Several people have requested that I write something on the subject of stopping obsessive thoughts. I want to share a technique that has worked well for many people (including me) to quiet obsessive thoughts and random anxiety. Give it a try.

Obsessive thoughts can be decreased (or stopped altogether),by using a scheduling strategy. Here's how this works: you must begin today thinking about the idea of scheduling things in your life, and keeping an organized agenda. This habit can quickly be developed just by keeping these concepts in mind every day (write them down somewhere you will see them often):

1. Organization
2. Keeping a tight schedule

Obsessive thoughts can only exist when you have a lack of mental organization--in effect, your thoughts become scattered and fragmented. By organizing your thoughts and actions more closely you will immediately begin to decrease the obsessive thoughts.

Part of this organization is scheduling thoughts, concerns and events. You must do this very strictly, such as the following example: If you begin having an obsessive thoughts related to money worries (for example), take the following actions:

1. Make a note that you have a concern about this issue. Write it down in a notebook.

2. Schedule a time to consider (think about) this concern. Set the time at least 3 days in advance, and schedule ONLY 15 minutes to consider it. Write down the date and time you will think about this issue, including the length of time you will think about it (15 minutes).

3. When the time comes, stop everything and consider the issue and see if you can think of creative solutions. Whether you do or not, STOP dealing with it after 15 minutes, and reschedule it for another time (go back to step 2).

NOTE: Research proves that if you cannot solve a problem by thinking on it for 15 minutes, your odds of solving it by thinking 30-45 minutes go down to nearly zero. This means that if you are not able to find a solution in 15 minutes, thinking about it more will NOT help. This is a scientific fact.

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4. If thoughts try to pop into your head when they are not scheduled, do NOT fight them. Just note that you have already scheduled a time to deal with this.

5. If you cannot find a solution to an issue, STOP thinking about it. Turn your attention to other things. Remember, the researches shows that if you can't solve it in 15 minutes, you simply can't solve it.

6. Remember, not every issue has an answer or resolution. Some issue will remain unresolved all our lives--that's just life. Make peace with unresolved problems, and do NOT focus much attention on them.

Getting highly organized and keeping a tight schedule always decreases or completely eliminates obsessive thoughts--every single time. Take advantage of this by getting very organized in you life and thoughts. If you are just having random or disturbing thoughts, you can use the same organization to schedule another time to think about them.

Stopping obsessive thoughts can be much easier once you get organized. The more organization you incorportate in your life, the less obsessive thoughts will be an issue.