Intrusive thoughts... instantly stopping them?

I've had intrusive thoughts for about 3-4 years now, and it's definetely probably the biggest cause of my anxiety and stress in my life from my OCD.
I do repetitive things to rid these thoughts, and obviously the thoughts always come back.

It's weird because, whenever I read up on OCD and realise that it's only just thoughts that are making you anxious and getting worse, to some extent my OCD gets better for a certain amount of time ( say 10-20 minutes ) because i'm consciously aware that I can control it.

Problem is, it comes back, just as bad not long after.
Also sometimes I try to just completely ignore it, but I feel empty, like i don't know what else to think, because most of my basic thoughts and actions revolve around my intrusive thoughts, and so i feel weird and different when i completely ignore the intrusive thoughts.

Is this bad? Like, should I continue to completely ignore the thoughts?

And also, will I be able to think clearer in basic everyday decisions once the intrusive thoughts aren't there? because I feel that alot of my decisions in life are under pressure because of my OCD.

Thanks heaps.

I don't have any psychological training, I'm just another user on this site who has OCD themselves...but with my experience I don't believe there is any way that they will ever go away. But I have had times which are better and worse. I've found that if I keep myself busy, I can take energy away from the thoughts and there'll be less of them. Sometimes the thoughts will strike when I'm talking to someone else, and I'll have to ignore them or just accept them in order to keep talking without flinching. The less attention I give them, the less there are, sort of like the old maxim with dealing with a bully. Like I said, don't take my word for it, but this is what I've found in my experience.