Evolve > Anxiety > How To Stop Overthinking In 5 Simple Ways
The very thought of overthinking is abominably frightening to us but to admit the truth, it’s barely within our control. You do not choose to overthink. One thought leads to another and it is a never-ending thread your mind is caught in, like a farmer caught in a vicious cycle of debt. It could be for something minor or major, something concerning your life or work, family or friends, or even, relationships.
Whenever something is bothering you, it’s important to stop overthinking. It can help you feel lighter, reduce uncertainty and deal with anxiety. Moreover, constantly worrying and overthinking can be unpleasant and counterproductive, and even lead to more anxiety. Hence, it’s important to know how to stop overthinking and feel better. Here are a few simple tips to help you out!
Table of Contents
How to stop overthinking in 6 simple ways
- Do something you enjoy
- Get physically active
- Visualise happiness
- Gain perspective
- Journaling: Make a list
- Meditate
1. Do something you enjoy– the initial step to stop overthinking
When you’re overthinking, it’s good to surround yourself with happiness in order to distract yourself and stop overthinking. Do something you enjoy to distract and divert your mind toward something positive, something that would instantly lift your spirits. It could be cooking a meal, talking to a friend or watching some Netflix, every little step helps in your journey to calm your racing thoughts.
2. Get physically active
Doing something physically stimulating can help you relax and slow down your thoughts. Exercise, dance, walking or swimming are simple things you can try to distract yourself in a healthy and positive way! It helps you distance yourself from your thoughts, stop overthinking and overanalysis for a while. Moreover, exercise will release endorphins into your body to help improve your mood too. For example, you cannot think of something that’s been pestering you at work while you are aiming to complete a five-kilometer jog, and that is what slowly helps you overcome the process of overthinking.
3. Visualise happiness to stop overthinking
Visualisation meditation is effective and simple. Think about your happy place or any happy memory you have. Imagine you are reliving it or you’re in your favourite happy place. This can boost your mood, help you feel positive and bring your mind back on track. It helps stop overthinking because you feel happy and your mind is taken to a happier and safer environment.
In many cases, overthinking occurs due to fear and uncertainty. When you focus on negativity, that happens. In case you’re unable to stop overthinking, that’s okay. Think about what is bothering you and visualise all the things that can go right and keep those thoughts present and up front.
4. Gain perspective
It’s always easy to make things bigger and more negative than they actually are. But that’s not your fault and you can fix it! Next time you find yourself going down that direction, take a moment and pause. Try and get some perspective of what is bothering you and think about it. Ask yourself how much will it matter five years down the line or in the next month for that matter. Just asking this simple question to yourself by changing up the time frame, can help you stop overthinking to a great extent.
5. Journaling – Make a list of fears and worries to stop overthinking
This is a list of all your fears and potential problems that are running through your mind consistently though you are making efforts to escape them. Set a timer for 5 minutes and write down everything that is worrying you, stressing you, or giving you anxiety. Let it all out and don’t stop any thoughts from surfacing. Do not suppress yourself and do no be in a state of denial. Accept it, embrace it. Once the time is up, rip up the paper and throw it away. This will help you release tension, feel light and stop overthinking.
6. Perform Meditation:
Meditation can prove to be a marvelous friend to guide your way out of the maze of overthinking. Sitting with your thoughts for even five minutes a day provides your body and mind the very necessary opportunity of calming down which is a prerequisite to get rid of overthinking. Meditation is gradually changing into an increasing necessity due to the unusually brisk pace of life that we have come to adapt to, especially in the past two decades. If you are a beginner, you would surely find these tips for meditation – 7 Best Tips on Meditation, extremely helpful. Meditate daily in order to improve mindfulness and experience positive results. Start now and make it a part of your daily routine so you will eventually find yourself relieved of this obnoxious habit of overthinking at the earliest possible. To know more about daily meditation and its benefits, click here- Daily Meditation-How to Practice and What are the Benefits?
You can also always seek refuge in these journeys of the Evolve App that help you declutter your mind of all negative and unwanted thoughts–
Acknowledge your successes and reward yourself
When you are being troubled by anxious thoughts, it is not at all a good idea to heap yourself with unending self-criticism at all. Self-assessment is good but criticizing yourself too much might pose a great threat to your already anxious mind. Thus, take a moment at the end of the week perhaps, or on a comparatively free day to “stand and stare”. Of course you “have miles to go before” you “sleep” but that does not necessarily mean you cannot allow yourself to recognize and cherish your small achievements. Stop, pause and think about the smallest of things that you have done right in the past week or a meeting that you aced, for which you were lauded by one and all. Allow yourself the mental space to feel good about it. This would ward off all your negative thoughts.
It’s easy to succumb to this dreadful habit and not stop, but not anymore. With these simple techniques, you can stop overthinking within minutes. Keep a calm mind, clear your head and learn to connect with your thoughts better so you can become better at responding to negative thoughts and emotions. Meditation for anxiety can help you do just that.
Evolve’s guided meditations for anxiety help you deal with anxiety, reduce negative thoughts and stop overthinking in minutes. The Evolve app is now live globally on Android & Apple, click here to try for free!
Damayanti Dubey is a final year English major at Loreto College, Kolkata. She is a writer by passion and loves to indulge in languages, especially English, Bengali, and Urdu. She aims at exploring all of their intricacies and nuances. Damayanti is a disciple of Padma Bhushan Pandit Ajoy Chakraborty and is a national scholar of Indian classical music. She has always believed that a sound mind, free from the clutches of regressive and negative thoughts is the key to living a healthy life and makes efforts to promote mental wellness through the power of her words.
Damayanti believes in thinking beyond boundaries.