May I Have your Attention Please?-Intrusive Thoughts
I'm sure you've experienced this- intrusive thoughts.
Intrusive thoughts are those pesky little ideas, images, or voices that pervade your present mind and derails your focus and attention. I can't even count the number of times that I am bothered by my wandering mind. From tasks like washing the dishes, eating my lunch and even while talking to others, my mind somehow manages to wander. It's annoying because they're thoughts that I can do without and it really shifts my focus- and trust me, getting that focus back is no joke.
The solution? Be mindful.
...easier said than done
It takes a lot of effort to do something that is out of your comfort zone. It's so easy to let your mind wander, therefore, it takes effort on your part to reverse this. Mindfulness is helpful in bringing your attention to the present moment. Your task is easy. Catch yourself when you recognize when your mind is wandering. If you're not sure how to go about this, I suggest coming up with a word that you commonly use in your thoughts as a cue. For example, if you're constantly worrying about a particular exam, your buzzword can be "exam". Or, if you're ruminating about an ex- partner, your buzzword would be his or her name. If you're like me and you think in pictures, come up with an image as your cue. When you utter your buzzword or visualize your cue while your mind is wandering, that's your opportunity to catch yourself in that moment.
Now what?
Pause and practice a little self-compassion with self-talk. Tell yourself that you've just caught your mind wandering, but this is not helpful for you at this moment. Remind yourself to bring your attention to the present moment because that's what's important right now. It's become so common to either think about the past or worry about the future, but we never take the time to enjoy the present. We miss so much of our lives when our attention is placed elsewhere. So many moments missed because we would much rather invite worry and sorrow in our minds than to let positivity flow in.
Try it out! The next time you're washing dishes (or any other task- mundane or not) and you catch your mind wandering, see if you can bring it back to the present. Try to enjoy the smell of your dish detergent, the feeling of warm water on your hands, appreciate the fragility of soap suds and the satisfaction of scratching off one more item on your to-do list.