These steps will help you overcome irrational thoughts and make life a lot easier for you.
Irrational thinking is patterns of thinking that are illogical, which distort reality and prevent you from thinking rationally. It mostly occurs in anxiety and fear and can turn into a habit if not controlled. Frequent episodes of irrational thoughts may lead to a very difficult course of life with communication issues, relationship problems, and indecisiveness. Thus we need to recognise this problem and seek help and treatment. These are some of the tips that might help you to overcome this problem.
Identify irrational thoughts
Most of the time our thoughts are stimulated by our emotions and the way we are feeling and it becomes really difficult to separate irrational thoughts from our feelings. So, to identify what is causing the problem, ask yourself whether your thoughts are helpful or unhelpful. Look at what you're saying to yourself. See whether the evidence in front of you supports your negative thoughts or not. If you find out that there is no full-proof evidence that supports your thinking and you are just thinking of the worst consequences, then you are thinking irrationally.
Divert yourself
One of the ways you can put a full stop to these thoughts is by diverging yourself. Do something that you like, listen to music, play video games, watch a movie, anything. Give more matters to your brain to think about and keep it busy. If you don’t stop yourself at the beginning it will be difficult for you to come out of that phase.
Focus on the positive side
Every thought has a negative and positive side, try to focus on that. Try to think about the consequences of the positive side. In this way, engage yourself in positive thinking. Even if the chances seem slight in the first place, still think about that 0.01 % of the possibility.
Write it down
Journaling in general is a very good habit to practice, and when you are prone to negative thinking, nothing can make you feel safer than journaling. First, write down the negative thoughts and along with that write down helpful messages to correct them. This will give you a perspective and doing this every day, accurately, helpful and positive thoughts will soon come naturally to you.
Indulge in Exercise
Physical Exhaustion or even mental exercise may help you to overcome the negative thoughts. Incorporate yoga, jogging, meditation into your daily routine and you will be able to spot the difference. When you feel healthy from the inside you also feel happy and exerts positive vibes. This will automatically bring out the positive side in you and will put a full stop to the negative thoughts.
