Quiet the Noise Within: Nurture a Mind Free from Overthinking

In this post: Stop overthinking! Are you always overthinking almost every single thing? It might not seem like such a terrible thing when you’re just trying to make sure that you’re weighing the pros and the cons of the situation. But when you over-scrutinize and nitpick at every little thing then it can be a bad thing.

Constant thinking might not seem like a bad thing but it can have you so wound up that it puts you in a frenzy.

If you make overthinking a habit, what will happen is that you’ll keep dwelling on the different circumstances as well as the decisions you have to make.

This will ultimately lead to excess worry and fear, and in the long run, cause an increase in stress and overwhelm.

What Is Overthinking?

You might be asking yourself do I overthink things? What really is overthinking? Thinking too much about things is easily done at the drop of a hat but sometimes it’s hard for you to see that you’re doing it.

Simply put, It’s when you make it a habit of thinking too much about everything at all times and I mean everything. 

To a certain extent, you have to weigh the pros and cons and examine things or situations. You have to do this before making a determination as to what actionable steps you should take to come to a solution, and that’s perfectly fine. 

It becomes an issue when you keep scrutinizing things over and over again and these thoughts at the forefront of your mind begin to make you anxious and fearful. Th

is can persist to the point where you can’t make a choice because you think that you might make the wrong decision.

This endless amount of thinking can have a negative effect.  It can cause you to feel so overwhelmed and is the starting point of feelings of inadequacy, fear, and anxiety and leaves you feeling sad and miserable.

Signs Of Overthinking

Here are some signs of overthinking and why you might need to consider what makes you tick and change your mindset.

1. Overscrutinize everything

If you find that when you’re trying to make a decision you think about it too much and for too long then this is definitely can be an indication that you’re overthinking.

When you’re constantly analyzing it can affect you in so many ways than you might even think of and as a matter of fact, you might not even know from what source.

For one thing, If you’re prone to anxiety, overanalyzing can have a snowball effect and only intensify the situation causing more worry and distress.

2. It Can Affect Your Mental State

Overanalyzing can affect interrupt your life on a daily basis. Needless to say, it can interfere with the rationality of your mind. So much so that it’s difficult to focus on anything or even to think clearly. 

When you’re constantly thinking too much it causes your mental state to be in overdrive. Which ends up being overburdened, overworked and overloaded the majority of the time.

This can lead to other issues such as a mental breakdown. If you have anxiety problems then over-scrutinizing everything is going to make it even worse. So it’s important that you figure out a sensible, rational, and practical strategy that will work for you.

3. It’s harder to Take Action and Make decisions

If it becomes a norm for you to think about things too much, then it becomes harder for you to make up your mind. And it’s even more difficult for you to take actionable steps to tackle the address and settle any issue.

This is also the starting point where you start to scrutinize and consider every little thing to the extent where you go into unreasonable expectations. Which can make very simple things whether in your work environment or home tough to resolve.

4. Negative Self Talk

Excessive thinking can completely drain your energy. this can cause you to have those negative self-talk and self-criticism.

You’ll second guess your own thoughts and feelings and then question your own competence. At this stage, it then prevents you from thinking clearly because you’re rattled by fear, fear that you might make the wrong decision.

It, therefore, affects how you make decisions as well as your ability to solve any problems that you might have.

Of course, you have goals and standards you want to attain and maintain but don’t set unreasonable criteria for yourself. Nobody is perfect

This can leave you frustrated and overwhelmed and can affect your health and well-being on a whole.

5. Frequent Headaches

Overthinking is one of the culprits of headaches. When you keep dwelling on things too much every single day in a consistent manner then you’re likely to have frequent tension headaches. These are commonly caused by stress.

This affects your concentration and therefore limits how your mind functions. Most often than not these headaches stem from stress over scrutinizing everything little thing.

So you must get in the right headspace.

What Helps To Stop Overthinking 

If you find that you’ve been thinking too much to the point where it’s trying to take over your life and causing stress and overwhelm here are some ways that can help you to stop overthinking.

Adequate Sleep

A common symptom of sleeplessness is overthinking. overanalyzing can really deprive you of your sleep.

Thinking too much can affect you right around the clock and if you’re prone to anxiety, it makes it even worse. It can get the better of you, especially at night time and makes it difficult for you to get any sleep at all.

Without adequate sleep, you feel like you’re on autopilot and completely zoned out. The fact of the matter is, It’s really hard to do anything without enough sleep.

It’s essential to renew and recharge your body and mind and sleep is a major part of that process. Without enough sleep, you cannot function, period.

Change The Things You Say To Yourself

If you’re having trouble with negative self-talk then it’s time to change the way you talk to yourself.

