How to stop overthinking?
Overthinking is going over (and over) what happened the week before or the month before, second-guessing everything you said and did, and envisioning the worst-case scenarios again and over.
The good news is that, like many other behaviours that are harmful to one's mental health, overthinking can be changed.
It takes some effort, but limiting your overthinking is 100 percent possible and 1000 percent worthwhile.
Six scientific strategies to help you quit overthinking and get back to accomplishing what you really want to do
(1) Concentrate on what you have control over
Allowing oneself to become engaged in your troubles will not solve anything. If you have any control over what's going on, attempt to shift your attention to what you can do to prevent or resolve the problem.
(2) Examine your beliefs
Negative ideas should not be allowed to consume you. Recognize that your emotions may be interfering with your capacity to look at circumstances objectively, causing your mind to make mountains out of molehills.
Take a moment to consider the evidence. Is there proof that your hypothesis is correct?
Will it matter in a month, a year, or ten years if it's true?
(3) Take some time to think
While dwelling on your difficulties for an extended period of time is never a good choice, reflecting can be beneficial. Allow yourself time to think about your ideas and why you're thinking about them.
Reflecting on how they make you feel can assist you in identifying your pain points, resulting in less future overthinking.
(4) Make a note of it
We cannot emphasise this enough. If your thoughts won't leave you alone, simply telling them to go away won't do much to keep them from returning.
Allow yourself some mental space by writing your thoughts down on a page, digital or otherwise.
(5) Try practising mindfulness
One of our favourite methods for limiting overthinking is to learn to live in the present moment. We believe in mindfulness so much that we included it in Foundations.
When you're living in the now, you can't be thinking about tomorrow or yesterday.