Are you guilty of overthinking? I know I am a horrible overthinker ( if that’s even a word). Overthinking keeps you from living your best life and living in the moment. Getting your overthinking under control would immensely improve your day to day life and it can help find happiness and beautiful moments in the mundane.
Overthinking almost always puts you in a negative state of mind. It can bring out anxiety, stress, and unhappiness. Even though it is difficult to stop overthinking, it is possible to stop or even improve. You can train your brain to perceive things differently and reduce the stress of overthinking.
Finding a positive way to deal with the challenges life throws at you is a life changing ability.
I wanted to compile a list for you to help alleviate stress and overthinking.
- Identify the problem. Becoming aware when you start overthinking and identify why this is happening. We often don’t realize we are overthinking.
- Write. Writing is such a great tool for getting thoughts out of your head and on paper. This can be a very useful tool to be more present. Brain dumps are so good for you. I know I always feel so much better when I put my thoughts on paper.
- Listen to your heart. Listen to your body and your feelings. Get very clear on what you are feeling when you start overthinking. Thought interrupters are great to keep the negative thoughts out of your head. Keep yourself busy with things that make you feel good or are productive.
- Ask yourself, “Is this going to matter in a month, 1 year, 5 years, etc?” A lot of times we create scenarios in our head and make mountains out of molehills and our issue really isn’t as big as we think it is or it will be irrelevant in the future.
- Get out of your head and into the present moment. Meditate, exercise, spend time outside. It is important for you to do something that keeps your mind occupied so there is no room for overthinking.
- What’s the worse that could happen? Is it the end of the world? We often overthink about things that wont happen anyway.
- Vent or connect with someone who brings you peace or joy. Speaking your thoughts to a person who brings you calm is great. We also get an outsider’s perspective on our issue and we get to see it in a different light. It could be a friend, partner, family member, mentor, even a therapist.
I truly hope this resonated with you if you are an overthinker. Please let me know if this was useful to you.
Sending you love, always
Yeney