Sometimes our emotions become so overwhelming to feel it all at once can be too much. This is where distracting ourselves enough to relax and then cope comes in handy. A distraction can be limitless, just use your imagination.
Below are six types of distractions, but what you choose and what you use is up to you. Different tactics work for each individual and it may take some experimenting to find your optimum distraction.
1. Distract with pleasure. By doing something that feels good it can take the attention away from the unpleasant emotions for a time. Many people’s minds jump to things that cost money at this point, but that is not necessary. A pleasing activity may be a bath, stretching, birdwatching, or if you’re like me, organizing that closet you’ve been ignoring (yes this is fun for me).
2. Distract with someone else. It is much easier to focus on someone else than it is to focus on ourselves and this can be done to the extreme in some cases. For a quick distraction, this is just fine. Call a friend, go people watching and make up stories about their lives, or pull up pictures of a friend and their family.
3. Distract your thoughts. This is where imagination is key. Think of a fantasy vacation, a sexual fantasy, imagine you could have dinner with anyone in the world, or remember a past fun memory and think through that day.
4. Distract by leaving. When emotions run high, it can be tempting to say things that we will not mean later. Just as a child needs a time out, adults sometimes need to separate and cool off.
5. Distract with To Do list. Most of us have a to do list but is never ending. This can be a distraction like getting stuff done pull out that list check things off as you go and if you have a idea of something you would like to work on go ahead and make a plan for that.
6. Distract with numbers. That’s right, numbers can be distracting. The most common number distraction technique is counting backwards from one hundred by sevens. Other number distractions include counting ceiling tiles, counting your breathes, and counting the number of red cars that drive past you.
