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.
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.
Comments