No better quote to kick-start this article about overthinking! Never doubt that you have the power to change things and make choices that can improve your life. No question about it!
But lets get straight to it... major problem with overthinking is that it prevents you from act.
You might get frozen in the overthinking cloud, by getting to think or worry too much about everything.
Take this into consideration, time is an asset, you got 24 hours a day, if you spend most of the time thinking, that means you are overthinking.
Try to take between 30 to 90 minutes, maximum, to plan your day, and go ahead, execute your plan!
For more information and things you can do to enhance your life, we've researched the best ways you can use to stop overthinking:
25 Ways On How To Stop Overthinking
1. Are you an "Overthinker"?
Well, look at your latest achievements... nothing to show but thoughts an ideas that never see daylight? Welcome aboard! No problem about having a imaginative mind, but you need to acknowledge that you might be thinking too much. By searching for this article you gave the first step to control your urge to think about everything.
2. Understand when do you overthink.
It's crucial that you gain conscious of the time or specific matters that get you overthinking. Make a list of those times and life areas, so you can address them.
3. Prioritize what really matters.
Get a deeper perspective on life, be truly honest when you answer this question: What are my (your) priorities in life? Select the ones that really matter and represent your true essence. Discard the small stuff, maybe your overthinking is about daily mundane things, that really don't matter at the end of the day.
4. Focus on what you want to achieve.
You must have a goal or goals? What are they? Know where you want to go, in order to recognize how far you are from accomplishing your journey. If you're still far, not even halfway, you need to focus on making progress. Every day deliver some kind of results, by focusing on what you want to achieve and taking action towards it.
5. Stay positive about it.
It's easy to get overwhelmed by thoughts and actually don't do anything. When this happens, probably you're on the negative side of things, thinking about how everything can go wrong. Stop that approach by having a positive mindset, that focus on what can go right.
6. Make your inner voice work for you not against you.
Thoughts are really your ideas and opinions that occur suddenly in your mind, but that doesn't mean you can't engage with them and start "a conversation". Yes, you can talk to yourself and re-direct the way you're thinking. Negative self-talk should go away by replacing it with positive self-talk, things like affirmations, finding humor in situations, and so on.
7. Convert great thoughts into real decisions.
A worthy thought must be materialized into something, or else, it will remain a thought or, even, just a lost memory, So you need to convert your most worthy thoughts into decisions. Once you make a decision it's easy to engage into some action and have impact in your life. Are all your thoughts worthy of a decision? The ones that are, are the ones that matter, materialized them.
8. Plug-in into the current moment.
Some excessive thoughts you might have relate to your past or failed past experiences. You need to unplug from the past and realize you have an opportunity ahead of you. By putting the past behind you and looking to the current moment, you'll redirect your life to the only direction possible: forward!
“We are dying from overthinking. We are slowly killing ourselves by thinking about everything. Think. Think. Think. You can never trust the human mind anyway. It's a death trap.” - Anthony Hopkins
9. Start the day with a fresh activity.
Working out can really be beneficial for your thoughts. Nothing like a run or a swim, to clear your mind first thing in the morning. You can chose the activity that best fits you, of course. The way you start your day will mark the rest of it.
10. Make use of meditation techniques.
Meditation can really help you clear the excessive thoughts that constantly come up in your mind. Just try it! 2 sessions a day can do the trick, for example, one in the morning other at lunch break. It will do wonders for your awareness and you can actually learn to control your tendency to overthinking.
11. Divide your work into smaller tasks.
It's easy to get discouraged by too much workload. Instead of looking at your work as a huge task that will never be complete, divide that same work in small achievable tasks. Now work on them, one at a time, get inspired by finishing one and starting the next.
12. Be grateful for what you have.
Your source of overthinking can come from negative emotions like jealousy and envy, time to replace them by gratitude. Instead of wishing you had things that others have, start to realize what you already have in your life. Count your blessing and list the things you're grateful for.
13. Stop worrying about the future.
Let's face it, the future is something that's coming but that you can't fully control. What's the point of worrying about it? Only thing that you can do is to focus on the "now" and make the best you can. Only that way your future can be joyful.
14. Understand what triggers your emotions.
It's normal to feel nervous before a public presentation or an exam. But is it anxiety, is it panic, or just a rush you have when big moments are coming? It can be a big mix in your mind, but nevertheless, emotions aren't eternal. They often change, cause you have the power to understand what's going on and control them.
