we are simply using it incorrectly.
Here's the thing. How many people have had to count sheep in the modern world? Many people have only seen sheep in cartoons.
Try counting something more everyday, like loose change or cars.
“Stop whining”, “Pull yourself together”, “Smile”, “Many people are much less fortunate than you”, “Just forget about it”, “Keep it simple”... All these countless phrases are uttered by the people around you, seemingly with the most friendly intentions. It’s as if depression and anxious ideas will leave your head with the wave of a magic wand. As if these phrases will solve all problems. Some people who advise how to escape from bad thoughts often have false ideas about the recipients of their parting words. They tend to consider depression a common whim.
Is there a chance of winning the fight against negative thinking?
If everything were as simple as these advisers think, then pessimists would not exist in principle - after all, who is capable of consciously choosing suffering for themselves? Even if this happens, then, most likely, such a person simply wants to get rid of even more fear and pain.Nowadays, almost everyone has heard about the importance of techniques such as meditation, physical exercise, relaxation and staying in the “here and now” in the fight against negative thoughts. The catch is this: all of these practices are a challenge that is almost impossible to take on when feeling anxious or depressed.
However, there are ways that once again prove a simple truth. People who often suffer from negative thoughts must have much greater willpower compared to those who are simply generous with “helpful advice.” After all, fighting depression requires a lot of self-control. The basis for the use of these methods is the skill of switching attention and concentrating it on a certain type of mental activity.
Evolutionary functions of the brain
To understand how focusing on solving, for example, logarithmic equations can help overcome depression, it is necessary to dwell a little on the structure of the human brain. The fact is that, according to one of the theories belonging to the American researcher Paul MacLean, it has three sections. They differ in the time of formation and perform different functions.
The oldest part of the human brain has been figuratively called the “reptile brain.” Its function is to implement a program of behavior in a life- or health-threatening situation. This reaction, as in all living organisms, can be of two types: to flee or to fight.
The next part that was formed during evolution is called the “mammal brain.” She is responsible for emotions and feelings, as well as for receiving pleasure.
And finally, the pinnacle of evolution is the neocortex - the part that, in fact, distinguishes humans from animals. This part of the brain is responsible for logical analysis, abstract thinking and other operations unique to Homo Sapiens.
The human brain and anxiety
All three of these brains are equally necessary for a person - it cannot be said, for example, that the reptile brain is less important than the human brain. After all, if he did not fulfill his function, a person would not be afraid of obvious threats to life and would not take the necessary measures in a truly emergency situation. But the fact is that over millions of years of evolution, the reptile’s brain is so accustomed to reacting in a stereotyped manner, within the framework of the “fight or flight” instruction, that it often cannot distinguish fiction from reality. The more pronounced the state of anxiety or aggression, the stronger the influence of the “reptile brain” on a person.
To figure out how to get rid of bad thoughts in your head, you must first understand the mechanism of action of various parts of the brain. Having arisen at different times, they correspond to different levels of development of living beings. In order not to turn into an animal limited in its consciousness, it is necessary to use such a tool as distraction.
Distraction methods
How can I do that? Let's look at several ways that will help, in times of anxiety or worry, to transfer the “reins of power” from the reptilian brain to the conscious and thinking part that every person possesses.
- Firstly, it can be performing simple mathematical operations in the mind: for example, multiplying the first two numbers that catch your eye. You can distract yourself by remembering your friends’ birthdays or the brands of their cars;
- Next, you can list five professions starting with the same letter. It could also be a listing of five flowers or plants, favorite foods, fruits. Try to remember five luminous objects, or five things with a soft surface. By the time you do several of these exercises in a row, the negative ones will have lost most of their power;
- Try to take a good photo. This could be something from your surroundings, or even a selfie. Not only can the act of taking a photograph help you take your mind off things, but the photography itself can have a calming effect.
Often negative thoughts and feelings prevent us from enjoying the good things in life. Gradually, we begin to think about bad things more and more often, and immersing ourselves in negative thoughts becomes a habit that is difficult to eradicate. In order to overcome this habit (as well as any other), you need to change your way of thinking.
