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Aug 9, 2024 · Don’t Think About Your Thoughts. It can be valuable for clients to learn the challenges surrounding suppressing negative thoughts and the potential for rebound effects. Step one – Choose a negative thought that often bothers you. Step two – Spend a few minutes (three to five minutes) trying not to think about it.
- What Is Overthinking?
- Why Do Some People overthink?
- How to Differentiate Thinking vs. Overthinking
- How to Recognize Overthinking
- How to Overcome Overthinking
Overthinking is when you think about something too much or for too long. It’s when you focus on the same thought patterns that feel trapping. Overthinking is when what you think gets in the way of what you want. When we overthink, we tend to get stuck in a negative thought loop, called rumination, instead of taking action. This causes us to be stre...
Overthinking was actually developed as a survival mechanism for our ancestors. Those who were able to predict where and how danger might occur and how to avoid it managed to live longer. We are far less likely to face life-threatening situations on a regular basis today. But at a primal level, there is a neurological connection3https://www.ncbi.nlm...
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to just think about something rather than overthink something? Let’s look at some examples of when thinking becomes overthinking. Thinking:List the pros and cons of a new car you want to buy. Overthinking: Analyzing the pros and cons of five different cars, three of which you’re not interested in but wan...
Being able to recognize when you’re in a pattern of overthinking is the first step to being able to address it. It can be hard to identify because it can often masquerade as problem-solving or planning. Overthinking is often associated with thoughts becoming repetitive, obsessive, or negative. It is also tied to feelings of anxiousness, irritabilit...
1. Release The White Bear
Here’s a thought experiment for you: Try not to think of a white polar bear. Seems impossible, right? But that’s exactly what participants did in Harvard professor Daniel Wegner’s famous ”White Bear” experiment. In the experiment, Wegner asked students to verbalize their thoughts for 5 minutes while trying not to think of a white bear. The surprising result? Students, on average, were pretty bad at not thinking of a white bear and thought of it at an average of more than once per minute! Wegn...
2. Practice Mindfulness
Mindfulness is the practice of being highly aware of your senses and feeling in the moment without interpreting or judging. While mindfulness has been practiced for centuries in forms like meditation and Tai Chi, the rigorous scientific study of mindfulness is still fairly new. One study5https://www.apa.org/monitor/2012/07-08/ce-cornerasked novice meditators to attend a 10-day retreat. By the end, participants reported less rumination (overthinking!) than the control group and performed bette...
3. The Paper Ball Technique
Grab a pen and paper and set a timer for 10 minutes. Start transferring everything down from your mind to your paper. List all the things you’ve been worried about so you have a place you can visualize them. Don’t worry about making it pretty—the point is to just get it down on paper. Give it your all! Now, when the timer’s up, take a look at your list. How do you feel? Does it feel relieving to get all your unwanted thoughts down on paper? Finally, here’s the fun part: crumple up that paper...
- Pearl Nash
- Forgive yourself for being “lazy”. This is the first thing you should do before you start officially doing anything. Be kind to yourself—seriously! It’s bad enough that you have other people judging you.
- Start your day right. “If you win the morning, you win the day.” When the 4 am Club became a trend, I thought it was just a sick fad propagated by those who are fans of hustle culture.
- Show up no matter what. They say 90% of success is showing up. And it’s very true. Well okay, maybe 80% or 60… but you get the point. Showing up is a must if you want to become a doer!
- Be a little bit hard on yourself. I know this might be against self-care or that this may be too Type A, but hey, you want no-bullshit tips, don’t you?
- Step back and look at how you’re responding. The way you respond to your thoughts can sometimes keep you in a cycle of rumination, or repetitive thinking.
- Find a distraction. Shut down overthinking by involving yourself in an activity you enjoy. This looks different for everyone, but ideas include: learning some new kitchen skills by tackling a new recipe.
- Take a deep breath. You’ve heard it a million times, but that’s because it works. The next time you find yourself tossing and turning over your thoughts, close your eyes and breathe deeply.
- Meditate. Developing a regular meditation practice is an evidence-backed way to help clear your mind of nervous chatter by turning your attention inward.
- Notice when you're overthinking. Overthinking is a habitual thought pattern that is specific to you. For example, you may tend to overthink when you're home alone.
- Become aware of your patterns. After you notice that overthinking is happening, start to practice mindful awareness. When you have the ability to tap into mindfulness, you can start to observe the full cycle of your overthinking pattern.
- Move your body. "When someone has practiced identifying that they have started to overthink, in the moments they are in the throes of it, I highly recommend using that moment as a green light to tell them to engage in activities that involve them being engaged physically," Siadat says.
- Practice other forms of mindfulness. "Mindfulness practices are proven to be helpful in managing overthinking and disruptive thoughts," says Martin. "Mindfulness practices could be any healthy activity/skill that allows you to practice shifting your mind to the present moment rather than in the past or the future."
Jun 18, 2024 · Work on Your Interpersonal Skills. Studies have found that improving your interpersonal skills can help stop you from overthinking since these skills have a large effect on this particular habit. Ways to develop stronger interpersonal skills include: Increasing your self-awareness. Boosting your self-confidence.
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Aug 30, 2023 · Many people experience rumination, or overthinking: thoughts repeating over and over in your head. Trying to distract yourself or offering yourself reassurances will not make them go away. Instead ...
