Hey it is my first time posting here I have been struggling since I was 11 and I have two questions. I am starting my Shana Bet and I realized last year that my thoughts would take me over a lot more since i did not have access to a computer in Yeshiva so whenever I tried to focus in shiur I would get inappropriate thoughts and it really is messing with me spiritually and mentally. Does anyone have advice on how to control these thoughts aside from hesech hadaas because I tried that and although it works sometimes it is only one plan so I would like more strategies on fighting these thoughts. Secondly although I am not in shidduchim just yet I am approaching that tekufa in life and was thinking is it healthy or unhealthy to imagine what my future wife will be like since thinking about her might stop these thoughts. If anyone has advice i would really appreciate it!!!

Hey there, congrats on taking this huge step of posting!!! For many it was the first step towards true freedom.

About your thoughts I don't really have advice on how to stop them, but I can tell you that if you are not currently watching then slowly but surely these thoughts - which usually are triggered by the pornography we have flowing through our blood - should slow down a lot. Not to say you will never get them but they should come way more often.

Please stick around and keep us posted. Read some other stories that connect with you. It can be really helpful.

Hatzlacha Raba!

Advice for first question I dont have. Try out what SSSL said.
As for your second question, I did that before I was married. Still led to masturbation. Not worth it.

See Chapter 43 in The Battle of the Generation guardyoureyes.com/ebooks/item/the-battle-of-the-generation.

Thoughts are like stray dogs. They stick around if you feed them.

When you say "hesech hadas" I'm not sure what you mean. But "forcing" yourself to not think something doesn't work well. All you're doing is focusing hard on the pink elephant you're trying to not think about.

Intrusive pornographic thoughts are totally normal. Getting upset about them just feeds the cycle - you focus obsessively on getting rid of them, which in effect is just focusing on them more.

The way to deal with fantasies of all sorts (past scenes, future wives, plans of the next time you'll act out, that girl you saw on the street who was super cute and who knows maybe someone will set you up with her one day etc. etc. ad nauseum) is as follows:
1) acknowledge that you are having the thought (this step is essential)
2) Decide you don't want to think about it right now.
3) In a calm, non-negative way, move on to something else that will hold your attention. It helps to have this thing prepped in advance (and in the beginning, shuir might not cut it unless you work hard on getting involved in shuir. Different schmooze).

This works. It works well, and it works quickly.

Hatzlacha!

What you are describing in three steps is the Hesech Hadaas tool. It is the preferred tool for thoughts that aren't coming from negative moods according to the mini-course How to Deal with Urges / Lesson 5.

Shalom Brother IWantToChange, and welcome!

Here are some posts on unwanted thoughts that you can read and I'd love to continue the conversation with you from there on what you think.

https://guardyoureyes.com/forum/2-What-Works-for-Me/411978-Navigating-the-ocean-of-my-life?limit=15&start=75#416861

https://guardyoureyes.com/forum/19-Introduce-Yourself/413043-My-ENTIRE-story?limit=15&start=195#420631

Hatzlacha and Kol Tov!