I found that staying busy really helps take my mind of things, especially unwanted thoughts.

Meditation and mindfulness hasn't always worked for me, in these cases I tend to try to stay as busy as I can, just to not think about things.

I don't know how healthy this is, or if it's a good approach, but sometimes it's the only thing that helps.

Meditation and being mindful of every time your mind wanders off, to try and catch it and revert yourself, reverting your mind back to the present moment.

Journaling and writing down intrusive thoughts can help you better understand them and their trigger, and take control. By learning what triggers you, when the triggers occur, what causes them, and how you react to them, you can learn how to take control and, with time, overcome OCD.

Journaling is a great tool for figuring these things out. Journaling slows down your mind and allows you to really inspect each thought you are going through and writing down. This allows you to understand them at a much deeper level. This deep level of learning can help you expose triggers, and can show you a clearer way of how to deal with these triggers.

Many therapists recommend to their patients to start journaling, or to continue journaling if it was a practice they had in the past. This is, of course, if the therapist and the patient feel it would benefit the patient and their therapy.

Journaling may not be for everyone, but during therapy, a therapist can understand if journaling is worth trying, and if so, they can also give guidelines and items to focus on while journaling.

Journaling is a great practice to supplement therapy, but it is not a substitution to therapy. Many therapists suggest to their patients to start journaling if it is something that they believe they will benefit from. They also provide guidelines and further help with the practice, and even go over the notes during their next therapy session.

Journaling can be a powerful tool, and it can really help make a big difference, but it cannot be emphasized enough that journaling is not a substitute for therapy, but it can be an excellent supplement to it. If you are in therapy, consult with your therapist. Ask them what they think about it, and they will most likely be able to give you instructions or things to focus on while journaling.