Abstraction has a positive effect on all areas of life, from school and work to romance and marriage. This skill is essential for all people who want to become less irritable and more productive.
What is abstraction
The term "abstraction" itself comes from the Latin word "abstractio" - exclusion, separation. That is, abstracting, we sort of separate from the outside world, not allowing interfering factors in any way to affect our performance. Distractions can not only be loud noises and other people's conversations, they can also be our own thoughts and negative emotions. A person without this skill is constantly annoyed. He can be pissed off not only by the classic case of noisy repairs at the neighbors' day off, but also by some situations that have nothing to do with this person. Such a person has difficulties in work and study, since he cannot abstract from his domestic problems, or, conversely, blissful thoughts about the upcoming vacation. In interpersonal relationships, he can also be inattentive, because he does not know how to listen to the interlocutor, concentrating on his own feelings and thoughts.
How to develop the skill of abstraction
Everyone can involuntarily abstract themselves from the outside world. Even when during a lecture you think about what an appetizing sandwich is waiting for you at home, this is already an abstraction. But how productive is it? Most often it is associated with laziness and unwillingness to work at the moment. But you can develop this skill, direct it in the other direction and make it work for yourself.
The most important thing is the ability to abstract from negative emotions. First of all, you need to try to change your view of the world: not all people are ideal, not all circumstances are favorable, and mistakes cannot always be avoided. Accept that no one can be absolutely perfect. Strive to see the positive aspects and benefits for yourself in everything. Any mistakes and quarrels give us the most valuable thing: life experience. Even negative moments change you for the better, if you are aware of it. Accept life as it is, enjoy it.
Many people have a very bad habit: even in a calm atmosphere, a person torments himself with thoughts about the bad, about what happened a long time ago or about what can go wrong in life. It is important to realize this, because such thoughts put pressure on our psyche, they are experienced as real tragic events, exhausting us. And try not to complicate existing problems. Don't blow up petty problems to the size of an elephant. Often we torment ourselves with problems that, with proper awareness, are not a problem.
To be productive in work and study, you must first of all find for yourself the goals and motives of these activities. Why did you come to the lecture? So that you don't get another pass? So why, since you have already come, not spend this time with benefits for your development? If you are not interested in the topic of the lecture, try turning it into a kind of game. Listen carefully, looking for only interesting and surprising moments for you. Think about how this item can be useful to you in life.
If you are very annoyed by loud noises, noise, or conversations on public transport, you need to maintain a positive attitude and try to focus your attention on something else. It is the awareness of your thoughts that is very important. For example, you hate a lady talking loudly on the phone at a nearby cashier in a store. First of all, ask yourself, why does she annoy you? Are you putting too much emphasis on it, only exacerbating the annoyance? The store is not a very quiet place in itself, but when you pay attention to a specific noise, you seem to substitute a microphone for it, it will be stronger and louder for you than it actually is. Try to move this thought microphone away from the annoying object and concentrate on something else. For example, on what delicious dishes will be obtained from the products you purchased. Finally, meditation techniques can be applied: breathe deeply and slowly, focus on your breathing, and breathe out negative thoughts.
