How to manage your negative thoughts: 7 practical tips

Experiencing negative thoughts, that make us feel bad and that lead us to suffer for something that worries us, is completely normal, and in fact many times it is necessary to attend to aspects of our lives that must be catered.

However, sometimes it is difficult to prevent those thoughts from taking control of us and making it very difficult for us to adopt a constructive mentality; For example, it happens when they paralyze us because of the fear of making mistakes, or when we become obsessed with getting them out of our minds and we don't get the desired results. That's why here We will discuss a series of tips to manage your negative thoughts on a day-to-day basis.

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Useful tips to manage negative thoughts

Research focused on the development of effective psychotherapy techniques has been studying management strategies for several decades emotional and management of unwanted thoughts, a problem that can decisively affect people's mental health.

Currently there are many ways in which we can overcome negative thoughts of all kinds that assail us in our day to day life, and some of them have “simple” versions that can be applied by the person himself in his day to day in the form of general advice (although the most effective option is always to attend psychotherapy). Let's see what these recommendations and guidelines are.

1. Don't try to block them

One of the main practical keys that we can apply daily to successfully manage the negative thoughts that assail our mind is do not try to block these thoughts or keep ourselves out of consciousness at all costs.

People who tend to have recurring negative thoughts know that trying to push a thought out of mind often have opposite consequences to what is desired, and the only thing we achieve with it is to think even more about that content that makes us feel wrong.

Instead of trying to force ourselves not to think about something, psychology professionals recommend direct attention to other things, activities or aspects of life that we find more satisfactory, as indicated in the following section.

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2. Redirect the focus of attention

Those people who have a greater domain when it comes to controlling their own thoughts tend to be able to direct attention to other stimuli or mental content in key moments.

Voluntarily directing attention where we want is a very useful strategy at any time when any unwanted negative thoughts pass through our mind and it is much more efficient than trying to block them or remove them.

To direct our attention to other thoughts that are more constructive or stimulating than those that they make us feel bad or paralyze us there are many strategies that we can follow, but they all go through accept the idea that what worries us will remain in our mind for a while, and that this is normal.

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3. accept the discomfort

Another way that people have to successfully manage a negative thought is to accept the transient discomfort that we experience with that thought, but bearing in mind that this is part of life and that sooner or later you have to deal with this kind of trouble.

This is important, because otherwise we are adopting a position of denial of the problem, and by not accepting the discomfort that we experience for a certain time we are paying more attention to it and giving the thought more importance than it has.

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4. Transform discomfort into constructive elements

Transform the discomfort we feel into reasons that help us improve and move forward towards our objectives is a very useful strategy in the face of the appearance of negative thoughts that affect. To do this, ask yourself the following question: What can I learn from this discomfort I feel? From it, it will be easier to focus on a chain of actions that contribute to solving what worries us.

This transformation of discomfort into something positive can be summarized in the following example. If what worries us has to do with the feeling of guilt, we can focus on learning from our mistakes and drawing constructive conclusions about what has happened.

5. learn to disconnect

Learning to disconnect is essential to correctly manage negative thoughts, since after a long period of suffering caused by distressing content anyone needs to rest their mind because of the exhaustion caused by this type of content thoughts.

Some of the strategies that we can apply are mindfulness practice, a technique of relaxation and focus of attention that will help us to control much better our thoughts and also to focus on the present to leave behind obsessions, psychological ruminations and fears unfounded.

Some other activities that can help us disconnect can be weekly physical exercise, nature walks and positive social activities such as meeting friends, going to the movies, etc.

6. Set realistic goals

Setting realistic goals that are well distributed over time It is a good way to start solving the problem that worries us and by doing it in an organized and methodical way we will achieve success in our endeavor.

In the same way, the fact of getting down to work to solve our problem already acts per se in a therapeutic in our perception of the problem and helps us to relativize and so that it does not affect us so much in our lives daily.

Another piece of advice that is notably related to the previous one is not to demand too much of ourselves and not try to solve all our problems in one moment or overnight.

Some people who find themselves in the middle of a problem try to have total control over what happens to them, and at see that their demands do not correspond to the reality of the facts, they end up dragging themselves and end up throwing the towel.

As in any aspect of our lives, it is also very important not to demand too much of ourselves, treat ourselves with respect and be aware that sometimes we cannot do everything.

7. go to the psychologist

The most useful advice we can follow when our problems and negative thoughts continue to persist is consult a qualified psychological professional to lend us their services to overcome any adversity.

In the consultation of a specialized psychologist we will receive all kinds of guidelines, strategies and useful advice to manage thoughts negative, and we will also train useful psychological techniques related to the control of emotions and thoughts intrusive.

If you are looking for psychotherapy services, do not hesitate to contact us. In Cribecca Psychology We can assist you in person or online by video call.