How to Navigate Life as an Overthinker

Our brains process more than 6,000 thoughts every day, from the moment we open our eyes in the morning until we rest our heads at night.

Some thoughts can be as simple as acknowledging your own consciousness, while others can be more complex and profound. These thoughts may be helpful, like an exciting new idea for a project in your career. Yet sometimes our thoughts can get in our way.

You may find that the same thoughts and worries repeat themselves over and over in your mind. This is natural and common. But dwelling on certain topics and overanalysing them can be mentally exhausting,?

Overthinkers tend to ruminate on scenarios of all magnitudes in their lives, imagining hypothetical conversations with others and questioning what would have happened if things had played out differently for them. This often results in anxiety, depression or burnout.

As an overthinker, it can be easy to be swept away by your thoughts, but understanding your own thought patterns and how you can reframe topics in your head can transform your mindset. This article will explain some of the tips I give to clients looking to navigate their lives with overthinking tendencies.

Meeting your Saboteur

When we fall into the overthinking mindset, our internal dialogue tends to paint a picture of reality that doesn’t always correlate with the truth.

Say you went for an important job interview for a role you wanted, and you performed to the best of your ability on the day. An overthinker may still question whether a better answer to a specific question might have increased their chances of being hired.?

The overanalysing voice can rob us of clarity and confidence at times when we may need it most. However, part of coaching around self-critical mindsets is acknowledging them and learning to spot them when they arise.

Think of this mindset as being like a saboteur. Overly judgemental, self-critical and determined to rob you of your ability of the present.

An exercise I do as part of my coaching is to challenge the individual to characterise this voice. They can give the saboteur a name, personality and distinct characteristics that allow them to reduce their presence and influence in the mind.?

If we learn to acknowledge the saboteur and have a conversation with them, we can learn to manage the effect they have on us, limiting the extent to which we overthink issues in our life.

Mindfulness and Journaling

There are practices we can use to calm the mind when our thoughts feel overwhelming. Practising mindfulness and developing a meditation practice can be highly effective for overthinkers. Deliberately pausing to focus on breathing instead of becoming occupied with thoughts can relieve some of the pressure from the heavy emotions that come with overthinking.

The 4-2-6 breathing technique has been proven to manage overthinking when you are feeling stressed. In the words of Neuroscientist Ian Robertson, “A deep breath is the most precise pharmaceutical you could ever give yourself”.

Journaling for five to 15 minutes every day can also be a great way to map out your thinking when it becomes too much. Spending some time writing your thoughts on paper can help you create space from them, making thoughts seem less entangled and providing clarity on your worries.

Taking a Helicopter View

The major issues in our lives naturally occupy our headspace most of the time. If things aren’t going smoothly, or you are trying to work towards an overarching goal, it can be easy to start second-guessing every choice you make and every conversation you have.

While navigating life with an overthinking and self-critical mind can feel like an uphill struggle at times, you should remember that these thoughts are temporary distractions in the bigger picture.

Imagine having the ability to fly high in the sky. You could see above all of the issues in your life, your past and future jobs, relationships and goals. Up here, the world feels light,? free from the worries and struggles of the day-to-day.?

Now looking ahead, you can ask yourself - is my overthinking and self-doubt critical to my life? Will I be worrying about these issues in five or ten years from now??

It can be easy for us to catch ourselves overthinking about the issues of today, but stepping back and looking at life trom a top-down view can help us to gain perspective on what’s really important to us.

If this content resonates and you would like support with a similar topic, let’s connect and have a chat.?