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Have you ever had that feeling where it seems as though your mind was just caught on an unending merry-go-round, and what it was found doing happened to be reminiscing over those conversations or issues you thought had been settled or at least thought over. Well, esteemed greetings from the overthinking club, you’re not alone! The club where every small decision becomes an important occasion to ponder with at least two nights of vigil.
Where it gets even more frustrating is when you then find yourself living in an unpleasant cycle of “what ifs” and “but what about this?”, then what you begin to worry over is the very minute detail that probably doesn’t count or mean anything, but, no! It has to be carefully considered from this end and then you begin; worrying whether you used the appropriate emoji in that text, or whether you gave him a piece of your mind the way he deserved it. What really hurts is that, on the other end, this guy is probably sleeping his eyes off, while you’re here, Miss Endurance, drowning in mind-boggling thoughts.
Overthinking is one thing that can turn simple everyday choices into recurring experiences, leaving you mentally exhausted all the time. However, for a fact, no matter how long you have had to experience these mental drama plays, it’s still very possible to break free and regain your sanity! This is an exposition that carefully gives meaning to why you’re overthinking everything and anything. In addition, we hope to lay hold of some processes that will help put your poor worries to rest and embrace absolute peace of mind.
What’s Behind the Constant Overthinking Trap?
For a fact, there are underlying reasons why you always have to find yourself in a state of overthinking everything. Here we go;
You always tend to ride on the ‘no mistakes’ principle
First of all, the ‘fear of making mistakes’ can trap you in a never-ending cycle of second-guessing every decision you have to make, such that, even the easiest and quickest decisions suddenly turns to the most challenging kind. Can you think about that time your thumb and mind battled whether to text him with “Hey, what’s up?” or, “Hey, what’s up with you?”. You literally had to spend hours thinking about the option that wouldn’t reduce your steeze. It was as if the result of this one text message would determine whether or not he would grant you a space on the pages of his heart.
Don’t be a Perfectionist
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Due to your aim of shifting from Miss Endurance to Miss Flawless, you usually get overly obsessed with each and every detail, in a bid to make sure that everything is “RIGHT”. This Perfectionist mentality right here is often what calls the shot for overthinking and even procrastination. Imagine hosting a dinner party and hoping to see that everything goes as you and your organisers talked over it. So, while seated, you’re so pissed cause things aren’t exactly going according to how we discussed. Then, you begin to imagine the 799 things that can possibly go wrong. So, because of this abstract realm that you’re in, you miss out on everything that is happening right in front of you.
Past experiences are deciding the present
Another reason that can cause you to be in that constant state of overthinking could be due to some of the uncomfortable or humiliating experiences from your past. What this does is that it would make your brain much more watchful, so you’d tend to replay things a thousand times to keep them from happening again. Just like the time you sent a text to your crush but autocorrect decided to be the boss and changed “Hey, what’s up?” to “Hey, what’s pup?” Your brain might still be holding on to that one memory, making you overthink every text message you want to send now, as if one typo error could send your social life to the land of doom .
You desired control much more than you should
If you have a strong desire for control, one thing that’ll be your common trait is that you’ve given in to over analysing every and any issue in a bid to maintain that control and sort of try to predict every possible outcome. Now, imagine you and your girls planning a little weekend hangout, while everyone is excitedly rushing up schedules and creating the hype, then there is you making sure every element of the weekend hangout is as detailed as it could be. Yes, even if your friends find it odd that you’ve scheduled meals and toilet breaks, but you genuinely believe that your life could fall apart if you don’t arrange every aspect of it this way.
You’re just overly stressed and it’s affecting your brain
Finally, on a scientific note, a high level of stress can tend to an overactive brain, which reduces your concentration and increases the likelihood of overthinking. It’s quite understandable when you’re juggling social commitments, professional deadlines, and an ever-expanding to-do list, your brain runs so fast and yet, never quite arriving at its objective.
By being aware of these factors, you may start addressing these problems and working towards breaking free from the overthinking trap.
