People who know me well know that I am a huge over-thinker. I can analyze a situation until the point where it’s driving me crazy and it wakes me up at night. Over the years I learned to control it and now I can stop myself from overthinking a lot better. Here are my tips on how to deal with overthinking:
Awareness
It all starts with awareness! You need to learn to be aware of when you’re overthinking. Try to take a step back from the situation when you’re feeling stressed or anxious. Try to observe when it happens and why it happens. Is it happening after a meeting at work or maybe after a date? And what are you exactly thinking? Are you scared something went wrong or that you said something you didn’t wanted to?
Write it down
Instead of leaving all the thoughts in your head, try to write it all down. This actually helps you to become aware and it helps you to put things into perspective. Write down what happened, how you feel, what you’re scared of.. Just anything that pops into your mind.
Live in the Now
Instead of living in your head, try to live in the here and now. This may sound a bit woowoo but it actually really helps. Focus on what you are doing in the present moment. Feel your body and your breath.
Mindfulness
Doing things like yoga and meditation really helped me to control my overthinking. In the begin it can be a bit overwhelming, but when you do it more often you really will see the benefits of it. If yoga and meditation aren’t really your thing, you can also go out for a walk or go to the gym. These are great ways to clear your head as well.
Speak up
Besides being an over-thinker, I’m also an introvert. In the core I don’t like to talk about my feelings and thoughts with others. I just didn’t wanted to annoy anyone with it. But over the years I really learned to speak up, even when it was against my nature. I could make whole scenarios in my head about situations with other people and when I started to speak up I didn’t had to overthink it anymore because I got my answer. But even if the situation you’re overthinking about doesn’t involve other people, it can also help to just talk about it with a friend.
Focus on problem solving
In addition to ”speak up” you should focus on problem solving. Instead of drowning in your head, go out and solve the situation or the problem. Ask yourself what you CAN do to make it better or even solve it instead of thinking about why something happened.
Be positive
Instead of staying in a negative circle, try to become a more positive person. There is light in every situation, you just have to transform your thoughts. Try to see something positive in every situation, how bad it may seem. If you practice this long enough, it will become a habit. And this will really help you to control your overthinking.
How do you deal with overthinking?
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