An incredible hack against distracting thoughts

Unpleasant memories and traumatic experiences often revisit us when we least expect them.

To avoid the unpleasant sensations associated with such thoughts, our brain responds in the form of cravings and distractions.

In his book Indistractable, renowned author Nir Eyal writes about this phenomenon of internal triggers.

Reimagining the mental trigger is a four-step process:

1. Identify the discomfort that precedes the distraction

2. Write about the internal trigger — the time and associated discomfort

3. Explore the sensations

4. Beware of transitional points — from one task to another

He also shares a simple hack to explore the sensations and put them to rest:

1. Imagine you are near a stream

2. Visualize dry leaves floating on the stream

3. Place each thought on a leaf

4. Allow the leaves to float downstream

The first time I tried this hack, I was so pleasantly surprised by its simplicity and effectiveness.

Note: Without doing step 2, it is not easy to explore sensations. For step 2, I used the distraction tracker that Nir Eyal shares on his website. It took a week to identify and record the triggers.

Try it for yourself.

This is a poem I wrote about the practice.