What overthinking does to you and how to stop it

Overthinking is a bad habit. It drains a lot of energy and also takes a lot of unnecessary time. I think a lot of people would like to spend their time in a different way than overthinking. But it happens to almost everyone and one we are in the zone of overthinking a lot of people struggle to stop it.

That’s why I’m here, to help.

What is overthinking?

Overthinking can take many forms: endlessly deliberating when making a decision (and then questioning the decision), attempting to read minds, trying to predict the future, reading into the smallest of details, etc.

Why you should try to keep it at a minimum

Everyone of course overthinks in a way but some people then to be chronic overthinkers and spend most of their time putting unnecessary pressure on themselves which will result in stress.

While overthinking a lot of people get easily distracted, put pressure on themselves or just waste time by daydreaming about different situation that will probably never happen. People also don’t sleep well because they keep worrying and thinking about situations that have already passed.

Always thinking about questions like: “Why did that happen”, “What does it mean” or “What could I have done better”. People naturally think about things like this but if you are not a chronic overthinker you easily shake it off your mind, otherwise it could be in the person’s mind for a longer period of time.

What will happen if you keep on overthinking

From overthinking once or twice this can lead to overthinking everything possible. It’s important to be honest against yourself when you see yourself starting to overthinking everything.

If you stay overthinking your well-being will drop gradually. You will make more mistakes due to the stress that is coming from the images of your own overthinking but you also increase your own risk of mental health problems.

Overthinking is getting linked to a lot of problems like anxiety and depression. For each one of us it happens differently but in the end this will start happening if you don’t stop it in time. Either way, which one happens first doesn’t matter because both with decline your mental health.

The solution

First of all I will say that these different methods helped for me a lot and everyone will have their own kind of combination of the different methods to help with their overthinking.

Awareness is the beginning of change. Before you try to change a habit like overthinking, you have to acknowledge that there is a habit of overthinking.

Distract yourself into a happy place. If you are doing a fun activity where you can just be yourself, you distance yourself a bit more from the habit of overthinking and will make it more easy to not overthink.

Accept your best. You can’t do anything more than your best and overthinking is mostly based on feelings that you aren’t good enough. That’s why you have to accept that if u are doing your best, there is nothing to be afraid of.

Replace the thought. Telling yourself not to think about a certain thought is not the way to not have that certain thought. If I tell you to think about a blue giraffe then what are u thinking about? That’s right: blue giraffes. Think about an another image in your mind and you will think about that other imagine.

Accept the fact that you can’t predict the future. Ask yourself this: what are the chances that what I’m scared of will actually happen? If you think the probability is low, then why are u afraid? No one can predict the future and you can’t predict the future either so just let it go easy and let it come at you.

Reconnect with the world. As soon as you notice that you are overthinking, you are losing focus or maybe daydreaming, if u notice any of these facts you will spend less time in your head.

Talk to yourself. If u say something like: “I’m feeling kind of uncomfortable and anxious. Where am I feeling this? Is it in my head?” Try to analyze what you are feeling and say it out loud to yourself.

It takes practice, and of course time, but you will be able to easily recognize that you are worrying unnecessarily and choose to something in real life than to spend all that time inside your own head.

Learning how to stop spending time inside your own head can also make you own mind less overactive. This will help finding a more calm mind and it is one of the greatest gifts you can give yourself.

Counter-attack

While overthinking everything negatively or thinking something that can go wrong, instead you can learn to link overthinking to something positive. If you notice for yourself that you are overthinking, try thinking about positive things. Try changing the overthinking into a new, positive mindset.

The happiest moment in your life. There will always be a moment in your life where you felt like you are at the top, the happiest feeling you’ve ever felt, and now try to put yourself again in that situation. By remembering that feeling and putting yourself in there again, your brain will get those positive feelings up and you will not be so focused anymore on the overthinking.

A positive mindset is contagious. Hanging around people that have a positive mindset will naturally influence your own brain. It’s like when you have 5 people wanting to be a millionaire and you hand around those people, you will be the sixth.

Turn failures into life lessons. Every time you overthink and think you failed turning it into a positive mindset, learn from this. Ask yourself things like ‘why didn’t I try thinking positive because for an example you may be forgetting. You now know why you failed only need to remember to use the things you learned.

Look for friends and family. There are two different methods when I say you have to look for friends or family.

For the first thing is: friends or family can deliver a distraction for yourself and you can forget you were overthinking or can calm you down by saying that situations you are thinking about aren’t really realistic.

For the second thing: friends or family can help you getting rid of the problem. Maybe they had earlier experience with it and have a good method against it. They can talk with you about the problem.

Not only is a positive mindset better for your mental health. It will also give you a lot more confidence and improve your mood