Concrete plans to deal with obsessive thoughts

Concrete plans to deal with obsessive thoughts

Studies have shown that we create a mental space, drawing up specific plans, this space does not allow us to be distracted from our goals. At the same time, on average, each person has 15 personal projects. In addition to our daily activities (work, shopping, cooking, etc.), these can be trips during the holidays, cleaning the house and other various goals.

But do thoughts of such different goals interfere with each other? How, for example, at work not to think about what you need to buy home or where to go on vacation?

How to overcome obsessive thoughts

Psychologists have long known that goals that we have not brought to fruition are rattles for our consciousness (“Zeigarnik effect”). On the other hand, because of this, we are distracted from realizing the current goal by thinking about goals that have not yet been realized.

In other words, ours I want cannot transform into I can. As a new study has shown, this is what happens if there is no concrete plan. How to deal with obsessive thoughts

A number of studies have shown that while reading the novel (this was one of the tasks), the subjects were distracted by obsessive thoughts about unfinished daily affairs (Masicampo & Baumeister, 2011). At the request of scientists, the participants made specific plans for the implementation of the goal, which he distracted by thoughts, then while reading the thoughts about it were not so intrusive. For other activities, this conclusion was repeated.

What, where, how, when – these are positions for a specific plan. To become more effective in the future, you need to make plans, thus freeing the psychic space and not distracting from what we are doing at this moment on 14 other goals.