How to deal with OverThinking?

“It's not the load that breaks you down, it's the way you carry it.”

─ Lou Holtz

What is overthinking? As the name of the word implies, overthinking means thinking too much about something. Almost all of the people overthink sometimes. But, the level of overthinking and the frequency of it could be vastly different between people. A good point to notice is that thinking deeply about a subject is not bad at all. And, most of the times it could bring out great results such as discovering something valuable. However if this process of deep thinking gets so long focused on the worthless subjects, that could be a big problem for anyone.

How many times have you caught yourself thinking about worthless stuff during the past days? The problem is that thinking about unimportant stuff will just take your energy, time and focus which are all too precious to be easily ignored. A big portion of overthinking could often be due to our thoughts about the future which we will discuss it in another article. In the other article about changing our states, we learned two different techniques which could be a big asset for us to cope with overthinking. 

Let's see what we can do about the destructive pattern of overthinking to stop it or at least reduce it to an acceptable level. 

1. First of all, admit that your brain is unbeatable and you can never ever turn it off. It's like a gigantic machine that is always working. It's always processing information and commanding you by sending signals. So, try to be a friend of your mind by understanding it rather than to fight with it.

2. Be present and aware of your actions and behaviors as much as possible throughout the day. Doing meditation twice a day would be great to both start & finish the day in a meaningful & peaceful way.

3. Realize that no one is perfect. Don't judge yourself. Don't compare yourself with the others in a way that let you down.

4. Do not spend more than enough time for worthless stuff in your mind. Set some time-limits for your thoughts. For example, for minor thoughts about cooking, shaving, showering, shopping, etc. set 30 seconds time-limit. Lets say 30 seconds is more than enough to be wasted on thinking about those subjects. When you get aware of your situation and thought, make your decision quickly, give the last word, and move on. For a bit more serious and important stuff such as decision making about your job, family, friends and so on you can set a time-limit of 30 minutes or whatever that suits you. 

5. Use a future-oriented perspective. Be aware of your thoughts and prioritize them based on this question: Would this thought matter in the next week? Next month? Or next year? By asking this kind of question in the moment of an arising thought, you can realize that how important the thought is and how long it could last. If it's something that won’t matter to you in the next days, you probably shouldn’t spend more than 30 seconds on it, because it’s not worth it, is it? On the other hand, If it is something which matters to you in the next years, it is obviously an important thought about your life. In that case, you may dedicate some more time to the thought.

6. Be positive and see the positive sides of the present and future situations. Why to be negative by thinking about all of the problems and obstacles to paralyze yourself ahead of time?! Change the game by changing your mindset. Focusing and thinking about the positive sides of the present or future situations will automatically change your physiological states and lift you up.

7. Focus on the solution instead of the problem itself. This strategy will direct your mind to be always curious and creative for finding a solution. 

8. Do not overreact to the things beyond your control because you'll lose! Do not invest your time thinking about the things that are out of your control because you can do nothing about them, and you just make yourself miserable & powerless by thinking about them.

9. Set a time for yourself to overthink! For example, set 20 minutes of your time in the evenings to overthink. During this period of time give yourself freedom to think about every little detail of your day. Organize them, write them down on a piece of paper, or do whatever you feel comfortable with. So, whenever your mind starts to overthink during the day, you can let the thoughts go easily, since you already know that there will be a dedicated time for them.

10. Do not lock up your mind by worthless stuff. You should already know that how strong your mind is and how much capability it has. It could act like a stone-cutter laser when it's focused on something. So, let its potential be used & focused on the places where it's needed. It's better to don't do multitasking. Instead, focus on a single task at a time. You can schedule your tasks and then work on them one by one. Generally, people with high level of overthinking could be highly valuable in organizing & planning jobs. Since they have very analytical insights to every little details and get satisfied with organizing & planning tasks, this kind of jobs could be a good career path for them. 

11. Workout. Doing an exercise such as running, jogging, swimming, body-building, etc. could help you to release the daily pressures off your shoulders. This is a quick way to refresh and clear your mind.

12. Get enough sleep at nights. Having a good quality sleep at night could help your mind to work more efficient & productive the next day.

Implement the above strategies in your life and see how things could change for better. Do not forget that overthinking is not a bad thing in essence, you just need to make a balance to optimize your mind productivity.