Don’t waste any more time overthinking

Overthinking… We waste far too much time on it.

We’ve all been there…going over the same situation in your mind, over and over again. Reliving every word, every gesture, over analysing what was said to you, things you should’ve said differently or wishing you hadn’t said anything at all. Thinking about how you could have handled the situation better, behaved differently…

 

Overthinking is a painful reminder that you care way too much, even when you shouldn’t.

 

Here are the signs that you’re overthinking:

• you analyse things/ situations to death
• you second guess all your decisions
• you expect/ plan for the worst to happen
• you hate making decisions
• you can’t let things go.

So why do we do it?

1. If you’re overthinking a situation from the past – it’s because it probably didn’t go the way that you had planned. If you didn’t get the outcome that you wanted, you’ll be re-living the event to see if there was anything that you could have done differently to get your desired outcome.
2. If you’re overthinking a situation that has happened yet – it’s because it means something to you. You’re probably concerned/ worried that the event might not go your way, and you’re going over all the possible scenarios to prepare yourself for every eventuality.Its impossible to know what is going to happen in the future. There is no way of knowing how someone else is going to react or how you’re going to react if emotions run high, and there are thousands of other variables for any situation.

The thing is, overthinking doesn’t change anything.

All it does is steal your time now. Today.

 

Re-living a past experience does NOTHING to change it. You can go over a situation in your head as many times as you want, but the situation will always remain the same. All you’re doing is allowing it to take up more of your time. Don’t let it!

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When you find yourself overthinking do this instead…

Give in to your overthinking for 10 minutes, no more.

Focus on what you could have done differently. Learn from it, so that the next time you’re in a similar situation you do things differently, then move on.

There’s nothing more that you can do to change THAT situation.

Let it go. Don’t let it steal any more of your time.

Then go focus on something else completely. Choose something that will force you to concentrate so that your mind doesn’t have the opportunity to wander.

It won’t be easy. If you’re a natural over-thinker its going to take some time to get out of the habit. But persevere. Its going to be worth it to have piece of mind, and just think how much extra time you’ll have now you’re no longer preoccupied living in the past.

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