The Art Of Quieting Your Mind: 9 Simple Habits Of People Who Don’t Overthink Everything
They don't let everything turn into a spiral.
Gruescu Ovidiu | Unsplash Overthinking doesn’t sound so bad on the surface — thinking is good, right? But overthinking can cause problems. When you overthink, your judgments get cloudy, and your stress gets elevated.
You spend too much time in the negative. It can become difficult to act. If this feels like familiar territory to you and you struggle to quiet your mind, here are 9 simple ideas for how to stop overthinking.
Here are 9 simple habits of people who don’t overthink everything:
1. They notice when they start to overthink
Awareness is the beginning of change. Before you can begin to address or cope with your habit of overthinking, you need to learn to be aware of it when it’s happening.
Any time you find yourself doubting or feeling stressed or anxious, step back and look at the situation and how you’re responding. In that moment of awareness is the seed of the change you want to make.
2. They consider what can go right as much as what can go wrong
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In many cases, overthinking is caused by a single emotion: fear. When you focus on all the negative things that might happen, it’s easy to become paralyzed.
Next time you sense that you are starting to spiral in that direction, stop. Visualize all the things that can go right and keep those thoughts present and up front.
3. They distract themselves into happiness
Sometimes it’s helpful to have a way to distract yourself with happy, positive, healthy alternatives. Things like meditation, dancing, exercise, learning an instrument, knitting, drawing, and painting can distance you from the issues enough to shut down the overanalysis.
Healthy distraction temporarily turns attention away from a stressor with the intention of returning to it later with a clearer perspective. Studies show that individuals who use distraction more often than rumination tend to experience decreases in anxiety and depression over time.
4. They put things into perspective
It’s always easy to make things bigger and more negative than they need to be. The next time you catch yourself making a mountain out of a molehill, ask yourself how much it will matter in five years.
Or, for that matter, next month. Just this simple question, changing up the time frame, can help shut down overthinking.
5. They stop waiting for perfection
This is a big one. For all of us who are waiting for perfection, we can stop waiting right now. Being ambitious is great but aiming for perfection is unrealistic, impractical, and debilitating.
The moment you start thinking, “this needs to be perfect,” is the moment you need to remind yourself, “waiting for perfect is never as smart as making progress.”
6. They change their view of fear
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Whether you’re afraid because you’ve failed in the past, or you’re fearful of trying or overgeneralizing some other failure, remember that just because things did not work out before does not mean that has to be the outcome every time. Remember, every opportunity is a new beginning, a place to start again.
Overthinkers are often caught in a cycle where fear of worst-case scenarios fuels repetitive, unproductive thoughts. According to one study, individuals who don't overthink manage fear by reframing their perspective from one of threat to one of opportunity or acceptance.
7. They give themselves a worry timer
Give yourself a boundary. Set a timer for five minutes and give yourself that time to think, worry, and analyze. Once the timer goes off, spend 10 minutes with a pen and paper, writing down all the things that are worrying you, stressing you, or giving you anxiety.
Let it rip. When the 10 minutes are up, throw the paper out and move on — preferably to something fun.
Overthinking is fueled by the mental energy drained by constant decision-making. By pre-scheduling work blocks with a timer, a person eliminates the mental load of constantly deciding what to do next. Research on time management skills revealed that this preserves mental energy for the task itself rather than on managing the process.
8. They realize they can’t predict the future
No one can predict the future; all we have is now. If you spend the present moment worrying about the future, you are robbing yourself of your time now.
Spending time on the future is simply not productive. Spend that time instead on things that give you joy.
Mindfulness practices, which train attention to the present moment, directly counteract the future-focused nature of worrying. Studies show that a mindful and accepting attitude toward experiences reduces an individual's intolerance of uncertainty.
9. They accept that their best is good enough
The fear that grounds overthinking is often based on the feeling that you aren’t good enough — not smart enough, or hardworking enough, or dedicated enough. Once you’ve given an effort your best, accept it as such and know that, while success may depend in part on some things you can’t control, you’ve done what you could do.
Overthinking is something that can happen to anyone. But if you have a great system for dealing with it, you can at least ward off some of the negative, anxious, stressful thinking and turn it into something useful, productive, and effective.
Aman Mishra is a student, writer, YouTuber, and psychology enthusiast. His work has been published on Medium, Financial Express, and Techstreet Now, as well as others.