Too often you say things like, “I can’t seem to do anything right, I’m a disappointment ” whenever you’re upset or stressed and frustration starts to set in. This is no way to talk to anyone let alone to yourself.

These things are bound to happen, after all, we’re human. But to help tackle these instances/ this issue positive affirmations are a very handy tool to use.

Using positive affirmations is saying positive things to and about yourself to help give you emotional support and encouragement to yourself. It’s like being your own cheerleader.

You might be beating up yourself saying you can never do anything right, or I’m a disappointment instead, to overthrow those negative thoughts you’ll say I’m capable, it’s okay to make a mistake, or “I can totally do this!”

Neither you nor I are perfect so be kind to yourself.

Release The Past

Hanging on to the negatives of the past can compromise your health.  Give yourself permission to walk away from the past. Your brain can hang on to things and it’s totally up to you to let it go.

When you make the commitment, that is, telling yourself with conviction to let go and follow through then your brain can focus on other beneficial things.

There are tons of gems contained in your past experiences and it’s up to you to recognise those lessons and learn how to use them in practical ways to navigate life on a daily basis.

Identify why they happened and figure out a way to use them to prevent the same thing from happening again.

Stay In The Present

A good strategy to use to help you stay in the present is mindfulness. Mindfulness allows you to be aware of the moment and pay attention and understand what you’ve been thinking about.

The important thing is don’t take it into the next day or even the next few hours or you can end up being overtaken and swallowed up by all these thoughts.

Rather than replaying the past whether good or bad or chasing your thoughts for future plans, remember that you can only be in one place at a time where you can really have any control. And that’s the present moment.

Pay attention to the here and now. Recognize and be conscious of the moment, experience it, relish it, and savor it.

Refocus

Instead of letting your mind run away with those things that are out of your control concentrate on those things that you’re in control of. What can you control? Is there anything that you can simplify or better yet get rid of?

If you have a habit of pondering and dissecting every thought that comes to your mind then you need to switch your focus.

Consider this, if you find that you have a lot of time that’s up for grabs then find meaningful ways to occupy that free time.

Fill it with productive things. Consider working on a hobby or even creating a new one. You could focus on reading, nothing beats a good book.

r take advantage of this and sneak a workout in or if you’ve been wanting to, this could be a good time to start an exercise program.

Volunteering is also a great way to regain your focus. All these activities will not only help you to relax and unwind but they will also help to build your self-esteem.

Take A Different Approach

Here’s the thing, if you have the tendency to go off on a tangent and start to overthink, try to look at things from a different angle.

Mulling over a specific thing and going overboard with unrealistic expectations can be really taxing on your mental well-being.

Take into consideration what is causing you to over-scrutinize and look for a practical strategy to tackle this. You need to take a different approach every time you experience this desire.

This can give you a better understanding of the situation and prompt you to take action to put you on the path you want to take and get on with your life.

Recognize Your Fears

Everyone experiences fear in different areas of their life. It’s normal for both you and me to have fears. We have a fear of so many things, and there is nothing wrong with that.

It’s a natural part of life but when it starts to get the best of you and starts to control what you’ll experience, then it’s at this point that you need to do something about it.

You might have a fear of driving a car while some people might not even want to go to social events because you’re afraid of crowds. It might be a fear of being single or even a fear of death.

Sometimes these fears do keep you out of harm’s way but there are also times when these fears can restrict you from having joy in your life and ultimately prevent you from living life to its fullest.

Your fear of going to a social event can prevent you from meeting some great people and making meaningful connections.

Recognize that fear for what it is – writing it down in a journal can help with this. Then think about why you have these fears.

Maybe you have blocked those memories because they’re really hurtful and distressing to remember. Brace yourself, dig in, and get to the heart of the matter of what causes the fear and do the work to overcome it.

Take baby steps because it will take time for you to get over those fear. If needs be reach out to a professional and get the help you need.

Journal Your Thoughts

The fact of the matter is that sometimes your brain feels like it’s jetlagged with all those thoughts. A good way to deal with this is to make a note of those thoughts.

A great tool to help you get through this is your journal. Once you’ve written it down, it helps to declutter your mind and release some of the stress.

When you journal it helps to get a better grasp of why you’ve been overthinking so much and gives you some clarity as to what actions you can take to help resolve this problem.

You can combine Journalling with prayer, mantras, or affirmations to help you get through this.

Conclusion On Stop Overthinking

If you have a habit of replaying your thoughts in your head, it leaves you overcomplicating situations in life. Needless to say, It can be tiresome and makes you anxious.

It can have your mind going at a thousand miles per minute thinking of things that might not even take place or dwelling on the past. Don’t let overthinking prevent you from seizing opportunities in life.

What is your strategy to stop overthinking? Comment below!