Distraction Ideas

Intentional distractions can help you survive painful and/or chaotic experiences by shifting your
attention away from the source of distress and into a space for safe keeping. When your mind is
alleviated it then sends signals of dissipation throughout your body, such that overwhelming or
destabilizing emotions fall from their peak. No longer consumed by thoughts and feelings of
distress, you’re able to maintain or regain composure and self-control to move forward with
enhanced functioning.

Anywhere, Anytime:
• Look around your environment and try to find every color of the rainbow in order. Repeat
as many times as necessary, each round identifying a different item

• Take five deep breaths while counting to five in your head for every inhale and exhale
(ex: Inhale – “one, two, three, four, five.” Exhale – “one, two, three, four, five.” ONE.
Inhale – “one, two, three, four, five.,” Exhale – “one, two, three, four, five.” TWO. etc.)

• Out loud or in your head, sing a song that you know all the words to

• Make your name into an acrostic, coming up with a word or entire phrase for every
letter. Try to make it rhyme or carry out a theme for an additional challenge

• Count backwards from 500 to 0 by groups of 7

• Come up with some complex math problems and solve them without a calculator

• Play the alphabet game. Choose a topic and a starting word and use that word’s last
letter to inform the first letter of the following word (ex: topic is animals and the first
word is frog, the next animal has to start with the letter g)

• Name all 50 states and a person you know (or a known person) from each one

• Repeat the words “everything’s okay.” Spell the letters in your head one at a time.
Visualize writing the words and trace them in the air with your finger. Spell them
backwards and trace again

• Think about what you’d do if you received $10 million dollars tomorrow. Imagine all the
things you would spend it on

• Quiz your memory – name every teacher you’ve ever had in chronological order

• Recall childhood phone numbers you once knew by heart before cell phones
 • Or just try to remember what you ate or wore everyday for the past week

• Think ahead – think about different things you’d like to do later whether it’s the next day,
next week, next month or next year. Visualize the different experiences in your head

• Create personalized lists – lists of your favorite things, lists of things you need and/or
need to do, lists of things you’re grateful for, lists of your strengths and skills, lists of your
accomplishments, lists of various resources and/or sources of support, etc.

• Create general category lists – pick a category of literally anything and try to name as
many related items as possible (ex: types of flowers, movies that start with the letter m,
sports teams or players, neighborhoods in NYC, words that rhyme with ‘list,’ fastest
animals on four legs, etc.)

Certain Places, Certain Things:

• Clean and/or rearrange your bedroom/apartment/office space with intent to optimize
space and improve organization, always keeping a plan in mind

• Go through your closet and identify clothes to keep, get rid of or donate

• Have a collection or jar of loose change? Count it all up!

• Bake a recipe or cook a full meal from scratch

• Play a real or online game that can consume your attention or requires thought and/or
strategy (chess, candy crush, sudoku, crossword puzzle, word search, solitaire, etc.)

• Make a card or gift for someone or engage in another crafty project

• Try to teach yourself a new skill – learn to knit or sew, learn a new language, how to play
an instrument, how to code or program, etc.

• Read something captivating that won’t lead your mind to trail off

• Watch something captivating that won’t lead your mind to trail off

• Talk to someone or start a conversation – in person, on the phone, through text or dm.
Whatever method, platform, or person you want, as long as consistent reciprocity is
supported rather than delayed response times

• Go out and do something engaging. Go to a museum, go to a concert, go see a play or

performance, go to a dog park with or without a dog of your own to play or just watch
other dogs play, go out with friends, etc.