As an over-thinker, it can be hard to slow your mind down, trust me I know. That being said, the more you work at it the better you will get at helping yourself in this way.
Over-thinkers are not exactly the same as everyone else. They don’t take things at face value. The more they are left to wonder the more scenarios they come up with and play out in their own minds. They break things down over and over again until they’ve played through all possible options and in many ways they expect the worst out of every situation.
I too for a very long time have struggled with overthinking so, you’re not alone. Below I am going to go over some tips that should be quite beneficial when it comes to trying to stop or at least make this kind of thing less frustrating and frequent. Of course, you will still overthink sometimes but perhaps not quite as often.
7 Ways To Stop Over-thinking:
1. Get physically active.
Go for a walk, swing by the gym, or do anything you like to do that is ‘active.’ This will bring your focus elsewhere and allow you an outlet to work through. I love going to the gym when I have a lot on my mind.
2. Get out in nature.
Spend some time outside in nature. Let your mind embrace the things before you and smell the fresh air. This will really brighten your mood more than you might realize.
3. Change your perspective.
While you would normally obsess over what might go wrong think about what might go right instead. Think of the positive playthroughs rather than the negative ones. This is hard, I know but the more you work at it the better you will get.
4. Meditate when you’re unable to quiet your mind.
When your mind is screaming at you and you cannot seem to quiet things down, meditate. Meditation will help take your mind off of things and slow you down for a bit. This won’t last forever but it does help get rid of some of the stress associated with overthinking.
5. Be more in the moment.
Constantly work to remind yourself to be in the moment. Stop letting your mind wander to the future. If it’s not within the next few hours, it doesn’t matter as much as you think it does.
6. Admit to yourself that you have a problem with overthinking.
Coming to terms with what you’re doing and going through is the first step towards making changes. The more you know that you need to work on the more capable you are of working on exactly that. Sure, it might sound odd but this is a very important part of overcoming.
7. Ask yourself what good overthinking about this specific thing will do for you.
Sometimes asking yourself about what good could come from overthinking helps you to not do it as much. If you know overthinking won’t do any good you aren’t as likely to do it. While this might be a bit hard at first, you can do it.
These things when used properly in your life over time can really make a difference. It took me a while but now, I don’t overthink as much as I once did. For more tips on this kind of thing please check out the video below.