80: Clear Your Negative Thoughts With This Mental Training Exercise

Ever been working on a project but you keep getting distracted by other thoughts and ideas? You’re trying your best to stay focused, but your brain keeps pulling your focus away…

Today on The Bold Life podcast I’ll share one strategy to start training your brain to get rid of those distracting thoughts and stay focused on what you’re doing so you can make progress towards your goals.

When Your Thoughts Are Distractions.

It can be tough to focus when you have a million other ideas flying around your brain. When I’m trying to stay focused but my brain keeps coming up with new ideas (or remembering things I need to get done later…), I find it helpful to keep a pen and paper close by so I can write down those ideas quickly, get back on task, and deal with my ideas later.

But sometimes those thoughts that distract us aren’t productive thoughts.

You’re in the middle of working on a project when all of a sudden your brain starts worrying about…

About another situation
Something going on at home
A conflict with a colleague
The mental highlight reel of all the times you’ve messed up before
All the times you might mess up in the future

Your brain loves to remind you of your mistakes and to stress about all the things that can go wrong in the future. Especially if what you’re trying to focus on is makes you feel less confident - like a project you’ve never done before or thinking about getting a promotion.

These thoughts can really throw you off track.

Writing these thoughts down in the moment can work, but journaling in the moment might throw off your game, disrupt your energy, and take you off track from what you’re working on. Instead, try the mental bookshelf strategy.

The Mental Bookshelf Strategy

Step 1 = Picture a shelf in your mind. It helps to pick a shelf you’re really familiar with (like one in your office or living room). You’re going to picture it in your mind as vividly as possible.

Imagine all the details:

The colour of the wood
Where it is?
What’s on it ?
What does the wood feel like to your touch?
Can you hear anything in the room while you look at the shelf (like a fan, or computer)?
Does the room have a distinct smell? Like books, or home?
Everything you see, hear, touch, smell, even taste when you’re looking at that shelf

What you’re trying to do is make the image of the shelf as realistic and clear as you can.

Step 2 = Then imagine yourself picking up the negative thought floating in your mind and putting it on the shelf.

Whenever that thought comes back again (because it will, because your brain loves to go back to the spiral of doubt), you’re going to start training your brain to acknowledge that although these negative thoughts happen, you don’t need to focus on them in the moment.

You can imagine yourself picking it up and putting it on the shelf. You can either deal with the thought later (if you want to journal or reflect on it at a later time), or just leave it there because sometimes thoughts are just thoughts.

Sometimes we feel like all of our thoughts have a deeper meaning or that they’re totally true, but that’s not the case! A lot of thoughts are just thoughts and they just happen. You don’t need to analyze every single one or even accept that they’re true!

What you don’t want is those negative thoughts to throw you off track when you’re working on something. Especially the thoughts like self-doubt, criticism, and perfectionism. It’s really easy to get distracted by those thoughts.

By putting the thought away on the shelf, you’re telling your brain that it’s not a priority so you can put it away for later or leave it forever.

Next time you feel distracted by those annoying negative thoughts, try this strategy to get your thoughts on the shelf and get you back on track.

Wanna learn more?

Check out my free workbook: Your daily productivity checklist. I’ll teach you how to use neuroscience-based strategies to set your workday up for success so you can get more done while feeling less overwhelmed.

Grab your free cop at www.drnicolebyers.com/checklist

Show Highlights

[01:25] Being in creative mode gives me a stream of new ideas!

[03:38] Why journaling in the moment can throw off your game.

[03:55] How you can use the mental bookshelf strategy.

[08:10] Picking up your thoughts off the shelf or leaving them to process later.

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