When we're stressed about something, the last thing we want is for negative thoughts to add to our stress, so it's important to learn how to cope with the endless stream of thoughts. In this article we will talk about how to rid yourself of unnecessary worries.
Steps
Change your way of thinking
- There is one simple technique: look at a peaceful image (photo, painting). This will allow your head to rest and let go of all the bad thoughts, and this only happens naturally - that is, when you are not deliberately trying to get rid of thoughts and are not waiting for you to finally succeed. This is a very simple but effective way to calm down and relax.
- If that doesn't work, try distracting your mind by counting from 100 to 7, or pick a color and find all the objects in the room that color. This way you can get rid of the chaos in your head, and then you can focus on the present moment again.
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Don't isolate yourself. One of the consequences of focusing on bad thoughts is often an ever-increasing distance between you and the world around you. If you decide to come out of your shell and reconnect with the world, you will have less time and energy for bad thoughts. Don't scold yourself for negative thoughts or emotions - this will only make things worse. You may have often thought about how much you disliked someone, and then felt guilty about such thoughts or angry with yourself because of it. Because of this perception, cause-and-effect relationships and incorrect attitudes are strengthened in the head, which over time become extremely difficult to get rid of. Below are some simple ways to switch from your inner world to your outer world.
Develop self-confidence. Self-doubt in all its diversity of manifestations often becomes the main cause of difficult thoughts and strong experiences. This feeling constantly haunts you: no matter what you do, it is with you everywhere. For example, when talking with a friend, you are constantly worried about how you look, what impression you make, instead of just talking. It is necessary to develop self-confidence, and then it will be easier for you to live a full life and not torment yourself with destructive thoughts.
- Try to do something exciting regularly - this will make you feel confident in your abilities. For example, if you are good at baking pies, enjoy the entire baking process: enjoy kneading the dough, enjoy the aroma that fills your home.
- When you manage to develop the ability to live joyfully in the present moment, remember this feeling and reproduce it as often as possible. Remember that the only thing keeping you from feeling present is your perception, so stop tormenting yourself with self-criticism.
Understand how the mind works
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Examine your attitude towards negative thoughts or feelings. Because bad thoughts often arise simply out of habit, they can come as soon as you stop taking care of yourself. Promise yourself not to dwell on these thoughts, because you need to learn not only to let them go, but also to prevent new ones from appearing.
Watch yourself . Identify how thoughts or feelings manage to control you. Thoughts have two components - topic (what you think about) and process (how you think).
- Consciousness does not always need a topic - in cases of its absence, thoughts simply jump from one to another. Consciousness uses such thoughts in order to protect itself from something, or in order to calm and distract from something else - for example, from physical pain, from fear. In other words, when a defense mechanism is triggered, often the mind is simply trying to latch onto something to give you something to think about.
- Thoughts that have a specific topic have a completely different character. Perhaps you are angry, worried about something, or thinking about some problem. Such thoughts are often repeated and always revolve around the same thing.
- The difficulty is that the mind cannot be constantly absorbed in a topic or process. In order to correct the situation, it is worth remembering that thoughts alone will not help the matter. Often we don't want to let go of thoughts and feelings because we want to better understand the situation: for example, if we are angry, we think about all the circumstances of the situation, all the participants, all the actions, and so on.
- Often our desire to think about something is either simply think turns out to be stronger than the desire to let go of thoughts, which significantly complicates the whole situation. The desire to think only for the sake of the process of “thinking” can lead to self-destruction, while this struggle with oneself is another way to escape from the situation that initially caused the thoughts. It is necessary to overcome the desire to constantly think about something and learn to let go of thoughts, and after some time the desire to let go of thoughts in all cases will be stronger than the desire to scroll something in your head without stopping.
