How to Keep Your Wandering Thoughts from Taking You Off Track

Clear your mind of useless distractions

Jun 10, 2025

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Distraction: dis·trac·tion | \ di-ˈstrak-shən — Merriam Webster
1 : something that distracts : an object that directs one’s attention away from something
2: the act of distracting or the state of being distracted, mental confusion

Distractions are the bane of focus.

We can’t always avoid them, and they have the ability to ruin the best of days.

Most of the time, distractions are obvious and right in front of our face, tickling our brains, demanding our attention — begging to be acknowledged and noticed. We usually don’t have to look very far — or wait very long — for obvious interruptions to make themselves known.

But there’s another form of intruder — the outliers, skirting the edges of our consciousness. Sometimes they seem to have a mind of their own, and a very persistent personality.

The problem? These minor annoyances, if left unchecked, can become huge disruptions in our lives. Like an aggravating gnat buzzing in your ear — the one you can’t see, but still irritates the hell out of you.

The reason we’re peeved by these unwelcome visitors is they’re typically unwanted, unexpected, and untimely. And when an unforeseen nuisance affects our concentration or stalls our momentum, our lives default to a state of hold — leaving us in stand-by mode until the alleged emergency is resolved.

Here’s an example to demonstrate the point.

I began writing this article by opening a blank page on my computer and jotting down a few notes. After a couple minutes, I became distracted — not by any outside annoyances as you might expect. Instead, this was a visual interruption, staring back at me in the form of a not-yet-ready-to-receive page.

Call it silly, obsessive, or the result of stern self-discipline, but my personal preference is to format my page details, margins, font style, and size before striking a single key. This allows me to view the article as it progresses in a familiar structure— the way it will look in its finished form — while I’m working through the nuances of piece.

In this case, I hadn’t taken the time to set up all those niggling, seemingly insignificant settings. My brain began to drift, and I couldn’t hold my focus.

I became mentally uncomfortable, unable to keep my thoughts and ideas on target. This uneasy mindset caused me to stop the presses until I could identify the problem and fine-tune all those setting and continue writing with a clearer perspective.

So how can we tell the difference between a personal annoyance that can be quickly addressed and resolved, and those that find a handhold on the edges of our minds?

What steps can we take to keep all the outside debris from shoe-horning their way into our lives and insisting we pay attention — right now?

Good questions. Because if we’re too easily swayed by anything and everything that slips beneath our layer of focus, we’ll never get a darn thing done.

Here are a few personal guidelines I’m using to help keep my sanity on track, and distractions at bay:

Pre-plan your activities:

Knowing there are likely situations or people who will require your attention at any point during the day, consider setting aside specific portions of time —literal appointments — in which to get priority items done.

Blocking out segments for writing, housework, meal prep, exercise, grooming, and relaxation (yes, this is essential to maintaining balance and stability) has helped me stay the course. And unless there’s a fireman breaking down the door with an axe, my deflector shield is up and set at full power to keep fringe irritations out of range.

Some distractions will take care of themselves:

The barking dog, the noisy neighbor, the Amazon delivery person ringing the bell are all good examples of benign interruptions that will eventually take care of themselves.

Think of them as blips in your peripheral zone, and of little or short-lived importance. The key is to maintain your flow regardless of the poke at your consciousness and stay on target with whatever activity you’re involved with.

Acknowledge there are distractions that will eventually need to be dealt with:

Try as you might, believing your real-life obligations will simply go away is an illogical waste of mental effort. And the more you attempt to avoid them, the larger their presence can become.

Fortunately, while none of those responsibilities will perform a disappearing act, some can be relegated to another time for completion. These might include household chores like yard maintenance, laundry, or food shopping — necessary responsibilities that, if not taken care of in a timely manner, can become huge distractions keeping you from giving your full and complete attention to other tasks.

Fair warning: Before you dismiss these duties too quickly, be mindful not to assume someone else will take care of them for you. Because this approach can result in a time-wasting and unnecessary contest of wills. Others may be just as busy as you, with as many important excuses not to tackle those pesky outlier issues.

The point is, eventually, someone will need to step up and mow the lawn, throw a load of towels into the washer, and re-stock the bananas and apples. And if that happens to be you, all the better. Because you’ll have the satisfaction of knowing you took action to fix the problem, before it became a major deterrent.

Some distractions are helpful — and positive:

It’s true — occasionally we need to be nudged out of a difficult mindset by an outside influence. Personally, this is the kind of mental deviation that often helps me work through a particularly complex piece of writing, especially when I’m not making any progress or sense.

Sometimes these types of situations can take you by surprise. Last week, I was happily distracted in what turned out to be a positive way.

Sitting at my writing desk, I’d hit a roadblock. Frustrated, I glanced out my window at the grassy yard and noticed a beautiful doe step out of the woods, wagging her tail. Following closely behind were two adorable, speckled fawns. And for those few precious moments, my mind was captivated — completely absorbed by their sweet faces as I watched them nibbling on the wet grass.

Yeah, I enjoyed that distraction a whole bunch, grateful the animals were comfortable being close enough for me to observe. And that small, peaceful break cleared my mind when I needed it most.

When distractions become impossible to ignore:

Last week, my cell phone sounded with an unusual alert. I immediately came to a halt to check it out. A hurricane warning had been issued. Outside, the storm clouds were gathering, and the wind had picked up.

My husband and I quickly put our writing aside and went into auto-protect mode, securing our outdoor spaces and gathering essential safety items, food, and water. For the moment, it was important to pay attention to the unexpected situation. Because we had to focus on the incoming weather and consider how best to handle any potential impact.

Here’s the plan …

We can’t always plan for the worst, but we can prepare ourselves for the best. Here are a few suggestions to keep in mind the next time your thoughts are tempted to wander:

Do your best to avoid a squirrel mentality and remember that the appearance of a minor, flashy, insignificant bit of information bouncing along the outside fringes may be nothing more than a brittle leaf in the wind.
Schedule time to tackle those obligations that require your attention before they become major hurdles that drain your energy, focus, and time — and take you too far off track.
Be grateful for interruptions that offer a soothing mental break when you need it most. And be cognizant and honest enough to recognize the difference between a positive opportunity and a minor irritant.
Pay attention to distractions you can’t control and take action to protect yourself to alleviate any immediate danger or threat. Because your life may depend on it.

“Successful people maintain a positive focus in life no matter what is going on around them. They stay focused on their past successes rather than their past failures, and on the next action steps they need to take to get them closer to the fulfillment of their goals rather than all the other distractions that life presents to them.” — Jack Canfield

In health & happiness,

Jill Reid

Jill Reid is the author of Real Life, Discover Your Personal Truth, Life in Small Doses, and Please God, Make Me A Writer. Her books, videos, and newsletter explore life, relationships, self-improvement, health, and personal success strategies for working through the challenges of everyday life.