What is holding people back from the life that they truly want to live? I'd say that one very common and destructive thing is that they don't know how to stop overthinking. They overthink every little problem until it becomes bigger and scarier than it actually is.
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.
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.
I've had several people ask me lately about what they can do about indecisiveness, and it made me realize that this is actually something I'm pretty good at: being decisive. Making decisions can be difficult, especially when there's no clear choice.
When in doubt, Google it. This is my first instinct whenever I'm faced a problem I don't know enough to solve. As a Millennial, I can barely remember the Internet before Google made the vast collective knowledge of the web readily accessible for any whim or query that crossed my mind.
It means that while increased choice allows us to achieve objectively better results, it also leads to greater anxiety, indecision, paralysis, and dissatisfaction.
Our working memory is what allows us to focus on the information we need to get things done at the moment we’re doing them. It is also in limited supply. You can think of it like our brain’s computer memory. Once it’s used up, nothing more can fit in.
When you overanalyze a situation, the repetitive thoughts, anxiety, and self-doubt decrease the amount of working memory you have available to complete challenging tasks, causing your productivity to plummet.
A recent Stanford study suggests that over-thinking not only impedes our ability to perform cognitive tasks but keeps us from reaching our creative potential as well.