How Overthinking Impacts Your Daily Life and Mental Health
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Overthinking can make you think about every move twice, leading to procrastination or indecision. It would make you feel like you’re stuck in a mental traffic jam, where every traffic light is wrong, and you’re too busy predicting disasters to see the free flow and good stuff right in front of you. All that mental replaying is just a one-way ticket to Stressville, right after Smallville. Cause, while Smallville has Superman and his strengths; precision, speed, strength; Stressvile has You with your many powers of anxiety, sleepless nights, and a non-stop brain loop. Relationship stress can also be caused by overthinking.
You can begin to interpret every statement or action too broadly, which could result in unnecessary misunderstandings. It’s like when you receive a simple “OK” text from your partner and your first line of thought is that he’s upset with you. You go through the message a hundred times and then begin to analyze the timing, the tone he used, and even the emoji selection if he used one. The sad ending is that it’s just you creating more problems that never even existed.
Therefore, even though overthinking could appear to be a harmless habit, it can quietly invade every area of your life and add unnecessary complexity to just about everything. The good news is that recognizing its impact is another step towards breaking free from its grip.
Practical Strategies to Break the Cycle of Overthinking
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This is practical, cause they’re more or less, something you can even do now whilst reading this article. Let’s quickly go over them;
Timing your worry sessions
First off, you should try setting a timer for your worrying sessions. This may sound funny, but try it! Give yourself, say, 10 minutes to go wild with all the “what ifs” and “all kinds of outcome” thoughts. Immediately after that, hit the mental pause button and you’d do that much easier if you move on to do or engage in something productive.
One thought at a time is your most effective time manager
Moving ahead to the “one thought at a time” method is what should be your next consideration. This would have you focus on a single worry and tackle it before moving to the next. Just like the Power Rangers that had a single enemy for every episode, and wouldn’t advance to a new storyline till that enemy is defeated. This should be the same kind of approach to how you tackle your worries. Remember, your brain is not a washing machine; it doesn’t need to spin continuously with all manners!
Challenging your thoughts
Another helpful strategy is to be the one to challenge your thoughts this time by asking yourself, “Is this thought really really true?” or “What’s the worst that could happen?”. It sounds weird right? The truth is, when you begin to question these cycles of your overthinking, you’d see that many of your worries are either unrealistic or exaggerated.
Your secret weapon is mindfulness
Now, let’s talk about mindfulness, which should be classified as our secret weapon against overthinking. Mindfulness is simply just being present with the here and now, rather than visiting all the world’s problems in one day. This act is easy to imbibe, though all that is needed could be a little ounce of practice. You can literally train your mind to focus on what’s happening around you instead of getting lost in a train of thoughts that doesn’t have an exit point.
Start with simple exercises, like deep breathing. The ideal concern here is you focusing on each breath as it leaves and then enters your nostrils. Our movies have given us a lot of inspo about the effectiveness of this particular technique with the cliche statement; “Take a deep breath” This not only calms your mind but also somehow brings you to the present moment.
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Another way you can really embrace mindfulness is through some grounding techniques. These are like those quick and asap mental exercises that bring your attention back to this article(Why are you trying to drift again?)! There are a couple of them you can look up for and work with. It’s really a reliable way of hitting the reset button on your brain.
Embrace acceptance as more than a defence
Finally, cultivate an attitude of acceptance. Understand that not every thought needs to be acted upon or solved. Yes! It’s okay to let some things happen knowing fully well we may not be able to alter its motion. This doesn’t in any way mean you should ignore your problems, but rather, it gives off a stance where you don’t let them dominate your mind. For a truth, embracing the present moment, even with all its negativities, is the key to breaking free from the chains of overthinking.
Distract yourself
A bonus tip that should be the most simple but yet super effective is “You distracting yourself”! Engage in an activity that would require your full attention, like a workout, painting, cooking or even binge-watching your favourite series. What you’re trying to achieve here is not necessarily the activity goal you’re engaged in. It’s more about giving your brain a break from the cycle of overthinking that may want to surface.
