Are you an overthinker? Does it sometimes hijack your day? Does your mind wander with worst-case scenarios?
Right now I’m overthinking all of the things I need to do today and all of the things I want to put into this blog post and also thinking about the laundry list of to-do items I have. Oy vey.
If you’re an overthinker like me, you know just how draining and time consuming it can be, not to mention anxiety producing.
You can’t stop dwelling on an issue and then ruminating on all of the things that can go wrong, or you try to find a solution to it. Your brain often goes right to worst-case scenario which does wonders for your anxiety.
Here are a few ways to conquer overthinking so that it doesn’t hijack your every day.
- Schedule time for overthinking: Schedule 30 minutes at the end of your day for overthinking. If a worrisome thought comes up during the day, write it down in your notes section of your phone and come back to it later on. Knowing that you have this time scheduled can help you focus during the day and help you relax. Writing down intrusive thoughts can help you conquer them.
- Divide and conquer: Writing down your thoughts can be incredibly helpful in improving your mental health. Organize this list in two categories “Things I can control” and “Things I can control” – again keep this in the notes section of your phone for easy reference.
- Reframe your thoughts: Change your negative, self-defeating thoughts by reframing them. So instead of saying “I’ll never get this done” instead say “This task is difficult but I will get through it.” Or “I am so mad at myself for doing X” instead try “This is a learned habit that I can change if I work on it.”
- Be solution focused: Forget the whys about things and instead focus on the whats – so instead of “why is this happening to me?” think “what can I do to resolve this?” This mindset shift can help you stop ruminating and be more productive in coming up with a solution.
I’d love to hear what you do to alleviate your overthinking.