15. Talk your thoughts to the world.
Yup! Enough of keeping your thoughts just to yourself, put them out there. Think of your mind like a small warehouse where goods are always arriving, but never leaving. So your head is full and getting fuller. Group therapy sessions are all about letting your thoughts out and just talk about what's on your mind, give it a try! You can relate with people alike and get encouraged to improve.
16. Find a retreat for your mind.
There are times when we simply can't think straight about something. Maybe it's the environment, maybe it's the noise, maybe it's the people around you, whatever, the important thing is that you find a place where you can think alone by yourself for a few minutes. It can be your bedroom, your office, even your headphones can bring you the necessary inner peace to control your thoughts.
17. Give your thoughts a rest.
Thinking can be an exhaustive task, so much that sometimes you just need to rest your brain. As your smartphone needs to recharge, so does your mind. If it's in the afternoon a simple nap can do the trick, of course a good night sleep is indispensable to fully recharge.
“Thinking has, many a time, made me sad, darling; but doing never did in all my life... My precept is, "Do something, my sister, do good if you can; but, at any rate, do something".” - Elizabeth Gaskell
18. Understand the best time to be creative.
It's a well known fact that mornings can the best time to be creative, distractions aren't around and your mind is fresh. If you're more productive at a different time of the day, fine! That's your "creative moment", we all have one and it can come at any hour, studies found that even after work you can be more creative! The important thing is that you understand the flow of your creativity and take advantage of it. Maybe your overthinking can be provoked by this: You want to be creative when your brain is tired, the juices aren't there any more and you get stressed out about it. Well, get over with it, just relax, it's time to distract yourself, maybe rest, and voilá! Here come new ideas and new creative flows.
19. Stay away from "over-thinkers" and get around "doers".
People tend to emulate other people, "monkey see monkey do". Sorry! No offence, but in fact is true, we tend to be like the people we surround ourselves with. So you want to stop overthinking, get around people who are always on the move doing stuff. Get influenced by action oriented people and you'll start to think less and act more!
20. Get perfection out of your dictionary.
The urge to be perfect takes away the joy of achieving progress. Just picture it: you have made this far and have accomplished a lot, but now you start to look at things from a perfectionist standard, there will be always something missing... those thoughts can destroy you inside. Realize that perfection cannot be obtained, all you have to do is to look for constant progress and move on.
21. Less problems more solutions.
Maybe the source of your overthinking are problems, you see problems everywhere and in everything. Well... one problem has always a solution, if it's really a problem try to solve it, thinking about it all day won't do the trick. Find the solution and apply it, it didn't work? Try to apply a different solution until you solve it. The great thing about it is that, once that the specific problem is solved, it no longer lives in your head as a problem, but as a solution, not more overthinking about it.
22. Be your own self-constructive critic.
It's critical that you find a way to replace your negative thoughts by constructive ones. If you´re constantly bashing yourself down things will not work, and you're own thoughts can destroy you. What you need to do is to have a constructive approach to it, instead of saying "nothing works!" replace with questions like "what can I build here?" or "what can I do different?".
23. Take the "what ifs" and "shoulds" aside.
Your thoughts are stopping you from doing things, you're too much concentrated on what people will think, on how things might not work, on how your reputation can be damaged by it, etc. All those things are only happening in your mind, and your thoughts amplify them day by day. Leave the "what ifs" and "shoulds" and start engage with reality by executing your thoughts and ideas.
24. Trust your instincts.
One problem about overthinking is that you can be ignoring your first thoughts. There are some life areas where a second thought or a reflection are welcome, but some areas really require you to trust your gut and just decide! Reason can be always there, so trust more in your instincts.25. Understand toughs time never last.
One thing that might be the source of your overthinking are tough moments and dark situations that inevitably come into our lives. You can't erase them from your life, but you can look at them as temporary situations, circumstances that will pass with time. Panicking and overthinking about them won't solve them. Life is about downs and ups, better times are coming as long as you stay active and alert.
Hope you've enjoyed our ways to stop overthinking and you can start to act and make decisions in your life.
Know some over-thinkers? Share this article with them and help them out.
Continue to...
Be GREAT!
Follow us!