Simple Steps and image made using Polish and Mematic App
For a while I have been battling overthinking things and it's something that causes people to make mistakes a lot.
Overthinking is like a thief, it robs you of your peace and makes the small issues in your life bigger than they really are in reality. People get into this habit of overthinking when life gets too stressful for too long. The mind can go crazy, anxiety and worry takes over and making a decision becomes more difficult. Thinking is good but too much of everything including good things is bad.
But you can adopt some simple steps to kind of mute the noise in your mind.
The first thing you want to do is to notice where you find yourself stuck in your head, overthinking a situation or a problem. Look out for thoughts that keep repeating the same worry or concern in circles and going nowhere. You can't repair what you can't observe or what you don't notice. After having recognized the pattern, pause with whatever you're doing and admit to yourself that you are stuck in your head and you need to move away.
The next step after catching yourself overthinking is to identify the exact problem. Sometimes it's the confusion or lack of understanding of the problem that makes people worry more and not the fact that the problem exists.
You can try a strategy of saying the problem out loud or writing it down. One sentence prevents real issues from becoming horrors and prevents you from pursuing innumerable what if questions which does nothing but waste your precious time.
Once your problem lies in plain language, jot down all ideas or possible solutions that come to mind. It's a matter of where your focus lies. Focus your mind away from anxiety and towards the effort to solve the problem. Don't make a mistake of looking for a perfect plan because that'll also waste time if a perfect plan doesn't exist. Just let all thoughts be written down on the paper or your notepad. You will get a sense of control, clarity and direction when you have possible solutions written down.
After you're through with that, choose from one of the possible solutions you've written down and act on it no matter how small the act or effort may be. When you start taking action, you get motivation to continue. Motivation is not always something that comes because someone said something to you to prep you up. It'll come naturally after you make the little efforts towards solving the problem.
The action you start taking will drive fear away slowly. As soon as you act, you step off thinking mode and you enter doing it action mode which is what brings the results.
The next is acceptance, acceptance that somethings are beyond your own control. There's nothing you can do directly about it. In life, most of what you control is you, and not situations or other people. There's no amount of thinking and effort that'll change such situations so just accept it. You're not accepting defeat by doing this, you're simply applying the wisdom that'll save you the time and stress of trying to control something that is out of your control.
The final thing is to honor yourself by giving yourself a break. Reward yourself if you can, for taking action rather than spending time worrying about a situation. You can do a little stretch or have a cup of tea or coffee, or watch something interesting or play some games or even hold a conversation with your friends and loved ones.
All of this will give you a well rested mind. A well rested mind is more effective than a fried one. The short breaks you will take will do a job of interrupting the chain and help you avoid overthinking from starting again.
This post has been shared on Reddit by @princessluv through the HivePosh initiative.