Are you an overthinker?  Do you agonize over making a decision, have trouble letting things go, or worry about making the wrong decision down the road? While planning ahead or analyzing situations is good to an extent, overthinkers have a tendency to take this too far, to the point that they rob themselves of their own happiness and peace of mind.

Signs you might be an Overthinker

• You try to find meaning in everything
• You think more than you act
• You get excited when you’ve figured something out
• You find it difficult to let things go
• You are patient (this one surprised me too! See, us overthinkers aren’t ALL bad!)
• You always seek new information
• You want to know the “why”
• You want to get everything right (and here I thought I was just a perfectionist)
• You dread a one word reply
• You are a lover of lists
• You look forward to doing things to calm your mind
• You think critically

While some of these traits could be looked at as beneficial, and in some cases helpful in the workplace, it’s true when they say you can have too much of a good thing.

How overthinking destroys your happiness

• Keeps a problem a problem, which keeps you stuck
• Makes a situation worse in direct proportion to the time and energy you spend overthinking it
• Prevents your creative problem solving skills from bubbling up
• Makes you worry, and worry is nothing more than your imagination concocting a negative future state
• It’s a time suck that robs you of the “here and now”
• Robs you of energy
• Leads to second guessing
• Fabricates problems and “what if” horror stories
• Creates heightened feelings of anger, resentment, jealousy, fear, doubt, indecision, confusion, etc

Personal note: I am a chronic overthinker.  I’ve easily experienced most, if not all, of the things listed above and I would even add that overthinking has prevented me from making decisions that could have benefitted me because I “overthought” my way out of them.  Sometimes making the decision to not act gave me a break from my own mind.  And don’t even get me started on the amount of sleep I’ve lost over the years! The biggest concern regarding overthinking is that it leads to chronic stress. You can read about the dangers of stress here.  The good news is that there IS hope.  Acceptance is half the battle right?

How to Stop Overthinking

• Remind yourself that overthinking does not lead to insight
• Accept that your decision will never be final
• Talk to yourself, but in a positive way. When you find yourself overthinking, say to yourself “This isn’t helping. What would help is….”
• Keep active throughout the day, and tire your body out
• Commit to a project that maps to your goals
• Seek social support, but don’t vent
• Set a 15 minute time limit each day and literally write down every thought that enters your mind in that time, then put it, and your thoughts, away
• Plan for conscious distraction
• Accept that being perfect is not possible
• Remember that a perfect decision is never a bold one

Like anything else, it won’t happen overnight… but it can happen!  Are you an overthinker? Have you found other coping strategies? We’d love to hear from you!

 

Image by tombrooks from Pixabay

Source Url: http://gobelmont.ca/distraction-techniques-chronic-overthinker/