Pattern Interrupts: Identifying and Reframing Spiraling Thoughts with 9 Strategies
What is a pattern interrupt?
A pattern interrupt is a way to stop intrusive thoughts or habits in your life that may be repeating or causing you undesired outcomes.
- One of the first steps towards improving your life is becoming aware of your habits and patterns. Negative thought spirals can become a habit. Read on to find out how to become aware of your thoughts and strategies for creating more empowering ones.
How do we pattern-interrupt?
- Interrupt the thought. Think of a word like, “Stop” when you notice thoughts taking off and leading to more and more negative thoughts.
Any “what if” thoughts, or “I should” can be interrupted with listing things in your mind that you recently did well.
- Find 1 step that could improve your situation. Tell yourself:
You do not need to change everything at once. That would not be possible. The goal is to feel better right now and make 1 step towards a new change.
Making sure you make only one change at a time can help you form new habits without overwhelming you.
- Write down a list of 5 to 10 things you are anxious or worried about and list 1 or more action steps you can take. When I was worried about my Grandpa’s health, my action step was giving him a call or a visit.
- Start to take a mental or written inventory of what you do everyday when you first wake up to gain awareness of your thoughts and habits.
What’s your morning routine? It may be best to pay attention to this for a few days and write it down or take short notes as you go throughout your day.
The very first things you do when you first wake up can set the tone/mood for the day whether you are aware of it or not.
Become aware of your thoughts:
Write down a few thoughts you may have like, “I wish I didn’t have to go to work today,” or “Why can’t my boss stop micromanaging?” Or it can be automatic thoughts you have about your appearance, “I look tired” or maybe you have positive thoughts.
Write those down too. The key is finding what you habitually think and noticing patterns.
Our thoughts influence how we feel. Emotions are a guidance system. They are there to tell you if something is good, bad, or off. Emotions can guide you on what needs to change in your life and what is going well. The key is learning how to use emotions to help you. Sometimes you may not be sure what emotion you are feeling. That is why writing down your thoughts for a week can be helpful to helping you figure out what is causing bad moods, anxiety, or stress.
- Self awareness is noticing how you feel and think and why. Without being aware, you can get stuck in cycles and loops that keep repeating. You may keep having the same bad experiences and attracting the same types of people into your life. This can be due to subconscious thoughts, fears, and habits. We want to bring what is subconscious to the surface.
Sometimes we notice a slight lingering, perhaps a feeling of sadness, but are unaware of the cause. Writing down thoughts for a few days, (brief notes in your phone will do) can help you identify any patterns.
If something triggered you, where you feel angry, frustrated, maybe an antsy feeling, write down what triggered you.
You may have honked the horn at someone. Write down what the car did and how you felt. Maybe you thought they’d hit you and why do they drive crazy and endanger people or that they are stupid.
Then analyze this thought later when the emotion calmed down.
Analyze it without emotion. Try to analyze it with curiosity.
- Reframe what happened. Reframing is where we brainstorm other possibilities of what could have been happening. We only know our perspective and do not see what is happening in the other car.
Maybe the driver was late to work and if they are late one more time, they’ll lose their job. Maybe they spilled their coffee on them. They do not know you and did not personally attack you by cutting you off. You will notice times of day where people drive more recklessly. Is there a way to respond calmly and not let it ruin your day in the future?
The car is just one example. It may be your child frustrated you in the morning. Maybe they are hard to get out of bed and are making you late every day.
Then analyze this thought later when the emotion calmed down. Analyze it without emotion. Try to analyze it by using curiosity with questions like:
- What else is going on my life that could be making me overwhelmed?
- Could this reaction be related to something else?
Sometimes we are annoyed with our partner, but really we have a deeper problem either in the relationship or in our lives that is making us irritated by little things.
- Replace thoughts like:
“I’m stuck” with thoughts like:
“I am so close” or “I am on the verge of a break-through.”
If you have a very bad mood and negati thoughts, find a list of things that cheer you up (make this list ahead of time because it will help you when you are triggered).
Again, try to separate yourself from the emotions first.
9. Take a breath, write down that you felt frustrated by ____as soon as you have a chance. In the evening, read your notes from the day and think of why this is frustrating you.
Keep reading to find ways to change these thoughts and possibly the situation.
Only spend a few seconds during the day writing it down as it comes up so you don’t forget (a note in your phone will work) and 2 minutes at the end of the day.
Sometimes taking 5 minutes to yourself can do wonders when you feel very overwhelmed and stressed.