WHAT IS OVERTHINKING? HOW TO OVERCOME OR AVOID FORMING THE HABIT OF OVERTHINKING?

Overthinking means thinking about a particular topic excessively or repeatedly. When we think about same thought over and over again or think too much about a specific thought for long time then it is said that we are overthinking.

 Thinking is important for us to take evaluate situations and take right decisions accordingly  or to understand something and also to take actions as per our thoughts and decisions but when we keep thinking about something more than required then we overthink about it.

A person may overthink because of various possible reasons and those can be as follows:-

1. Stress is one of the biggest cause of overthinking. Fearing about what will happen especially if it is unknown.

2. Overthinking can also happen because of some past experiences. The experience can be positive or negative. A positive past experience creates excitement and a negative one creates sadness or worry. In both the cases you may find yourself dwelling in the past and thinking about it overly.

3. A sudden information may make you overthink about it or about a certain situation or a person. I have personally experienced this as day before yesterday I was surfing the internet in me free time and I came across a video about a mysterious place.

Due to curiosity I started searching for articles about it and kept reading about it more. Well the next day I noticed that I was still thinking about that information of the place I got through that video and from articles. So I was overthinking, wondering about what else happened there and why repeatedly.

 

4. One of the main and common reason of getting into the state of overthinking is idleness and unproductivity.

5. Just because of habit. Overthinking may have become a habit that you probably haven’t understood.

 

How to overcome or avoid forming the habit of overthinking?

1. Try to be aware and accepting when you overthink. You may find yourself thinking about a situation for too long that you forgot and skipped to take action about it or someone points out to you that you're thinking too much and should stop doing it.

Notice and stop yourself when you are overthinking and just try to observe yourself at that moment, tell yourself that you are thinking unnecessarily and not do so anymore getting back to the present moment as thinking like that is a waste of time and energy. Being in the present moment is the best way to prevent yourself from overthinking.

2. As said above, being in the present moment is significant to avoid becoming an over thinker, it is also important that you should become mindful and totally focus on the current task you're doing whether it is as basic as brushing your teeth or something which requires absolute focus such as working on an important project for your company.

3. Form healthy habits replacing or for the prevention of the habit of overthinking such as journaling your thoughts every day, exercising and meditation.

4. Practice hobbies or spend time doing some activity which makes you feel happy. For example, you can join music or dance classes or learn and make new cooking recipes or play some sports of your interest.

5. Stay engaged productively. Such as reading, writing and learning new skills. Sometimes when we stay busy doing activities which are not productive, we tend to overthink because those activities doesn't give us any good feeling about ourselves. For example, binge watching a drama series.

But when we keep ourselves engaged doing activities which are productive we get a feeling of accomplishment and it boosts our confidence.

 

6. Stop thinking and start doing, this should be your self-affirmation or slogan if you find yourself overthinking about doing daily task or working towards a goal. Decide what you should do and start doing it aiming to do it for just five minutes and then you'll get into flow state and stop overthinking and complete your tasks successfully.

7. Switch negative with positive thoughts which gives you calmness and positivity.

8. Find the reason for overthinking, that is the source of it and then try to control the thought of that source. It can be any fear or worry, so try to overcome your fear first.

Don't let fear be the cause of overthinking as not all types of fears are beneficial for you. To know more read the article - WHAT IS FAKE FEAR? WHY WE SHOULD AVOID FEAR? HOW TO REMOVE FEAR FROM YOUR MIND?

9. Spend time every day with yourself loving yourself. Knowing your strengths and caring about yourself as this will help in reducing stress and the overwhelming feeling which we get from overthinking.

10. Focus on your goals by acting upon it and this will divert your repeated thoughts to the thoughts about your goals.

11. Make sure to stop comparing yourself with other people or your life with the life of others as it will make you feel sad and you will start overthinking about your life negatively that your life or you are not good enough.

Remember everything shown on social media is not true or everything said is not right. Better to focus on what is good or even fine enough going in your life and be grateful for it.

12. Forgive yourself, forgive the past and also people for your own good as the same repeated thoughts will not benefit you in any way. Just keep the lessons learnt from those past events in your mind and move on being in the present making it beautiful and enjoying life as much as you can keeping only a bright positive vision of the future in your mind.