Making a mountain out of a mole hill is something I’m guilty of. There have been numerous instances where I’ve fretted about something until if felt nauseous and couldn’t do anything else. If you find yourself in a similar situation at times, you might be what is considered as an ‘overthinker’. Here are 7 ways to stop overthinking everything.
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Stop Thinking about It and do It
Sometimes the only way to quick overthinking something is to do it and get it out of the way. It’s easy to think about something so much that you end up making yourself sick. If it’s a task you can easily do, but are just putting it off constantly, get it done and quick letting it consume your thoughts.
Set a Time Limit when It Comes to Pondering Your Thoughts
There will be moments when you need to be a bit pensive, but there should also be a limit on the amount of time you spend with these thoughts. Give yourself a while to go ahead and think about whatever is on your mind at the moment. Once the allotted time has expired, move on to something else. Letting a specific thought consume your energy for an extended period of time is unhealthy will ultimately do more harm than good.
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Talk It out
Sit and talk out loud to help organize your thoughts or chat with an old friend about what is currently on your mind. Hearing bothersome thoughts out loud tend to help. You might realize the words coming out of your mouth don’t sound nearly as frightening as you thought.
Determine if Your Overthinking is Derived from Fear
Is fear what is behind all the overthinking you do? Do drastic changes in your daily lifestyle freak you out? It just might be that you are scared of what the outcome will be, so you tend to overthink things. Don’t think about the worst case scenario in every situation. A lot of times this causes people to become unnecessarily stressed out. If it is fear, decide why you are scared and do some research to ease your fears.
Come up with a Plan of Action
Are you constantly trying to come up with a way to get something done or remedy an issue at hand? Maybe you need to devise a plan for how you are going to handle the situation. Set goals, write them down, and take the time to do it right. Rushing through these steps and half-heartedly attempting to make the plan of action work will put you right back where you started; overthinking a relatively simple situation.
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Make a List for Yourself
Writing down your thoughts can help you get them in order and figure out if they are truly worth fretting about or not. Decide why you keep thinking about a particular topic and reread what your reasons are. You might come to the realization that the excessive thinking is all for nothing. I often find getting my thoughts out on paper helps me to physically keep track of something I’m trying to work out in my head. If I can actually see this information in front of me, I tend to let it go much easier.
Find Something else to Think about
Get your mind off of whatever you are thinking too hard about. Distractions can be wonderful things at times! Go hang out with some friends or enjoy a bike ride through the city. Anything that will make you happy and keep your mind occupied should be helpful, even if it is only temporary. I know when I try to distract myself from something I’ve been thinking too much about; I often come to the realization that it was never that big of deal in the first place.
Out of these 7 ways to stop overthinking everything, is there one that sounds like it would work best for you?
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