What’s overthinking? It happens when you spend too much precious time dissecting every tiny detail of an event, situation, place or person instead of taking action. It’s a habit of over-analyzing and repeating the same thoughts in your mind but doing very little about it, you’re overthinking.
Overthinking happens when you take a relatively simple or small situation and blow the problem up far more extensively than it needs to be. For example, “Should I wear my new skirt for work today? But what if everyone teases me? What if I’m too overdressed for casual Friday? They’ll think I’m silly or trying to be far too fancy. Maybe I should save it for another occasion. But what if that occasion never comes up?”
You need to stop overthinking. Here’s why:
• It’s the Only Real-Time to Live Properly – We spend more time than we should when we continue living in our heads worrying about the past or the future. We worry about what we cannot change and what we have no control over. Mindfulness is the only effective tool to get you to break the habit bit by bit. The past only exists in our memory, and the future is yet to come. The only real living that takes place is your present— the here and now.
• Your Thoughts Are Less Likely to Sweep You Away – It’s impossible to get carried away when you know what’s going on with your thoughts, emotions, and feelings. So instead of getting swept away by your excessive thoughts this time, practicing techniques to stop you from overthinking will turn you into an observer. Some of these techniques are such as Drishti in yoga. It helps you become calm, composed, and this time you’re the one in control.
• You Can Build Stronger Relationships – Among the more common worrying thoughts that tend to plague the mind of an overthinker is the anxiety they feel about what others think of them. It’s hard to form great connections when you’re not listening to what is said to you. Another technique is meditation. It can change the type of conversations you have with people by encouraging you to pay attention and be open to their needs. To put aside everything else for those few minutes and pay attention to what is said to you. Once you start actively listening, conversations seem richer and more meaningful.
• You Become Aware You Have Everything You Need to Be Happy – We keep searching for happiness and then get frustrated when it’s seemingly hard to attain. You don’t need to hold on to grievances about your past and worry about your future by not overthinking. Feeling grateful for the life you have is your most significant defense against negativity.
• You to Take Care of Yourself – You can’t take care of anyone else if you’re not taking care of yourself first. Self-care can be a harsh lesson for overthinkers since they tend to cross their boundaries. It’s perfectly okay to do what makes you happy without having to feel guilty about it.
