deepstash
Beta
6 Ways to Stop Overthinking Everything
Destructive thought patterns
Overthinking often involves two destructive thought patterns--ruminating and incessant worrying.
- Ruminating involves dwelling on the past. "I should have stayed at my last job. I would be happier than I am now.""My parents didn't teach me how to be confident. My insecurities have always held me back."
- Persistent worrying involves negative predictions about the future. "I'm going to embarrass myself tomorrow when I give that presentation. I know I'm going to forget everything I'm supposed to say."
2188 SAVES
SIMILAR ARTICLES & IDEAS:
1
Key Idea
Dangers of being an overthinker
- It increases your chances of mental illness. And as your mental health declines, your tendency to ruminate increases.
- It interferes with problem-solving. It will cause you to dwell on the problem rather than look for solutions.
- It disturbs your sleep. You'll be more likely to toss and turn for hours before you drift off.
4
Key Ideas
Put a Deadline on Your Thoughts
To avoid over-ruminating about a decision, give yourself a time frame to think about it.
If it’s a small issue such as what paint color to paint your office, perhaps a deadline of 10 minutes is sufficient; whereas a larger decision such as whether to accept a new job offer in another city may warrant a couple of days of thought.
Schedule Your Thinking Time
To avoid thinking about problems all day long, schedule a specific time where you give yourself the freedom to think about the issue you need to make a decision about.
If thoughts about the issue creep into your brain before your scheduled thinking time, tell yourself “No, I’m going to think about that after dinner, not during this meeting”.
Problem Solving vs. Worrying
Dwelling on a problem, thinking “this is horrible, I can’t handle this” or rehashing things that happened in the past are an unproductive use of your time.
Thinking about what steps you can take to improve the situation or actively thinking of a solution to the problem are helpful toward moving forward.
7
Key Ideas
Put things into a wider perspective
When you are thinking and thinking about something ask yourself: Will this matter in 5 years? Or even in 5 weeks?
It allows you to stop thinking about something and to focus your time and energy on something else that actually does matter to you.
Set short time-limits for decisions
- For small decisions like if you should go and do the dishes, respond to an email or work out, give myself 30 seconds or less to make a decision.
- For somewhat larger decisions that would take you days or weeks to think through in general, use a deadline for 30 minutes or for the end of the workday.
Stop setting your day up for stress
- Get a good start, that will set the tone for your day. (read or work-out and then start with the most important task of the day).
- Single-task and take regular breaks. This will help you to keep a sharp focus during your day and to get what’s most important done while also allowing you to rest.
- Minimize your daily input, especially from social media consumption. It will clutter your mind as the day progresses.