- Another problem is that we tend to think of thoughts as part of our personality. A person is not ready to admit that he can cause himself pain and suffering. There is a generally accepted opinion according to which it is believed that all feelings concerning oneself are valuable. Some feelings lead to negative experiences, others do not. Therefore, it is always necessary to take a closer look at thoughts and feelings in order to understand which ones should be left and which ones should be released.
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Try some experiments.
- Try your best not to think about a polar bear or something incredible - for example, a crimson flamingo with a cup of coffee. This is a fairly old experiment, but it reveals the essence of human thinking very well. When we try to refrain from thinking about the bear, we suppress both the thought of it and the idea that we need to suppress something. If you deliberately try not to think about the bear, the thought of it will not go away.
- Imagine that you are holding a pencil in your hands. Think about the fact that you want to leave him. In order to throw a pencil, you need to hold it. While you are thinking about giving it up, you are holding on to it. Logically speaking, the pencil cannot be thrown as long as you hold it. The harder you want to throw, the more forcefully you hold it.
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Stop fighting your thoughts with force. When we try to overcome some thoughts or feelings, we try to gather more strength to strike, but because of this we cling to these thoughts even more tightly. The more effort, the greater the load on the consciousness, which responds to all these attempts with stress.
- Instead of trying to force your thoughts away, you need to loosen your grip. The pencil can fall out of your hands on its own, just as thoughts can go away on their own. It may take time: if you tried to forcefully eradicate some thoughts, the consciousness could remember your attempts, as well as its response.
- When we go through our thoughts in an attempt to understand them or try to get rid of them, we do not move because the thoughts simply have nowhere to go. Once we stop obsessing over the situation, we let them go.
Learn something new
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Learn to cope with your thoughts. If a thought or feeling keeps coming back to you over and over again, there are many ways to stop it from consuming you.
- There's probably a movie you've watched many times, or a book you've re-read. You always know what will happen next, so you are not so interested in watching the movie or reading that book again. Or maybe you've done something so many times that you don't want to do it again because you know how bored you'll be. Try to transfer this experience to a situation with thoughts: as soon as you lose interest in thinking about the same thing, the thought will go away on its own.
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Don't try to run away from negative thoughts and emotions . Are you tired of the exhausting thoughts that are always with you, but have you really tried to deal with them? Sometimes a person tries to pretend that something does not exist, instead of accepting it. If you deal with negative thoughts or emotions this way, they can stay with you forever. Allow yourself to feel what you need to feel, and then let go of unnecessary emotions. If your mind imposes thoughts and emotions on you, it can cause you to judge yourself. There are many manipulative mechanisms hidden in our minds, and many of them we are not even aware of. Consciousness manipulates us because it strives to control us through addictions to a variety of things and strong desires. By and large, we are driven by our addictions.
- Remember that your happiness is in your hands, that feelings and emotions should not determine how you manage your life. If you allow worries about the past or future and obsessive desires to control you, you will never be able to live a fulfilling life.
- Control your thoughts yourself. Turn them inside out, change them - in the end, you will understand that you have power over your thoughts, and not they have power over you. Replacing negative thoughts with positive ones is a temporary measure, but it can also be extremely useful at the right time. It will be easier for you to let go of thoughts if you feel that you are in control.
- If your thoughts revolve around a problem that you have yet to resolve, try your best to come up with ways out of the problematic situation. Do everything in your power, even if the situation seems completely hopeless.
- If your thoughts and feelings are related to a sad event (such as the death of a relative or a breakup), allow yourself to feel the sadness. Look at photos of the person you miss, think about the good things you experienced together, and cry if it makes you feel better - all of this is human. It can also be helpful to write about your feelings in a journal.
Remember the good
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Know how to remind yourself of the good. If you're stressed, tired from work, or just feeling down, bad thoughts may return. In order to prevent them from completely consuming you, use special methods of dealing with unwanted thoughts that will not allow them to take root.
Practice visualization. This method will be especially useful for those who are very busy and who do not have enough time to relax. It is necessary to imagine in detail some pleasant place: it can be a memory of a place where you felt good, or a fictitious place.
