Introduction
There’s no denying that we all do it: Overthink. We overthink everything from big, life-changing decisions to small things like what to wear and when we should leave the house. It’s a bad habit that can make you feel totally stuck in your head, but if you’re willing to work on breaking this habit, you’ll find yourself thinking more clearly and acting more confidently than ever before.
Give yourself permission to let go of thinking.
Give yourself permission to let go of thinking.
Do this by focusing on what you want to feel instead of what you want to do. If a thought comes up that’s tempting, allow it to float away like a leaf on a stream and replace it with something more positive and productive. This is especially helpful when faced with an overwhelming task or decision that has held you back in the past. For example, if there’s an assignment due next week and all you can think about is how much work needs to be done before then, imagine yourself enjoying the feeling of finishing early — and then focus on how good it would feel!
Stop being afraid of what might happen and start focusing on what can.
It’s important to understand that you can’t control everything. You can’t predict what will happen in the future, and worrying about it won’t make your life any better. Instead of trying to control the things you can’t, focus on what you can do.
The most powerful thing you have is your ability to choose how you respond to stimuli and situations. The best way to stop overthinking is by changing your response from negative self-talk or destructive behavior into positive action that makes a difference in your life today.
Accept that thinking is a bad habit, and you’re going to have to keep reminding yourself to stop doing it.
You can’t just stop thinking altogether. It’s a habit, one that you’ve had for who knows how long, and it’s not going to go away overnight. But you can develop the habit of catching yourself when you do start overthinking, which will give your brain practice at stopping itself mid-thought. Then all of the sudden one day, it’ll be like someone flipped a switch in your head and the habit just died off on its own — because it was never really something ingrained into your brain in the first place!
Make thinking a game of red-light green-light.
Next, think of your overthinking as a game of red light, green light. When you notice yourself getting ahead of yourself or letting your mind wander into the past or future, give yourself a little tap on the shoulder (literally) and tell yourself “red light!” This is to remind you that you’ve started thinking about something that could cause anxiety and stress if allowed to continue for too long. At this point, all you have to do is stop overthinking.
When it comes down to it, this is really all there is: just stop thinking so much! Once you realize that allowing your mind to go wild with worry isn’t helping anything at all — it’s only making things worse — it becomes very easy to simply say “green light!” This means no more worrying about what could happen tomorrow or next week; instead focus on being present in this moment right now.
Get out of your head by getting into your body.
- Get out of your head by getting into your body.
It’s easy to get trapped in the mental loop of overthinking, but what you may not realize is that there are other ways to think and feel besides thoughts. One way to snap out of a stuck mindset is by shifting what you’re focusing on: instead of thinking inwardly and analyzing everything, focus on something external. The simplest way to do this is through your body.
- Try yoga or stretching, or even just taking a walk outside (or around the block if it’s raining).
- Go for a run or go for a swim if it’s summertime!
- Do some gardening — you’ll be surprised at how much less stressed you feel when you see beautiful flowers blooming after all your hard work!
And don’t forget about music! Listening to music can help distract from negative thoughts too, especially if it’s one of those songs that always makes you smile when you hear it — just make sure not to overthink about where exactly this song came from either :)
Remind yourself not to think about it too much.
Remind yourself not to think about it too much.
The next time you find yourself overthinking something, remind yourself that you’ve taken care of the hard stuff already. You made a decision and committed to doing whatever it takes — that’s all that matters right now! Now is the time to put your head down and get to work.
Think about how you want to feel instead of what you want to do.
- Think about how you want to feel instead of what you want to do.
Think about the feeling of having a good day and doing everything right. Spend more time on thinking about how you want to feel, rather than what you need to do that day. Focus on the feeling, not the action. For example, if your goal is to have a productive week at work but every night after work, all you can think about is being tired and spending time with your family over doing something else (like working out), then it’s hard for this goal or “action” to come true because it doesn’t fit with how we truly want ourselves: happy and healthy!
Notice when you’re overthinking.
- Get in touch with your thoughts.
- Notice when you’re overthinking.
- Identify the thought patterns that lead to overthinking.
- Notice when you’re thinking too much and not enough.
Take a ten-second break from thinking every single day.
The next time you find yourself caught up in an endless cycle of thoughts, stop and take a ten-second break from thinking. This is not to be confused with meditation, which requires focus and intent on the part of the meditator. Rather, it’s a simple trick based on the idea that once we force ourselves to stop thinking, we can actually let our brains relax into rest mode and get some much needed downtime from all those circuits firing away.
It may seem silly or ineffective at first, but try it every day for a week and see if it makes any difference in your mental state!
Look at the bigger picture.
The biggest mistake people make is that they focus on the small picture and overlook the big picture. It’s important to realize that the small picture is not as important as it may seem; we tend to overestimate its significance because it’s always in front of us and we can see it clearly, but when you zoom out and look at how things fit together, you realize that most of your worries are actually unimportant.
So next time you start worrying about something, try taking a step back — literally or figuratively — and looking at how things really are: Is this really a big deal? Will it matter several years from now? If not, don’t worry about it!
It’s important not to overthink everything, but also easier said than done.
- It’s important not to overthink everything, but also easier said than done.
- Overthinking is a bad habit.
- It’s a form of self-sabotage.
- Overthinking can be destructive and lead to anxiety and depression, which in turn leads to procrastination.
Conclusion
With the help of these ten tips, you can learn to stop overthinking everything in your life. It’s important not to overthink everything, but also easier said than done. Keep in mind that this is a lifelong process — you might slip up once or twice along the way! But don’t worry about that too much; just keep practicing these techniques until it becomes second nature for you. The more often we remind ourselves not to overthink things, the faster we’ll get used to living without our minds constantly running wild with anxiety and fear.”
