5 Types of Overthinking and the Cure
We all overthink sometimes. However, it is important to distinguish between healthy and unhealthy types of thinking. There are five main types of overthinking: Mental Chatter, Over-Reading Into Things, Mindreading, Rumination About The Past and Worrying About The Future. The cure for these five types is a simple mindset adjustment that will lead to a more balanced life full of more positivity and less worry.
Here are five types of overthinking and cure.
#1. Mental Chatter
You cannot tell yourself to think something; the more you try not to think about something, the more it sticks around.
Change the channel: keeping yourself busy with an activity is the best way to change the channel.
Try:
- Exercising.
- Engage on a conversation topic.
- Go somewhere that feeds your heart.
#2. Over-Reading Into Things
This is when a minor issue arises, and your imagination goes into overdrive, imagining all of the (mostly non-existent) disasters that may ensue.
Challenge your thoughts: Acknowledge that your thoughts may be exaggeratedly negative.
Replace “what if” with “we’ll see; which is a way of moving past analysis paralysis to acceptance.
#3. Mindreading
This is when you’re constantly trying to predict what other people are thinking about you.
Focus on what matters: When you concentrate on what’s important, you think less about your individual role and more about the bigger picture.
Remember, most people aren’t paying much attention; they spend more time thinking about themselves than thinking about others.
#4. Rumination About The Past
This can involve incessantly dwelling on a mistake you made in the past or continuously replaying a time you were hurt, over and over again, in your mind.
Notice when you’re thinking too much: Awareness is the first step in putting an end to overthinking.
When you notice yourself replaying events in your mind over and over or worrying about things you can’t control, acknowledge that your thoughts aren’t productive.
#5. Worrying About The Future
This is where you continuously stress out and panic that something “bad” might happen.
Practice Mindfulness: When you’re living in the present moment, it’s impossible to dwell on the past or worry about the future.
Make a commitment to becoming more aware of the present moment.
Mindfulness, like any other skill, requires practice, but it can reduce overthinking over time.
Conclusion:
One problem that keeps others from living up to their creative potential is too much self-introspection and overthinking. This introspection often results in dealing with problems rather than making connections and connections might add something creative and spontaneous to the situation.
A cure for this can be way of constructive introspection, considered thinking where we consciously think about the thought we made. Meditating is one practice that helps us in constructive introspection, it allows us to take a break from thinking and pause for a moment to constructively think about what we just trained in our minds. Going out into nature has been proven to be helpful; spending time outdoors gives us space from our usual thoughts, which means that when we come back, we can better reflect on them.
Source: @successtheory.co