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Think about your achievements. The world gives us many opportunities to enjoy life: you can help others, get things done, achieve certain goals, or simply get out into nature with your family or have dinner with friends. Thinking about pleasant things develops self-confidence and makes us more receptive to good things.
- Be grateful for what you have. For example, write down three things for which you are grateful to the universe. This way you can quickly “put things in order” in your head and get rid of the flow of thoughts.
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Take care of yourself. Feeling unwell will prevent you from fully enjoying life and remaining optimistic. When a person takes care of his body and takes care of his mental state, negative thoughts and emotions simply have nothing to cling to.
- Get enough sleep. Lack of sleep reduces vitality and does not contribute to a good mood, so try to sleep at least 7-8 hours a day.
- Eat well. A balanced diet will ensure your brain gets all the elements it needs. Include enough fruits and vegetables in your diet.
- Play sports. Regular physical activity will help you not only stay fit, but also fight stress. Both will contribute to better well-being and allow you to free yourself from difficult thoughts.
Think about today. When you are tormented by anxious thoughts, what do you think about most often at that moment? You are probably reliving past events (even if it happened a week ago) or thinking about what will happen in the future. In order to stop worrying, you need to remember about the present moment, about today. If you shift your attention from what has already happened or will be, to what is happening now, it will become easier for you to stop perceiving everything too negatively. But, as often happens, this is not so easy to do. In order to learn to live in the present, you must first learn to concentrate on what is happening to you literally at this very moment.
Well, good day, dear readers!
I would like to choose for the topic of today’s conversation one of the most popular topics in a world full of bustle, running around, human relationships and other complex psychological things. So today I would like to talk about overwork and how to deal with it. We can all give more than one, or even more than a dozen examples when we literally “exploded.” We say, “accumulated”, “sore”, “tired”. Not exactly a pleasant feeling, right? Sometimes it is fraught with disappointment, loss of vitality and self-esteem. At such moments you want to get drunk, forget yourself, or completely disappear from the white light. This happened to me recently. Burning with melancholy, I didn’t want anything, neither to sleep, nor to drink, nor to smoke, nor anything else, but simply nothing. Disappear, or for everything around to disappear. But as soon as I opened my playlist and remembered that there is a lot of good music, some, albeit pale, interest already appeared in my head.
So, rule #1:
1. Change the music
Nothing relieves tension like well-chosen music. Listen to something you haven’t heard for a long time, preferably something pleasant and calm.
Put? Now you need to get up or get out of the physical position in which the melancholy found you. Imagine how much time you waste just sitting with your thoughts. I assure you, all these thoughts are just guesses of what could or could actually happen. There is no need to tease your imagination in vain.
2. Take a shower
Nothing refreshes and invigorates as much as water in all its forms. Have you ever noticed that after drinking a glass of water, you already feel some kind of inspiration?
3. Tidy up the room
And in general, in an apartment (house, cottage, office, highlight as necessary) it’s high time. Finally, sort out the pile of dirty clothes or wipe down the table one more time.
4. Try to work
Liked? It was a warm-up. Now is the time to go and do all the little things: change a bar of soap, fix an outlet, go to the supermarket, etc. If only your brain was occupied with something distracting.
5. Change your activity
Probably the most significant rule in this article. Go to the cinema, museum, exhibition or just take a walk in the park. It won’t take much time and effort, but look - and you’re already busy.
Now that your head is in order, just look back and laugh at your problems - how small and low they were. You now know exactly what needs to be done, what to do, and you have enough determination to pull it all off.
And 7. Smile
Smile! More smiles! Smile at yourself, passers-by, garbage men and cashiers. Wish someone good evening or good luck on the roads. And don’t forget: be kind to people and kindness will come back to you.
I hope I was able to help you.
Constant stress, troubles, failures and other negative events that happen in life lead to bad thoughts.
