Overthinking, worry, and negative painful thoughts can be incapacitating and very consuming.
Just like negative self-talk, excessive thinking can hold you back from functioning optimally and achieving your goals. It can kill your happiness.
With that in mind, I would like to give you insights on how to stop overthinking.
As a result, you will be able to live a more fulfilling and productive life. In addition, you will be able to stop the excessive thinking before it triggers anxiety and depressive symptoms.
Please keep reading.
5 Tips to Stop Overthinking
Overthinking can have a negative effect on your well-being.
With that in mind, below are some tips on how to stop overthinking before it starts affecting your daily functioning.
1 – Take Note of What Triggers Your Excessive Thinking
The first step towards addressing obsessive thoughts is by recognizing what triggers them.
For instance, you might be overthinking due to a past trauma, or a current event that is causing you stress.
Cognitive behavioral therapy can help you identify your triggers, and show you how overthinking affects your mental well-being.
Once you acknowledge unhelpful thought patterns, your therapist can work with you to help you resolve them.
2 – Shift Your Focus
Trying to suppress your thoughts can actually make them worse, and even lead to stress.
Therefore, it is important that you distract yourself or change your behavior instead.
In other words, if you find yourself overthinking, try to focus your mind on something else.
For instance, you can distract your mind by listening to music, spending time with friends and family, or exercising.
The idea is to find healthy ways of shifting your mind from what you are obsessively thinking about.
3 – Practice Mindfulness
Mindfulness is another effective strategy of how to stop overthinking.
Mindfulness stops you from rehashing about past trauma or future problems by focusing your attention in the here and now.
Learning to focus in the present moment, and listening to your body can help you slow down your thoughts.
In addition, mindfulness enables you to recognize your negative thoughts, neutralize them, and even challenge them.
Therefore, be sure to practice mindfulness for at least 15 minutes everyday so you can stop overthinking.
Here are more tips on How to Be Happy Practicing Mindfulness.
4 – Keep a Journal
Another good strategy of how to stop overthinking is journaling.
Putting your thoughts down on paper enables you to get repetitive thoughts out of your head. For instance, if you can’t stop overthinking about a big project you’ve been pursuing, journaling can help.
In other words, writing down what you have in mind about the project slows down your mind. It gives you the assurance that your ideas are safe, and that you will not forget them.
In addition, journaling can be beneficial to your mental well-being because it promotes cathartic release.
If you need help with starting a journal, here are 8 tips on How to Start a Journal for Beginners.
5 – Stop Perfectionist Thinking
Comparing yourself to others, and criticizing yourself for not achieving your goals can lead to overthinking and low self-esteem.
Therefore, breaking the cycle of perfectionism can help you overcome repetitive thoughts.
In other words, it is important to acknowledge that occasionally things will go wrong.
If things don’t work out, it is important that you focus on making progress instead of making things perfect.
Being able to do that will prevent you from asking the why, how, and should questions, which lead to overthinking.
Conclusion
Overthinking is often associated with mental health problems such as anxiety, depression, anxiety, and even PTSD.
What’s more, overthinking can have debilitating effects on your social life, work life, and even personal life.
With that in mind, learning how to stop overthinking can help you lead a more productive life.
Some of the strategies that can help you curb overthinking are discussed above.
They include recognizing your triggers, journaling, mindfulness, self-distraction, and not focusing on perfectionism.
Are there times when you catch yourself overthinking situations? Let me know in the comments below.
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Yes! I never understand that perfectionist thinking. No one is perfect! As I’ve gotten older I’ve grown less concerned over things.
These are such great tips. I am definitely an over-thinker and over-analyzer and found this to be really helpful.
I am a recovering overthinker! Still fall into the trap sometimes but I try to nip it in the bud. Great tips!
Great post. Sometimes I overthink when trying to make a decision. I have to stop myself and just go with my gut!
Oh I’m definitely guilty of this. It’s such a vicious cycle too. I try my best to shift my focus when I catch myself in the act.
These are all really great tips and tricks to stop overthinking. The key is to just get out there and DO whatever you need to!
These are excellent tips. Sometime I have a tendency to overthink. I agree that journaling can be a good ideal.
This couldn’t have come at a better time. I’ve been losing track of the time and investing too much of it in unnecessary things. Doing my best to focus on the essentials.
These are all such great tips! It’s so easy to overthink and be anxious especially if you are prone to!
keeping a journal sounds like great advice! Thanks for the tips!
I’m constantly overthinking everything in my life. Sometimes it gets in the way of my productivity.
I am definitely guilty of overthinking. I find that realising when I overthink and trying to relax my mind with some meditation does work in changing my focus.
Inspiring and relevant post. Especially in the time of Covid19, we all are overthinking and surely come out of it with great tips.
You got some great thoughts there – I used to overthink everything too but learned not to do that anymore 🙂
Yes, I love these tips. It helps me to avoid being an over-thinker and a perfectionist in any situations.