15 Tips To Prevent Overthinking

Let’s start with the obvious question – what is overthinking?

Well, it can be a whole host of things, including:

• Being paralyzed by fear.
• Dreading being a failure.
• Dwelling on mistakes you made in the past.
• Searching for perfect information, which is sometimes known as analysis paralysis, which is where you keep looking for more and better data so that you can make a decision.
• Worrying about things that may never happen.

It’s one aspect of mental health disorders such as anxiety, but as you can see, it goes further than that.

This article looks at the problems caused by overthinking, and offers some suggestions on how to overcome it.

Why You Should Avoid Overthinking

These are some of the costs of being an overthinker:

1. Anxiety. Overthinking is one consequence of overthinking, because when you spend all that mental energy on a problem and seem unable to solve it, it’s going to cause you stress.
2. Feeling Stuck. You sometimes know you’re overthinking something, but you can’t seem to break the habit. It’s like running around the proverbial hamster wheel – you expend lots of energy and time, but you never get anywhere. And this leads to frustration and potentially a downward spiral where you question yourself, your abilities, and your purpose.
3. Missed Opportunities. While you’re busy trying to decide whether you should pursue an opportunity, other people are probably diving in and giving it a try.

   And by the time you decide to jump in, it may be too late – perhaps the opportunity is no longer available, or maybe any early adopted advantage of being first is gone, or maybe it will cost your more money.

   Richard Branson, founder of Virgin, is quoted as saying, “If somebody offers you an amazing opportunity but you are not sure you can do it, say yes – then learn how to do it later!”

4. Strained Relationships. People who overthink things go over the same old ground time and time again – which can be incredibly frustrating for those who do not think the same way as you. They want to move on, and from their perspective, you’re holding them back.

   One of the better managers I used to work for liked to build teams that included different types of people – the cautious analytical types and the go-getters, but it’s all about balance and managing the interpersonal dynamics (which is something this guy excelled at).

   Don’t forget that this can apply at home as well as at work too!

How To Overcome Overthinking

Here are a few tips on how to beat this often debilitating habit:

1. Accept Uncertainty. Not knowing everything is what drives progress – asking questions and then trying to find out the answer.

   In fact, ironically, the more certain we try to be about something, the more anxious we become.

   Remember this quote, attributed to Albert Einstein? “I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious.”

   If Einstein had thought he knew everything, would he ever have come up with his theories about relativity?

2. Are Your Beliefs True? The cause of your overthinking may be one of many cognitive distortions, which I’ve written about here.

   So challenge your beliefs, and if they are not founded in reality, change them.

3. Be Open To Making Mistakes. One of the reasons people overthink is because they are afraid of making mistakes. However, remember that you typically learn more from mistakes than you do from successes.

   So accept that your decision might not turn out 100% the way you intended (of course, it may do), and if something doesn’t go as planned, learn from the situation so that you can try to avoid that same issue next time.

4. Beware Of Hindsight Bias. Sometimes known as being a Monday morning quarterback, this refers to making judgements about a decision you made previously but using information you have now that was not available at the time.

   Perfect information does not exist, so we can only ever make decisions on what we know at the time.

   And while most of us prefer to have the most and best data that we can, we have to recognize when enough information is enough.

   Later on, you cannot blame yourself for making the best decision you could have done at the time when you didn’t have all the information.

5. Distraction. This is a common technique when you’re having an anxiety or panic attack, and it’s basically doing whatever you can to distract your mind from its unhelpful thoughts.

   Your distraction might include art, crafting, dancing, exercise, playing games, listening to music, reading, singing, or writing.

6. Do Something. People who do something and take some sort of action, however small, tend to progress further than those who do nothing and sit there thinking.

   Remember, even if what you do turns out to be the wrong decision, you can still learn from that.

7. Find An Accountability Partner. This means you need to find one or more people who will agree to alert you when you are overthinking an issue.

   And when they do, thank them – remember, you asked them to point this out to you.

8. Focus On What You Can Control. When trying to solve some problems, there will be some factors you can control and some you can’t.

   While you may need to take account of those you can’t to some degree, don’t try to solve a problem that is not personally solvable. For example, if you’re designing a building in an earthquake zone, you should make sure that the building will be strong enough, and uses the correct materials, to withstand any shaking, and that the people will have safe exit routes, but you cannot stop the earthquakes from happening.

9. Journalling. I have an entire article about the therapeutic benefits of writing a journal, but in summary, the very act of writing down what’s on your mind can be beneficial. It gets things out of your head, where they are somewhat nebulous, and down on paper (although electronic documents can work too), where they become more tangible and you can then feel less emotionally attached to the problem.
10. Move Your Body. When you’re feeling stuck, going over the same old ground again and again in your head, take a break and move.

    This doesn’t need to be a full work-out – a quick walk, a few knee bends, or even a quick bit of yoga or tai chi will do. Anything that gets you out of your head and helps you focus on something else.

    And if you’ve been overthinking whatever your problem may be, there’s a good chance you’ve been sitting down starting at your computer screen for too long anyway, so getting up and moving around is good for your health no matter what.

11. Pareto Principle. You probably know this as the 80:20 Rule, which says that 20% of the time and effort you spend on something is likely to create 80% of the benefits.

    Looked at another way, it’s similar to the law of diminishing returns. You might get over three quarters of your benefits from less than one quarter of your work. After that, it costs a relatively large amount of energy (or time or money) to increase those benefits by even a tiny amount.

    Struggling to achieve those final 20% of the benefits is a symptom of perfectionism, which I’ve already addressed in another article.

    So in simple terms, you need to recognize when good enough is good enough, and then move on.

12. Pinpoint The Positive. One of the reasons for overthinking is because you are thinking about what might go wrong.

    So, try to direct your attention to what can go right, and use that as a motivation to keep going, even in the face of uncertainty.

13. Practise Mindfulness. This is a form of meditation that focuses on what’s real and can be experienced in the here and now – both regarding you and your body, and your immediate surroundings.

    You can find out more about mindfulness in this free report. (If you’re a member, you’ll also find this in the Members’ Library.)

14. Recognition. When you can step back and recognize that you are overthinking, it’s easier to release its grip on you. Once you’ve done that, you can redirect your thoughts to something more tangible, such as your surroundings, the people nearby, or even the bigger picture.
15. Timeboxed Thinking Sessions. Actively schedule time each day (or at least a few times a week) to simply sit there and think (or even worry) – about your problems, or anything else.

    This time needs to be relatively short (e.g. 15 – 30 minutes) and once that time is up (you should actually set a timer or alarm), you need to re-enter the real world and get on with whatever you are doing.

Conclusion

Overthinking is sort of addictive, and a difficult habit to break. I know, it’s been a problem for me for a long time, although less of late.

So you need to be patient – recognize when you’re doing it, and try as many of the above tips as you need until you can curtail your overthinking.

And remember, this is not about throwing caution to the wind – it’s about understanding when you have sufficient information to make an informed decision rather than trying to wait until you know everything it’s possible to know and consequently never making a decision at all.

Additional Resources

These are suggestions for those who wish to delve deeper into any of the above:

1. Overthinking Book