They can spin around in your head for hours, days at a time and simply poison ordinary life, preventing you from sleeping and making it difficult to concentrate on work and rest. How to distract yourself from bad thoughts and try to rethink the situation? This article will help you find the answer to the question.
Instructions to help you avoid negative thoughts
Initially, you should think about what brought you to such a state, where the negative thoughts come from. Perhaps this is due to mistakes made in the past or fear for the future. Understand everything in detail, try to accept the situation and start moving on.
Favourite buisness. This will help you switch. Walk more often, draw, fish, go hiking, just meditate. Such actions will help relieve emotional stress and take a little break from depressing thoughts.
Play sports. Physical activity in such a situation will come in handy. Thanks to them, it is possible to get a lot of positive emotions, lift your spirits, and keeping your body in great shape never hurts. 
The muscles relax and thoughts along with it. An excellent sport is yoga and Pilates. They clear the mind. By the way, it doesn’t hurt to find a good mentor for regular training.
Communication. Make appointments with friends, walk around the city, get a four-legged friend, attend exhibitions and concerts. Try to be around positively charged people, you can learn a smile from them and not think about the bad.
Letting out emotions. Never keep negativity inside yourself. Resentment, indignation, sadness, grief, irritation or anger are not the best advisers and if these feelings visit you, speak out, talk about it, there is no need to remain silent and only aggravate the situation.
If necessary, cry, shout, hit the table or break dishes, hit the wall with your hands, but give vent to the negativity. This will help you get rid of bad thoughts and unwind.
Where do negative thoughts come from?
In fact, there are many options, and in order to start getting rid of something, you will have to identify the source of negative energy, and therefore try to eliminate it.
The most common sources that can influence a person and give rise to many bad, difficult and sad thoughts in his head.
- TV;
- Opinion of others;
- Internet;
- Press;
- We ourselves.
Let's look at some positions in more detail.
Television, Internet, press
All these information providers quite often like to harp on and chew on information about disasters, criminal events that occurred: who killed whom, robbed whom, who was attacked, and so on. 
And such an everyday bucket of dirt ends up on the head of a normal person and the more sensitive ones begin to be afraid to go out after dark, eat in public catering places, or simply make new acquaintances.
Therefore, watch, read, listen only to what you really need, and not to everything and everyone.
Environment and ourselves
Opinions of others. This includes the opinions of friends, colleagues, parents and even neighboring grandmothers sitting on benches at the entrance.
How often can you hear frequent tactless questions, recommendations or complaints. It’s a shame why you’re not married, you’ll remain an old maid and other negative things.
If you don’t abstract yourself and stop reacting to such statements, negative thoughts will become frequent guests.
We ourselves. Surely you have noticed that you are engaged in banal self-criticism, and often thinking about how to distract yourself from bad thoughts, you addressed such a question only to yourself.
And this is correct, it is human nature to overthink oneself, reopen old wounds and succumb to the memories of long-gone days.
What will help you get rid of negative thoughts?
First of all, it will be useful to learn how to write lists. Just take a piece of paper, divide it into two parts and write down what really worries you and what has no serious basis. 
Quite often, the first part is much shorter than the second, that is, most negative thoughts are simply far-fetched and have no basis.
Meditation does a good job of getting rid of negative thoughts. What does that require:
- Sit comfortably in a chair or on a sofa;
- Relax and take a deep breath;
- Try to visualize the problem that worries you;
- To think that she is a clot, black and unpleasant, which is slowly coming out of you;
- Imagine that a black clot is enveloped in golden threads, and it turns into a luminous shell;
- Watch how everything in this shell burns and flies far away.
Watch the video:
You can also imagine yourself in nature, by the river, how you swim and, along with the babbling river, all your troubles go away. Even taking a shower would be a good idea. Draw positive pictures in your mind.
This technique can help cope with the raging flow of negative thoughts. What can you imagine:
- How you make a brilliant career, how your boss praises and shakes your hand;
- How you play sports, and the opposite sex looks at you with delight and admiration;
- How you bask in the shade of palm trees, and the gentle sun tickles your face.
